Recipe - Steak Stroganoff

Make Steak Stroganoff Tonight!

Hi! 

It's been a long time since my last recipe post! 

Here is a simple and delicious dinner that's less than an hour start to finish that will leave everyone full and happy: Beef Stroganoff!

 

 

This recipe has only 3 components: beef, pasta, and sauce. 

 This can be made with pre-made egg noodles, but I like to make my own pasta dough; it's super easy, but requires a pasta roller.  I have a stand mixer attachment, now, but for about 10 years, I rolled pasta with a $25 hand crank roller.

For the beef component, stir fry beef from your supermarket or butcher is great or, you can cook up steak and slice it. 

Maybe you'll cook a roast, and serve the noodles on the side, a nice break from mashed potatoes? The options are limitless!

The sauce is creamy and beefy and holds the dish together.

Lets get cooking!

Steak Stroganoff - Serves 6

 

Ingredients

 

Beef:

1 1/2 lbs beef strip loin steak (3 steaks, approx 8oz each)

 

Homemade Pasta :

2 1/4 cups flour

4 large eggs

1 tbsp (15ml) olive oil

1 tsp (5ml) salt

Sauce:

2 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms thinly sliced (~8 oz)

2 medium onions thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups beef stock

2 tsp worchestershire sauce

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cups sour cream

Pasta:

Lets start by making the pasta! Put 2 1/4 cups flour in a bowl or on countertop. Make an indentation in the middle, with the flour forming a ring outside it. Add the 4 eggs, oil and salt to the middle. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slowly combine the flour into the eggs, bringing a little at a time. Try to keep the flour ring intact so the egg mixture doesn't wander. Here, expert pasta maker Mallory keeps everything in place while forming the dough. 

 

 

 

 

Continue until all flour and eggs mixture is combined. Knead until smooth and consistent, 5-10 minutes. This dough won't be like bread dough; it will be much firmer, but still soft. Add a few drops of water to the dough if too hard; add a little more flour if too wet.

 

 

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes. You can make this the day before and keep wrapped in the fridge.  Just take the dough out 1 hour to warm before you're ready to roll it out.

To roll it, you'll need a manual pasta roller or mixer attachment.  I used a roller for years and they are inexpensive and easy to use.  Stand mixer attachments are even more convenient, but either work fine. I cut the dough into 4 pieces and roll each of those out separately, starting at the widest setting, and passing the dough through, and making the rollers narrower each time. I prefer stroganoff  pasta thickness at the second (or third) thinnest setting on the device; I find the thinnest setting is too thin, and these noodles are better thicker.  While I roll each piece out, I keep unrolled dough in plastic wrap to prevent from drying out. 

 

 I place rolled pasta sheets on the countertop and sprinkle lightly with flour.  Just before cooking I cut them to strips with a pasta cutter or a pizza wheel.

Beef:
Okay, the pasta is ready to cook. For now, we can leave it, and begin the other components of the dish. Let's cook the steak, and make the sauce!

The steak is super simple: season with salt and pepper, and cook on medium high heat in 1 tbsp olive oil for about 4-5 minutes per side until golden.  The steak doesn't have to be fully cooked at this point, it will finish it's cook in the sauce at the end. Take the steak out of the pan and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Sauce: 

Next up is the sauce!  Start by finely slicing 2 medium onions and add them to a large saucepan on medium heat with the butter.  While the onions are cooking, slice the mushrooms and add to the pan.  Season with the salt and add pepper to taste. After about 5 minutes, the onions should be soft and translucent, and the mushrooms will have darkened and gotten smaller. Add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds, than add 1 cup of the beef stock and the worchestershire sauce. Reduce to medium low heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

This is a good time to get the pasta water going. Heat 8 cups of water to boiling in a stock pot on high heat with 2 tbsp salt.  It sounds like a lot of salt, but the pasta really tastes better when the water is adequately seasoned.

Next, slice the steak into 1/4" strips and set aside.

 When the water is at a rapid boil, add the pasta and cook for 5 minutes.  It will look like it's cooked after about 1 minute or so, but keep it in there the full 5 minutes to cook it fully through. (If you got store bought egg noodles, cook them according to package instructions)

Combine the 1/4 cup flour and remaining 1/2 cup beef stock and stir well; this will be the thickening agent of the sauce. 

Turn pan heat up to medium high, and add the stock/flour mixture, stirring constantly. Cook for 2 minutes, and add the steak strips. If the steak looked a little too rare, don't worry, it will cook here, but not get too tough from overcooking. 

After 1 minute, reduce heat to medium low and add the sour cream, mixing thoroughly, ensuring the cream mixture doesn't come to a boil.

Add the cooked noodles directly into the pan, and gently mix together. This recipe will fill a large saucepan, so going slow is important at this point.

That's it! This dish sounds like a lot of work, but is delicious and worth it!

You can save yourself time by substituting homemade noodles with store bought large egg noodles, and getting stir fry strips from your supermarket or butcher.

Do you like wine? Substitute 1/2 cup of the beef stock with your favourite red wine! 

This dish is great on its own, but can be served with sides such as asparagus, broccoli, or a spinach salad.

I do hope you try this! Leave a comment and let me know!

Happy Cooking!

Recipe - BBQ Chicken Pizza

Pizza at home is easy and delicious! The types of pizza you can construct is almost infinite, but pretty much all pizza have a crust, a sauce, a cheese, and a topping, that's it!  

 I have a long list of pizza favourites, but the one that disappears the fastest is my BBQ chicken pizza.

This recipe really just has 4 parts: homemade dough, sauce, chicken, and shredded mozzarella. I make my own sauce and filling, but you can easily substitute with bottled sauce and cooked chicken. I prefer chicken thighs because they have lots of flavour and stand up to hot ovens far better than white meat.

Let's make BBQ chicken Pizza!

Pizza Dough - makes 1 large pizza

350g strong flour

50ml warm water (105 degrees F)

200 ml warm water (105 degrees F) (250 ml water total)

7g (1.5 tsp) yeast

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

 

 

In a small bowl combine the yeast and sugar. Add 50ml of warm (105 F) water, stir and set aside for 5 minutes, or until frothy.

Stir flour and salt in a large bowl until well mixed. Add remaining 200 ml water, yeast mixture and 1tbsp olive oil. Stir with a wooden spoon till well combined. 

 

 

 

 

Roll out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for at least 5 minutes. Spray bowl lightly with non-stick spray, and place the dough ball, cover with cling film, and place in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 hour.

 

 

Chicken

3-4 chicken thighs (or drumsticks)

1 small onion

2 medium carrots

water

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3 tbsp BBQ sauce (for chicken)

Sauce and cheese

1/3 cup BBQ sauce (for pizza sauce)

1 cup mozarella cheese

 

Add 2 tsp oil to a saucepan, set temp to medium high. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add skin side down. Cook for 5 minutes, and turn over. Coarsely chop onion and carrot and add to pan. Add enough water to nearly cover the chicken. season with salt and pepper to taste, cover, and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 20 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Remove chicken and let cool for 15 minutes. The broth can be saved as stock, but my family usually drink it like it's the cure, along with the carrots!

 

Chop to 1 cm size pieces and combine with 3 tbsp of the BBQ sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assembly

 

Heat oven to 425 F. Lightly spray (or oil) pizza pan or baking sheet. Stretch out dough and evenly form into pan. 

 

 

 

Spread out 1/3 cup BBQ sauce evenly onto dough. Add 1/2 cup grated mozarella cheese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake at 425 F for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and add chopped chicken pieces evenly over pizza. Add remaining cheese. (in the photo below, I ran out of cheese)  Bake for 5 more minutes. The bottom of the crust should be golden brown.

 

 Let cool 10 minutes before slicing.

What's your favourite pizza?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

Happy eating!

Recipe - Perogies

I am a huge fan of perogies! When I was a kid there used to be a Sesame Street song about making them.  It was years later when I moved to western Canada that I discovered how good they were. It was a few more years when I tasted homemade perogies that I discovered how awesome they are!  Now, I make my own. 

 

I know there are many cherished family recipes, many 'correct' ways, many fillings, many doughs, and even many spellings, but this recipe is the basic potato and cheddar filled dumpling, with a soft dough. This is a great make-in-a-batch and freeze (or share). Its easy! Here's how!

Recipe - Perogies (makes about 50-60)

FILLING

1.5 lb russet potatoes

2 cups grated old cheddar

3 tbsp butter

salt and pepper

DOUGH

3- 3/4 cups bread  flour

1.5 tsp baking powder (7.5 ml)

1-1/2 cups sour cream (355ml)

2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk

1 tsp salt

 

FINISHING

1 medium onion, finely diced

1/4 cup butter 

salt

Make the filling first *you can even make this the day before and store overnight

Peel and slice the potatoes. I like to slice to the same thickness, about 1/2" so they cook evenly, and add to a generously salted large saucepan with enough water to cover the potatoes. Cook at a steady boil for 20-25 minutes, or until soft and tender. 

 

Add drained potatoes to bowl of stand mixer and add butter and cheese, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper.  Mix with paddle attachment until well blended, 1-2 minutes. The hot potatoes will quickly melt the butter and cheese and produce a warm mixture.  It will smell amazing at this point!  Spread evenly into shallow baking dish and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the dough: combine flour, baking powder, salt, sour cream and eggs in stand mixing bowl. Mix with dough hook on medium for 6-8 minutes. The dough will be soft and smooth. Let dough rest for at least 30 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, we are ready for assembly! Roll out the dough to 1/8" thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 3" or 3.25" rounds with a biscuit cutter (a drinking glass works, too, just coat the edge in a little flour to prevent it sticking).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove the unused dough and put aside. With a tablespoon measure, scoop out just slightly less than a full tbsp of the chilled filling and place in the center of each cut round. 

 

 

 

Fold dough over filling and close firmly at the middle.  Pinch from one end to the other, making sure the dough is sealed.  The trick here is to not have too much flour on the dough; this would prevent it from sealing.  Place prepared perogies on a long piece of parchment, or large wooden cutting board. 

 

 

 

 

 

Once all the rounds are formed into perogies, take the unused dough and repeat the procedure/ Roll the dough out again to about 1/8" thickness. Cut into 3" rounds, and add filling, and pinch fold. Continue until you run out of dough or filling. (I always run out of filling first, but you should get about 50 perogies) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I normally cook half and freeze half this recipe, so for the ones I freeze, I sprinkle lightly with flour to minimize sticking and place in a zipper freezer bag.  For the ones I cook, I go over each one again, ensuring they are well sealed.

 

Before boiling the perogies, finely dice a medium onion, and add to 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 tsp salt in a large frying pan. Cook on medium-low for about 10-15 minutes, until soft.

 

To cook, add perogies to a large pot of salted boiling water. It's tempting to take them out soon as they they float, but the dough may not be fully cooked through, so keep them in for 5 minutes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove cooked perogies and add to buttered onions, turning up heat to medium-high. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side until perogies are browned slightly. 

 

It's time to eat!

 

Serve with sour cream and salsa. For the extra notch, add bacon bits and sliced green onions!

 

 

 

 

 

Try it!  Do you have a favourite or family perogie recipe? Let me know!

Recipe - Dinner Rolls

Prep time: 20 minutes

Proof time: 60 minutes

Baking time: 15 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner rolls are fast, easy, and a great way to spruce up a meal. The egg, milk, and butter make these buns super soft, and they are super flavourful! 

Its easy! here's how:

Dinner Rolls

Ingredients

• 4-5 cups flour
• 2 tbsp rapid rise, instant yeast
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm milk , ~105 degrees F
• 5 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 egg , room temperature
• 1 tbsp melted butter 

 

Warm the milk to 105F, and soften the butter (I do this in the microwave; be careful the milk doesn't get too warm, or the yeast may not rise) Measure 3 cups of the flour into bowl of stand mixer. Add yeast, sugar, salt, warm milk, egg, and softened butter.

Mix on low with dough hook until the mixture is combined. increase speed to medium, and mix for 2 minutes. reduce speed to low, and add 1/2 cup flour. Stop and scrape sides of bowl with a spatula if necessary. continue mixing, and add another 1/2 cup flour. Mix on medium for another minute. The dough should be sticky and soft and staying together as one mass. If the dough ball has not yet formed, add more flour, 1/4 cup at a time until formed.

 

Remove from bowl and knead for 15 seconds, shape into a ball. Spray bowl lightly with cooking spray and place dough in bowl, cover with plastic film and let rise for 30-40 minutes.

Punch down dough and weigh the dough and divide into 24 pieces, about 60g each. Shape each piece into a ball and arrange in a buttered 13x9 pan. cover with film and let rise another 30-40 minutes.

 

Heat oven to 375F, bake rolls until golden in colour, about 15-17 minutes. Cover with foil if the rolls are browning early. 

 

Brush with melted butter. Can be served warm.  

These are delicious with soups, stews, at festive meals, or on their own! 

Give it a try!

Homemade "ultimo" burgers - tender, beefy, delicious

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I love burgers, but I find store bought are expensive and too thin. I have been making my own patties for about 4 years; one upside of making my own patties is I can confidently cook to medium rare! 

These burgers have VERY FEW ingredients. How do they stay together, you ask? The secret to these burgers staying together is during grinding, the meat releases a protein called myosin that makes the meat sticky. This holds the patty together with no need for egg or other binding agents.  They do need to be frozen before cooking though, or they can be too crumbly.  These are super delicate, so I typically pan fry, or cook on a grill mat.

These burgers are so popular that my kids call them "Ultimo burgers". I don't know what ultimo means, but I think it's a compliment!

I don't have a meat grinder, I simply use my food processor; it's easy! here's how:

Hello and Welcome!

Hello and Welcome!

I'm Scott, I am a CAD designer, and  home cook. I have decided to share some of my favourite recipes and meals here.

I have been cooking for many years, and I hope you enjoy my recipes.  My cooking focus is "easy flavour"; I  try to get the biggest result from a minimal effort.  I love trying new flavours and cook a variety of styles, but lately it's mostly about breads and proteins.  I live in Edmonton, Alberta, and cook for my awesome wife and 3 great kids!

My recipes begin from many sources, but typically I modify them based on my own experience and preferences. I hope you find something here inspiring, and make it! 

Be sure to comment if you make something from here!

Happy cooking, and happy eating!

Burger buns - not as tough as you think!

I have been baking breads for less than a year. Before then, most of my breads came out tough, flat and plain. I'm still learning, but the results are improving. Here's one that I would not have attempted two years ago: burger buns.

 

It's not hard, I hope you try it. Here's my recipe:

• 3/4 cup water, warmed
• 1/4 cup milk, warmed
• 2 tablespoon dry active yeast
• 1 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 3 cups bread (strong) flour
• 1/4 cup sugar (1 tbsp + 3 tbsp)
• 1  teaspoon salt

 
In bowl of stand mixer, add 1 tbsp yeast, 1 tbsp of the sugar, 3/4 cup warm water and 1/4 cup warm milk, stir and place in a warm area until frothy, about 5 minutes.

Add the 3 cups flour, melted butter, egg, remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, and salt to the mixer bowl. Mix with kneading hook on low speed until combined, and then increase speed to medium and knead for 2-3 minutes. The dough should be soft and smooth.

Remove from bowl and knead a few more times. Spray the inside of the bowl with cooking spray, place the dough ball back in the bowl, gently spray the dough with cooking spray and cover with plastic film.

Place in a warm area and let it rise until about double in volume, about 90 minutes.

Punch down the dough and put on a lightly floured surface. With a kitchen scale, divide by weight into the number of buns you want. My first few times I made 8 buns, but you can easily get 10 buns large enough for a normal patty from this. Shape each piece into a ball; flatten to about 3" across. Place the buns on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with film, and let rise in a warm place for another 45 minutes. The buns will still look a little small but will get larger while baking.

 

Bake at 350°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. (yes, I sometimes find myself kneeling at the oven door, watching for the 'perfect' time to take them out). Put on a rack to cool, at least 20-30 minutes.

 

 

Notes: 

 

1.  It takes about 10 minutes to make the dough, 90 minutes for the first rise, another 10 to weigh and shape the buns, another 45 to second rise, 15 minutes to bake, and 30 minutes to cool. So, it's best to start these at least 3.5 to 4 hours before you use them. You could make them the day before or even freeze them, too. 

 

2. Instead of milk and water, you can use 1 cup of water, but I find the the milk (along with the butter) makes the bun texture softer.

I hope you give it a try!