I've been thinking a lot lately about my past. I've been exploring my culinary memories with both the stroganoff and the mint brownies. I took a few liberties, did some research, and made some guesses, but everything turned out really well! I'm hoping that I can use some of my past skills in the near future, too Maybe, with some prayers and hard work, an employer will be able to see that I'm talented and can do some great things if given the opportunity.
Stroganoff
I found the stroganoff recipe in the handy dandy Betty Crocker Cookbook I gave the boyfriend for Christmas, but a similar one is available online! I have yet to try anything out of that book that hasn't turned out fantastically, by the way, so I highly recommend it. I grew up with an old copy of my grandparents'. It's falling apart now, without the back cover, some clear duct tape, but I still use it for sugar cookies and banana bread. I'm so glad I invested in this book!
- 1 1/2 lb beef tenderloin or boneless top loin steak (or, apparently, any beef)
-2 tbsp butter (it's just for browning the beef, so any oil or grease will do)
-1 1/2 cups beef broth (I used leftover broth from beef roast)
-2 tbsp ketchup (I also added a touch of Worcestershire sauce)
-1 tsp salt
-1 small clove garlic, finely chopped (I used extra!)
-3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (I used a drained can of sliced mushrooms)
-1 medium onion
-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (Can you say, "Homemade yogurt"?)
-hot cooked noodles or rice (I used whole wheat egg noodles)
1) Brown the beef in butter or bacon grease or whatever you're using. (Very abridged. If your're going to use large pieces of meat, the gist is to slice it into thin strips.)
2) Reserve 1/3 cup of the broth. Stir remaining broth, the ketchup, salt, and garlic into beef. Heat t boiling; reduce heat. Cover; simmer about 10 minutes or until beef is tender. (Now is when I used the Worcestershire...)
3) Stir in mushrooms and onion. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; simmer about 5 minutes longer or until onion is tender.
4) In tightly covered container, shake reserved 1/3 cup broth and the flour until mixed; gradually stir into beef mixture. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute; reduce heat to low. Stir in sour cream; heat until hot. Serve over noodles.
Perfect Oatmeal Cookies (thanks, Smitten Kitchen!)
I discovered this recipe a week or so before Christmas and the batch I made the day before Easter was at least my sixth. Let me just say that I'm not usually a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies, but these are delicious in their original recipe form! However, I almost immediately wanted to try them with cranberries - or mixed berries, as it turned out! - and almonds. I like them better out of the cookies, so I figured I'd probably like them better in the cookies, as well! So, here's my revised ingredients list:
-1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
-2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
-1 large egg
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/4 tbs salt
-1 1/2 cups rolled oats
-3/4 cup dried mixed berries or dried cranberries
-1/2 cup sliced almonds
1) Cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until it's as smooth as you can get it. If you don't have a mixer available, you can still do it! I've only used a mixer on it once and the times I've used a spoon, the cookies have turned out just as well. Since I'm generally pressed for time and it's too chilly to soften butter on the counter top, I put the stick of butter in the microwave for about 15 seconds until it's a little soft and only a bit is melted. It works out really well!
2) In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Stir this into the butter / sugar / egg / vanilla mixture.
3) Stir in the oats, fruit, and nuts. Make sure you don't use quick oats; use the old fashioned ones. I can only imagine that the quick cooking oats would ruin the awesome texture of the cookies!
4) Chill the dough thoroughly! Smitten Kitchen's author wants you to have the freedom to choose to not refrigerate the dough. In this case, it's like Nike's motto: "Just do it!" Trust me; it's worth it! It keeps the cookies thick and chewy. the only choice here is whether or not you want to ball the dough and chill it on the pan or to chill it in the bowl. I'd say about an hour is the minimum time for the fridge. I prefer in the bowl because I can cover it that way. Also, for double batches, then I can re-refrigerate while the first batch is in.
6) Bake for about 10-12 minutes, but because I bake two pans at a time. I switch them around 5 minutes. Smitten Kitchen says, "Take them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool."
Mint Brownies
1) Make the brownies according to the directions on the box. Bake them in a 9"x13" pan. Please buy a decent brownie mix! One brand is on sale each week. After they cool down, put them in the fridge to cool down a lot. Approximately an hour seems about right to me, but I just did it by feel.
3) During this waiting, you get to make the final topping. Put the chocolate chips and the butter into a bowl or a double boiler. Put water in the pan and let it heat up. Mix the chips and butter together as they melt. This won't take long, so don't start until the frosting is almost hardened in the fridge.
4) Now, spread the chocolate mixture atop the frosting as quickly as you can. If you don't do it fast enough, the frosting will melt and get mixed in with it. I suppose this wouldn't change the taste, really (mine even got a little mixed in one swirl), but the layered brownies are wonderful!
Personally, I just bake them for about 12 minutes until they look amazing. If they look at all undercooked, someone tends to overreact about the raw egg. So now I bake them until they're just done and let them sit on the pan until they're cool. Sometimes that same someone can't wait until they're cool - and neither can I!
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| Hint: those are not my fingers snatching a cookie! |
Mint Brownies
These are the title-inspiring brownies. My Nana's fairly famous mint brownies were her go-to recipe for holidays and pot-lucks. I didn't like them much when I was a kid, as mint was not a flavorate of mine (please, notice the pun!), but I've been craving them recently. They're super easy, super delicious, and totally worth it. As the boyfriend pointed out Easter Sunday, though, "I hope you don't have diabetes." They're a sugar rush on a plate!
-1 box of brownies (and the ingredients called for on the box)
(Also, I always add a touch more oil and water to make them extra moist!)
-1 can white/vanilla frosting
-1 tsp peppermint extract/2 tsp if using vanilla frosting
-green food coloring (enough to color the frosting)
-1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
-3-4 tbsp butter
1) Make the brownies according to the directions on the box. Bake them in a 9"x13" pan. Please buy a decent brownie mix! One brand is on sale each week. After they cool down, put them in the fridge to cool down a lot. Approximately an hour seems about right to me, but I just did it by feel.
2) While you're waiting for them to cool, pop open the frosting and mix the peppermint extract and food coloring throughout. Light green is better than dark green just because it's more appetizing!
When the brownies are cool, spread the frosting onto the brownies as evenly as possible. It doesn't really matter if it's smooth, but it'll help the next step if it's reasonably smooth.
Stick the brownies back in the fridge for about another hour or so.
4) Now, spread the chocolate mixture atop the frosting as quickly as you can. If you don't do it fast enough, the frosting will melt and get mixed in with it. I suppose this wouldn't change the taste, really (mine even got a little mixed in one swirl), but the layered brownies are wonderful!
5) Refrigerate again until the chocolate is hardened. Your patience will be rewarded with with a really cool looking and delicious pan of brownies! They have to be kept refrigerated or else they become super messy, so watch out!
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| Sorry for the cell phone "quality!" |
Reflection: I tend to put off trying things if I'm afraid I'm going to screw them up. It's sometimes actually easier for me to try something completely new than it is for me to take a stab at something familiar. New restaurant? Sure. New recipe? Let me at it! New movie? Eh...
So trying to make stroganoff and mint brownies has been intimidating me for a while. When I made the beef roast a few weeks ago, though, I realized that my culinary intuition leads me to great things. I don't usually even like beef roast, but that stuff was so tasty I ate it straight from the Crock Pot! That gave me some courage to try my ultra-homemade stroganoff. And then came the brownies. I wasn't sure I'd ever taste them again, but that first bite brought so many memories rushing back. Nana used to make part of the pan plain for me - the problem was that I didn't like edges, either, so it was tricky to do. By the time I appreciated the taste, we'd moved to the Midwest and she hardly made them. I was scared to try the topping on them, but I did it with great success.
This year's Easter was the best I've had in a very long while - and this is not meant to put down any of the interesting an fun-filled Easters of recent years, but this one hearkened back to my childhood. Mint brownies. Church (as usual!). Family time (even though it wasn't my family). Catch after a big meal. A few phone calls. An Easter basket with goodies and gifts. It may not sound like much, but for a girl whose Easter routine traditionally included church, a family gathering, and physical activity, it was a complete blessing! Various people who tried the mint brownies remarked about how good they were and even motivated one person in particular to spark a conversation with me.
Alleluia for mint brownies, memories, and Easter blessings of love, redemption, rebirth, and renewal!
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