Making mushroom stroganoff is a fun thing to do on a busy weekend. You pretty much just ‘pop’ a bunch of great mushrooms into a pot and leave it to simmer in the oven or crock pot for the day. I’ve made this many times and each time without a recipe so today, I’m going to attempt to write down what it is that I do.
Into the pot put:
½ ounce (16 grams) of fresh minced garlic about 5 cloves
9.5 (270 grams) ounces of diced celery, about 4 good stocks
8 ounces (230 grams) of diced red onion, about one large one
12.5 ounces (360 grams) of cubed portobella mushrooms I like about ½ inch cubes
24 ounces (675 grams) white button mushrooms cut into quarters
1 cup of red wine
That’s it for several hours. You can put this in the oven at about 225º F or in a crock pot on low.
Later when you come back to your kitchen you’ll discover the beautiful cheesy aroma of mushrooms stewing. Dinner is almost ready. Add to the pot:
2 cups of rotini noodles
Let it cook for another 1 hour until the noodles have absorbed the mushroom stock. Stir in 500 ml of thick sour cream just before serving.
This is a great meal with hardy bread, and bold red wine. If you need a little more protein, you might try grill some chicken or lamb at serve it along side. I once tried, well experimented on friends and added cubed chicken to the stew at the same time as the noodles and it was a huge disaster, more like wallpaper paste with lumps. The noodles acted more like a thickener so I strongly recommend that you don’t try treat this recipe like a traditional stew. Oh, by the way, my friends all survived, and the vegetarians whose meal I cooked in a separate pot were thrilled. Amazing how one ingredient can make such a difference.
That reminds me of a time when I was about eight and made a cake accidentally with white salt instead of sugar. Wasn’t so good.