I don’t know what it is about me, but on the nights that I’m not working, I totally devolve.
I put on a pair of scrubs and a Breakfast King T-shirt, mix myself a cocktail, find a really silly nature or disaster show (recent favorites have included “Monster Fish of the Amazon” and “Siberian Apocalypse”) and make something really simple to eat. Pasta, maybe. Fried rice. A hash of some sort.
Often, these meals look a lot like breakfast. Eggs are frequently involved, as is bacon. Cheese, too. Occasionally, I lose track when I’m cooking (blame the aforementioned cocktail) and make way more than one person needs to eat for supper.
I tell myself I’ll take it to work for lunch the next day, but usually end up eating it all. Probably because on these devolution nights, I always seem to eat dinner straight from the pan I cooked it in.
My favorite pan to eat out of is my cast-iron skillet, which I’ve had for about a billion years. I swear things taste better out of it, and besides, nothing in my pots-and-pans collection holds heat better. Fix dinner in this, and it stays hot until I’m scraping the last little brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
One excellent item to eat straight from the skillet: Beef Stroganoff.
My favorite recipe for the stuff started as one from “The Joy of Cooking,” but once when I was making it I didn’t have any beef stock so I subbed in water and wine, which made it a little less beefy and a little more boozy. If that doesn’t work for you, just use water, beef stock or chicken stock for the liquid.
Beef Stroganoff (sort of)
Serves one hungry couch potato.
Ingredients
3/4 pound sirloin tip, cut into half-inch strips
Salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, sliced
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard (not country-style)
A few crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
Juice of 1/2lemon
2 cups egg noodles, cooked
A few parsley leaves, if you must
Directions
Season meat with salt and pepper. In cast-iron skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add onions and beef. Cook until just browned, about 2 minutes. Remove meat and onions to a plate.
Melt 2 teaspoons butter in skillet. Add flour, whisking until smooth. Whisk in wine and water and cook for 3 minutes until slightly thickened. Stir in sour cream and mustard. Stir in beef and accumulated juices. Lower heat to low and cook for 5 more minutes or until desired consistency is reached.
Toss red pepper flakes, lemon juice and egg noodles in skillet with beef. Stake out a spot on the couch and eat straight from the skillet, with a glass of the same wine you cooked with.
Tucker Shaw: 303-954-1958 or dining@denverpost.com
