My previous article on beef stroganoff was outdated and in dire need of revision. So when Tyler sprung the "Thanksgiving surprise" and this week’s dinner plans were thrown into disarray, I reached for this ye old recipe and started hacking and slashing with my red correcting pen. I decided to stick with a slow cooker method (more commentary forthcoming on why I may not in the future). However, in this rendition, I incorporated rich semi-gelatinous white beef stock, dried and fresh mushrooms, blond roux, and freshly ground mustard seed.

Continue reading »

Chile Verde is a dish straddling the border between Mexico and the United States. It can be made with a distinctively Tex-Mex flair, served in burritos, or created as a rich broth for plain steamed rice called morisqueta. Even wilder variations of chile verde call for paprika, cinnamon, and yellow bell peppers or chicken instead of pork. To complicate matters further, there is another eerily similar dish, called Chilayo, which Diana Kennedy attributes to the Colima region of Mexico in her book The Art of Mexican Cooking. So given all this, what exactly is chile verde?

Well I can’t tell you what chile verde should be, because anything I say could be contradicted by at least ten Mexican grandmothers or world-class competitors in chili cook-offs (all of whom can hardly agree with each other). However, I can tell you all about my chile verde, which is a rather simple blend of common sense and personal preference.

Continue reading »

I’ve seen a wide swath of “BBQ sauces"—everything from thin vinegar basting mops to thick soy-based Asian mixtures. But when I think of BBQ sauce, and what most people think of when you say BBQ sauce, is a combination of the holy trinity: vinegar, tomato, and molasses. BBQ sauce of this category isn’t intended to penetrate the meat, and it should never be used to baste meat exposed directly to heat for long periods of time (unless you like eating carbon). The sugar content, however, makes the sauce a prime candidate for caramelization. Caramelization is the process whereby finger-licking good BBQ sauce gets stuck to your meat. Sticky sauce may be messy, but it’s preferable to having the sauce slide off entirely while you’re trying to eat a hunky rack of ribs.

So what’s the recipe for BBQ sauce? Well, the answer is there is no single recipe, even if we narrow down our options to those that include The Three Main Ingredients. Some people like it tangy (more vinegar). Some people like it sweet. Some people like it hot. Some people like it smoky and with a tasty bite of booze. Depending on what you like, you’ll have to adjust the amount of sweet, tangy, hot, smoky, and bitter components in your recipe.

Continue reading »

Beef stroganoff is one of those faithful staples of the hearth I turn to when I need a break from fancier fare. My old trusty recipe, handwritten on a wrinkled, water stained piece of typing paper, went something like this:

egg noodles, prepared
2 lbs stew meat, cubed
? white onion, chopped into squares
1? (10.75 oz) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, fat free
? cup water
¼ cup fresh chives, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1? cubes beef boullion, crushed or minced to powder
? cup white wine, dry
1 (8 oz) container low fat sour cream
? cup chopped fresh parsley
1 large box fresh mushrooms, cut in half, lightly sautéed

Continue reading »