Mushroom Stroganoff (Vegetarian)

As many of you know, Brett is an omnivore. Though he occasionally eats meat, he prefers vegetarian food most of the time. One problem? I'm allergic to dairy. I will occasionally endure the prescription haze of an antihistamine to either indulge on a bit of dairy, or when traveling to make finding vegetarian food for myself easier. But I have no problem with dairy - I just cannot eat it regularly. With my being employed and Brett still being a student, he is at home all day. He is not the biggest fan of cooking and thus would often go all day without eating if nothing convenient was at hand. He is a skinny boy as it is; the last thing he needs to be doing is skipping meals.

It took almost seven years, but I finally convinced him that not only do I not mind cooking something up for him to have for lunch during the week, but I actually really enjoy it.

He finally started giving me a list of things he'd like to have to eat, that would be convenient for him to make up for his meals during the week while I am at work. His first request was stroganoff. Not the kind with meat in it though, but a mushroom loaded vegetarian stroganoff. So, I made it for him and had him in the kitchen with me so he could taste it and let me know what it needed. It is strange cooking from the brain, sight, and smell only, but with Brett there to taste, it worked out quite well.

He loved this stroganoff. I'm actually not sure love is a strong enough word in this instance. Brett isn't one to give idle compliments, and especially not one to excessively compliment, but he did with this. Every single time he ate some of this, he would let me know how much he liked it. He'd send me an email telling me how good it was, he'd get on Google Talk and let me know he had it again and loved it, he would make a point to tell me when he talked to me at lunch or when I got home from work that he had had more stroganoff and he still really, really liked it. I wasn't originally going to blog about it, but then he went through the effort of photographing a bowl of it, and even taking the time to make a presentation, so I couldn't say no at that point. Really, it was pretty cute, and I am so happy he liked it as much as he did.

He had also trimmed a catnip plant right before eating and so used his small pruned bit of kitty-nip greens as the "pretty-pretty" for his picture. He enjoyed his stroganoff over Indiana made egg noodles from Selina. I haven't had the pleasure of trying them yet, but Brett loved them.

A little aside - Selina got us the coolest wedding gifts ever: a tortilla press, corn masa, a tortilla warmer, all sorts of salsa, pickled peppers, chow chow, fruit butters, she got Brett chocolate covered Oreos, dark chocolate covered cherries, tzatziki spice, and even locally produced egg noodles. It was so sweet and thoughtful; I only hope that our gift to her was even half as appreciated. Oh, and I have now officially made tortillas! Corn tortillas to be precise. Brett and I made them a few weeks ago when testing out a spin on our J&B's Huevos Rancheros and they were so good. And easy to make too! Thanks Selina, you are too awesome.

Also, I'm not sure about veganizing this recipe. I tried making a stroganoff with tofu sour cream a couple of years ago, and I'm sorry to the folks who think it tastes the same as "regular" sour cream because it doesn't, at least not in any way, shape, or form in my humble opinion, and that tofu sour cream stroganoff was one of the nastiest things I have ever had come out of my kitchen. So be warned that if you try to make this vegan, it might not actually taste good. :-)

And now, here she be!



The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Mushroom Stroganoff:
2-4 tbsp canola oil
1/2 lb mushrooms oyster mushrooms, sliced *
small handful (5-6) button mushrooms, sliced
2 small yellow onions, minced *
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tub organic sour cream
2 tbsp veggie broth
4 tbsp Earth Balance
salt
black pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high. Add the mushrooms and onions, cook for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until mushrooms are soft.

Reduce heat to slightly below medium and add sour cream, broth, Earth Balance, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat through so sauce thins out a bit.

Serve over hot egg noodles.

I have been cooking more than just things for Brett lately - lots of cookbook recipes that have needed to be created or tested. I think sometime soon I will do a brief post with some "teaser" pictures of the things Selina and I have been dreaming up for our cookbook.

Other than some cookbook testing and gardening duties here and there, Brett and I have been enjoying married life and each other's company. We have really broken that NBA 2k9 game in too - we are finally winning some games. I've been doing a lot of reading and other than that we're just trying to keep cool during this mid-Missouri heat wave. Right now it is 92 with a heat index of 105; it is supposed to get worse before the day is done. Anyone under the midst of a heat wave, do be careful, drink lots of fluids and don't stay out in it too long, heat exhaustion is lame and no fun at all.

'Til next time!