Stroganoff

The husband had lunch with us today and requested an easy and delicious dish, Chicken Stroganoff. It is simple to make but so good! I always liked stroganoff, and when I was younger it was considered sort of a gourmet dish, which means we did not have it very often. Nowadays it has definitely become a common dish, but we still celebrate when my Mom makes stroganoff at home!
I like it made with chicken, and it can be made with beef too. It can be served over noodles, but we like it over rice, and preferably accompanied with potato sticks! Yum! (This is how we normally eat this dish in Brazil, how about here; do you guys have heard of potatoes sticks with stroganoff??)
I also made a new recipe today, as I wanted to serve some sort of veggie along with our lunch. I had bought some nice grapefruit and had spinach in the fridge, so I looked for a recipe and came out with sort of a “winter salad” for us. It may not have been the best accompaniment to the stroganoff, but Wilted Spinach-and-Citrus Salad was actually quite tasty! However, I was the only one who liked it here… luckily I only made half recipe (I knew the husband was not going to eat it). It was a nice way to have some warm spinach, other that the usual sautéed or creamed versions. My grapefruit was very juicy, so I ended up with more dressing than needed, but other than that I enjoyed my little salad!
Oh, and remember I mentioned a dessert yesterday?! Well, it was a flop! Yes, the kitchen is full of successes, but sometimes even with the best of intentions some recipes do not come out right. It was a simple one, but the flavors just did not do it for us. Even though I had a feeling that yogurt and chocolate would not be the best of combinations I decided to try the recipe anyway, I guess I was right in the first place…
So, to compensate for the not so good dessert (none of us was able to finish it) the “boys” asked me for some chocolate pudding, and that is what we are going to have tonight! (Not the boxed stuff though, I made it myself! Let me know if anyone wants and I can post the recipe later)
Planning for a new recipe to come, tune in tomorrow to see!

Ana

My Chicken Stroganoff
1 kg chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil (or canola oil)
1 large finely chopped onion (or 2 small)
½ cup tomato extract (or tomato paste)
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
A small jar of whole mushrooms
½ cup heavy cream (more or less as needed)

Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onions for a minute, add chicken and sauté it until it is cooked, stirring constantly. Add the tomato paste, ketchup, and mustard; season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a few minutes to thicken the sauce a bit. Turn off the heat, add mushrooms, heavy cream and stir. Serve it with rice and potato sticks!

(Not the prettiest picture, I know...)

Wilted Spinach-and-Citrus Salad
2 large grapefruit
2 large oranges
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion, separated into rings
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 cups loosely packed torn spinach leaves
1/4 cup plain croutons

Peel and section grapefruit and oranges over a bowl; squeeze membranes to extract juice. Set sections aside; reserve 1/4 cup juice. Discard membranes.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté 30 seconds. Stir in reserved juice, vinegar, honey, and salt. Add fruit and spinach; cook 1 minute or until spinach begins to wilt, tossing gently. Arrange spinach mixture on individual salad plates; top with croutons. Yield: 4 servings.
Cooking Light, January 1995

Chocolate Pudding, I love it!!