Oodles and Oodles of Zoodles and Squoodles

I am super excited to finally be posting this beef stroganoff recipe.  I cannot wait for you to try it for yourself.  It is absolutely delicious!  I'm still debating on whether to not to even call it beef stroganoff, because it is such a different version than the gray vomit looking one you've probably eaten in the past with the ground beef, mushroom gravy, sour cream, and egg noodles.  It was delicious, vomit appearance and all, but this version is a little more "upscale" I guess you could say.  Instead of ground beef, this version uses stew beef, and instead of sour cream, this version calls for heavy cream.  Here's the recipe

These are the ingredients I used to make this plus half of an onion.

zucchini, mushrooms, heavy cream, worcestershire sauce, paprika, dill, tomato paste,
butter, garlic cloves, beef broth, sea salt, whole grain dijon mustard, merlot, and stew beef

 So, it starts with drying the beef and then sprinkling it with salt and pepper.  I put the beef on a plate with paper towels on the bottom and then use paper towels on the top to press onto the meat and soak up the liquid.  You have to do this to make sure the seasoning sticks to the meat, and also this helps the meat brown.

During the meat drying process, you can be melting your butter in a pan, but you have to make sure your pan is on a low setting, so your butter doesn't melt too quickly and start browning, and then burning.

You add the meat to the melted butter in the pan and brown it on all sides.  You might have to do this in batches depending on the size of the pan.

Once the meat is out, you add in the chopped onion and the mushrooms and some more butter.  You just need to cook this long enough to soften the mushrooms.  Then, you add your minced garlic.  your house should be smelling pretty good at this point.  I only added half of the onion, because that seemed like plenty to me.  Onion and garlic are flavors that can really take over if you aren't careful.

Next, I added the tomato paste, worcestershire, red wine, beef broth, mustard, dill, and paprika to the pan.  I mixed everything into the onion, garlic, and mushroom mixture.

Once the two mixtures are incorporated, you add the beef back in and bring it to a boil.

Once it boils, you cover it and put it in a 350 degree oven for 1-1.5 hours.  I cooked mine for the longest amount of time to make sure the meat was nice and tender.

Once it comes out of the oven, you cook it uncovered on the stove top for 20 minutes to help it thicken up.

Then, you add the heavy cream and let it cook for 15 more minutes while the cream mixes with the sauce.

Finally, you make your zoodles or squoodles (zucchini or squash noodles) or both either using a mandolin or vegetable spiraler.  I bought a vegetable spiraler on amazon a while back, and I bought a cheap one, so I wasn't surprised in my disappointment last night when it was mashing the squash into a watery pulp instead of slicing it.  I quickly switched over to my nice, more expensive mandolin, and it did the trick.

Once the noodles are sliced, you place them in a bowl, cover them with a plate, and microwave on high for 3 minutes. When you remove them from the microwave, you have to drain them by placing them in a colander, and I suggest, pressing on them with a fork or spoon.

Squash and zucchini are very watery vegetables, so you don't want to add them straight to the stroganoff unless you need it to be watery.  There are ways to dry them out, but I've never done that before, so I don't want to suggest doing the wrong thing.

Once your zoodles or squoodles are ready, place them in a bowl or on a plate and top them with the delicious stroganoff mixture!  They add the best pop of color to your plate along with being delicious!

I will warn you, this is highly addictive, and just as delicious the next day for lunch.  Even my little guy loves it.  Also, zoodles and squoodles are vegetables, not pasta.  Do not expect them to be like pasta.  They will have the texture and taste of a vegetable.  Once you understand and accept that, you will love them!  They are oh so delicious!

Happy Eating!