I’ve been craving Mushroom Stroganoff.  You know the kind that has that perfect gravy texture, slightly salty, slightly sweet, yet tart — a perfect balance.  Here are a couple of Stroganoff recipes that I’ve tried recently, though these are good, they still don’t quite hit the sweet spot that I’m looking for in my Stroganoff.  So I’m still searching…

However if you want a nice heartly meal, I do suggest one of the following recipes.

First off, the Beef Stroganoff recipe is adapted from the San Antonio Express-News Taste section.  For beef I tried Gardein Homestyle Beefless Tips.  This was the first time I’ve used them, and they weren’t bad. My husband thought they had a Boga Burger taste to them. I really liked the appearance of these veggie beef tips once they sizzled in the pan.

I couldn’t find cornichons in my grocery store so I substituted dill pickles.  My family is odd, we liked this

addition.  The thought of adding pickles to stroganoff would have never occurred to me.

If you haven’t picked up this recurring them yet in my blogs, you should start to notice that I substitute a lot when I don’t have the ingredients in-house.  For this occasion I didn’t have pasta noodles, however I did have rice noodles in my cupboard.  This is a good substitute for anyone who is gluten intolerant.

Beef Stroganoff

• 16 oz. Beef Substitute
• 1 Tbl Sweet or Hot Paprika
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Pepper to Taste
• 2 Tbl Butter
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 1/2 Cup Dry White Wine
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• 1/2 Cup Cornichons (small tart pickles), cut into small strips

Sprinkle meat with paprika, slat and pepper; blend well.

Heat butter in a skillet over high heat; add meat. Cook as directed by meat packaging, stirring occastionally; remove meat with slotted spoon.

Add onion to skillet; cook, stirring about 1 minute.

Pour in wine and reduce by half, cooking about 5 minutes.

Lower the heat; stir in sour cream.

Warm the sauce, but do not let it boil.

Return the meat to the skillet; stir to blend.

Stir in cornichons.

The next recipe I tried included yogurt. I recently had a friend tell me that yogurt is the success to a nice tart stroganoff.  My husband also declared this recipe good and went back for seconds — twice.  I found this recipe at Bake Space.

Mushroom Stroganoff

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large Onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of Garlic, minced
• 3/4 pound Mushrooms, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups Vegetable Stock
• 3/4 cup low-fat Sour Cream
• 3/4 cup non-fat Yogurt (Note: You can use a combination of low or non-fat Greek yogurt (such as Fage) and light sour cream, or use one exclusively)
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon low sodium Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Parsley and a lttle extra for garnish
• 8 ounces Farfalle Pasta (Note: Feel free to use whatever pasta you prefer, or even brown or white rice)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Add noodles, and cook according to your desired level of doneness.

Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.

Add onions and garlic, and cook, stirring until softened.

Add the sliced mushrooms, cooking until they are softened and lightly browned.

Next add the stock, soy and Worcestershire sauces.

Bring the sauce to a boil, and cook until the mixture has reduced by 1/3.

In a small bowl combine the sour cream and flour and parsley.

Add this mixture to the pan and stir.

Continue cooking over low heat, just until the sauce thickens.

Pour the pasta into the sauce and cook until the dish is evenly heated through.

Serve, seasoning with salt and pepper and garnish with additional parsley and a dollop of sour cream.