Beef Stroganoff

This was my grandma's recipe, and despite the fact that I'm not a big meat eater, I love it.  It was perfect for a comforting Sunday dinner on a crisp fall night, and makes 6-8 generous portions.  It's unlike a lot of other stroganoff recipes in that instead of being creamy and white sauce-based, it's tomato-based.  You can stir in 1/2 cup or so of sour cream at the end to make it creamier, but I like it as is.

2 1/2 pounds beef, cut in 1/2 inch cubes (I use top round, trimmed of fat)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, divided
1 large onion, diced
1 can sliced mushrooms (opt.) or scant 1/4 cup beef broth
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce or 2/3 cup tomato juice
salt & pepper
1 1/2 pound cooked pasta or rice

In a brown paper bag, toss cubed beef with flour until lightly coated.  Melt all but 1 Tbs. of butter in large skillet.  Brown beef on both sides, but don't worry about cooking it through (about 5 minutes).  Remove beef from skillet.  Melt remaining butter in skillet, the saute onions until softened.  Add in can of sliced mushrooms and their juice (or beef broth), tomato sauce  (or tomato juice), and browned beef.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low.  Simmer on lowest heat for approximately 1 hour, until beef is tender.  Crockpot option:  empty skillet into crockpot with additional 1/4 cup liquid, and cook on low 6 hours or high 3 hours until meat is tender.

When meat is tender, serve over cooked pasta or rice (I like whole wheat egg noodles or penne).  

More Cafe Rio Salad Recipes to try...

Cilantro Dressing

1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (dry mix)
1 cup buttermilk
1/2- 1/3 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 – 1 small jalapeno (remove seeds)
1 cup mayo
2-3 tsp. lime juice
1-2 tomatillos (remove outer papery skin)
1 garlic clove

Blend all ingredients in blender!

Cafe Rio Chicken

1-8 oz bottle Zesty Italian Dressing
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
3 cloves minced garlic
5 lbs chicken breasts

Cook together in a crock-pot for 4 hours shred meat


Cafe Rio Pork

5-6 lbs pork roast
1 tbsp cumin
1-cup brown sugar
12 oz bottle La Victoria Taco Sauce
20 oz bottle Coke

Cook the roast for 12 hours in crock-pot with water added ½ way up the roast.
After 12 hours drain the water off and add the remaining ingredients; continue
cooking 4 hours; shred the meat and cook another 2 hours.

Green Chile Rice

1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth
4 oz. green chiles
1 sm. onion, diced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. cumin
3 green onions.

Mix together and pour into greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until rice is done at 350. (I wonder if you could try this in the rice cooker. Hmmm, I think we will celebrate The Office season premier tomorrow night with some Cafe Rio salad experimenting).

Lemon Rice

When we stayed with our good friends, the Banks, in California, Angie made us the most delicious dinner and was nice enough to share her recipes. We love this rice so much it is on the menu about once a week now. I am going to try it with less butter next week and see how it goes, so check out the comments after a week or so to see about any adjustments.

2 cups rice
4 cups chicken broth
8 Tbsp. butter (1 stick)
6-8 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. turmeric
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a rice cooker and cook. Gotta love it when food prep is as easy as that! If you don't have a rice cooker, I am sure you could make this stovetop as well, I just don't know any cook time specifications. Besides, everyone should have a rice cooker...it is a kitchen staple!

Coconut Curried Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

This is such a yummy curry recipe but oh.so.easy! If you even remotely like thai food and/or asian style curry you should give this recipe a try. I think you could make it with regular potatoes if you wanted and it would be equally good...in fact, I think I will make it that way from now on because regular potatoes are so much cheaper and almost always on hand. :) This recipe was given to me by my sister-in-law - I have got to get her to add recipes on here! Enjoy!

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. chicken breast tenders (or any kind of chicken really)
2 large shallots, finely sliced (I sustituted 1/4 c. sweet onion and 3 garlic cloves here)
1/2 c. coarsely chopped red onion
2 1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt (or more...I think 1 1/2 tsp. is more like it)
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1/2" pieces
1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro
2 green onions chopped

Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a lareg Dutch Oven over med-high heat (I used a large non-stick frying pan with a lid and it worked just fine). Season chicken with salt and pepper. Saute 5-7 minutes until center is no longer pink. Remove chicken from pan and cover.

Add remaining oil to Dutch over. Saute shallots and onion 3-5 min. Add spices and salt. Add potatoes and coconut milk; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to med-low and simmer 10 minutes. While simmering, dice chicken.

Add chicken to curry; simmer 5 more minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. Top with green onion and cilantro. Serve over jasmine rice.

Rice Pilaf

This is a surprisingly easy side that reminds me of my Nana.

1 1/2 cups white rice
1/2 of a green pepper, chopped finely
1/2 to 1 whole onion, chopped finely
4-5 Tbs. butter
1 small can mushrooms, drained (optional--I leave it out)
2 cans beef consomme (on soup aisle)
1 can water

In a large skillet, melt butter. Brown rice, green pepper, and onion in butter until veggies are softened and rice is toasted. At this point you have 2 choices: 1) pour the mixture into a greased and covered/lidded casserole dish, add the rest of the ingredients, and bake for 1 hour at 350; or 2) add the rest of the ingredients to the skillet, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.