Not Your Mother's Stroganoff

I had a hankering for some beef stroganoff the other day and decided to make it tonight. I turned to my favorite source for recipes... SAVEUR.com. I'm a huge fan (bordering on stalker) of this magazine and subscribe to the paper edition as well. I have never, NEVER made anything from their collection where I said, "Eh, it was alright."

I particularly like when they cover classic dishes. The dishes made when times were tough and people had to use a bare minimum of ingredients to create a marvelous taste they wouldn't necessarily mind eating day after day. Dinners which have been passed from generation to generation to generation and have long since reached their perfect state and are now being passed off in their "cheap and easy" form in other magazines. Recipes like french onion soup, latkes (potato pancakes) and now beef stroganoff. (links to all three are embedded... click at your leisure)

First off, I always thought stroganoff was German. Lo and behold, it is actually a classic dish from Russia which became popular in the States during the 1950's brought back by servicemen returning home from Europe after WWII. Who'da known? Anyway, my take on it is on the left there... I know, not quite as appealing as the lead photo (the one from saveur's website), but there was hardly a bite left on the five plates.

Pair this with a good WWII movie (The Pianist with Adrien Brody, or Enemy at the Gates with Jude Law) for sentimentality.

(P.S. The fact that it had "french fries" on top helped keep the kids from even noticing it had onions in there. Oh, and I was surprised at the lack of mushrooms. It was still an amazing dinner. Some people commenting said it would do well on top of mashed potatoes as well... we still decided to go with the "fries".)

Tomorrow night, I'm making Miso-Marinated Salmon with Green Sauce. I'll let you know how it goes.