Roast Beef Stroganoff

Roast Beef StroganoffBack Burner Beef Stroganoff!

For me, Beef Stroganoff is one of those recipes I rarely think I want until I’m actually enjoying a plate of it.  I always forget just how good it is until I’m stuffing my face and going back for seconds.  The way I did this recipe isn’t exactly normal practice.  And I mean that in two different ways.  Usually the beef is combined and cooked into the Stroganoff but I don’t do it that way in this recipe.  Also, most home cooks have not adopted Restaurant Chef Techniques and those are the secrets I try to pass on to you here in the Poor Man’s Gourmet Kitchen.

Roast Beef for StroganoffOne Particular technique I’m referring to is cooking things separately.  Have you ever wondered why your favorite restaurant dishes are so resilient and full of flavor?  Well, that’s why.  A lot of things that compliment each other are cooked separately.  A great example is Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo.  The Noodles are seasoned and Cooked separately, and so is the Chicken and the sauce.  That’s why it works wonders on your Pallet when they’re combined and they compliment each other, or the dish would never work.  And that’s the idea and Technique I implement in this recipe.  I insure that it works when I cook the Roast Beef separately because I use the stock from the roast as the flavor when I cook the Beef Stroganoff Noodles.  This one concept, this one little lesson has turned “okay” cooks into great cooks over night.  So use this technique in your cooking, if you don’t already, and you’ll improve your cooking 100%

Beef Stroganoff Ingredients:

2 cups Egg Noodles
1 Sliced Onion (long slices)
10 oz sliced Portobello Mushrooms
2 chopped Green Onions
1 tbsp fresh chopped Parsley
1 chopped Garlic Clove
2 tbsp Butter
1 1/2 cups Beef Stock
1 cup Heavy Cream
3/4 cup Sour Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
Oil for Cooking
1 Roast Beef (Click Here for Recipe)

Start with a few tbsp of oil, add the Garlic and Sliced Onion but save the Green Onion and Parsley for last.  Add and saute the Mushrooms until they turn color and soften.  Then add the Noodles and butter and stir until it melts.  Add the Beef Stock, Heavy cream and the Sour Cream.  Bring to a boil, then drop the heat to a simmer and reduce the liquid to a creamy sauce(about 10 minutes).  Then serve the Roast Beef Stroganoff with 8 to 10 oz of Roast Beef on top and enjoy.

Jalapeno Poppers

Jalapeno PoppersNew and Improved Jalapeno Poppers!

So what’s so new and improved about these Jalapeno Poppers?  Everything!  These Poppers are absolutely done right.  There is nothing lazy about them.  If you’ve already looked online, then you’ve probably noticed that there are a lot of people that don’t even deal with the breading.  And then, to make matters worse, some recipes use only half the pepper.  Others are wrapped with bacon or just a little Panko sprinkled on top, then baked.  Well not my Jalapeno Poppers, no Sir/Mam.  Not only are these the real deal, I’ve made some definite improvements so let’s talk about it.

progresso-bread-crumbs-italian-425g-82-pFirst of all, what are the basic rules for traditional Jalapeno Poppers?  One, it’s got to be a whole Pepper.  Two, it’s got to be stuffed with Cheese.  Three, it’s got to be breaded and Baked or Fried, and Four, it’s got to stay and hold together.  The secret for all of the above is detail.  So the first thing you need to do is peel the skins.  This is one of the secrets to keeping the breading on a shiny, smooth Jalapeno.  The second trick is to stuff them with enough Cheese so that two Jalapeno halves will stick back together with pressure.  Now if you want to know how to keep them together with out using a tooth pick, listen to this.  Once the Jalapeno Poppers are stuffed and pressed together, they must be rolled in flour first, then egg washed, rolled in breading, then back in the egg wash and rolled in the breading one last time.  This three step process will hold the Pepper together from the outside, while the cold from the freezer holds the inside.  Freezing the Poppers for a couple of hours before they’re fried insures that they won’t fall apart in the fryer.  The Frying Cooks The egg wash breading on the outside before the frozen cheese softens on the inside.  And this keeps them from falling apart and making a mess in the oil.

Jalapeno Poppers Ingredients:

8 to 10 Jalapeno Peppers
1 pkg Creme Cheese
2 chopped Green Onions
1/3 pkg sliced bacon
1/2 cup graded Colby Jack Cheese
1/2 tsp Ranch Dressing Seasoning (optional)

Breading:

3 to 4 eggs
1/2 cup Flour
1 cup Bread Crumbs (Progresso Garlic and Herb)
Oil for Frying

I recommend Frying at 375 degrees until golden brown, which takes only a few minutes.  If you’re going to bake them, bake at 425 degrees for approximately 8-12 minutes.  Serve Jalapeno Poppers with a Sweet Berry Jelly or Orange Chili Sauce.

Homemade Crepes with Cherry Topping Recipe

Homemade Crepes

Fast and Easy, Homemade Crepes!

These Homemade Crepes are fantastic, I’m not even going to lie. It’s a Banana infused batter with vanilla yogurt and a fresh homemade cherry topping!  You are going to love these!  There are videos and ingredients below for both the Crepe BAtter and the Cherry Topping, so get to it and happy cooking!

Homemade Crepe Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup Milk
1 cup Flour
1 Egg
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Banana (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp melted butter per pancake

Cherry Topping Ingredients:
3 to 4 cups Fresh Pitted Cherries
1 cup Water
1 cup Sugar
1/8 tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder (or just cinnamon)
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
a pinch of Cayenne Pepper (optional, but it;s GREAT)
1 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tbsp Water

These step by step Video instructional’s are all you need to take you straight to making these wonderful Homemade Crepes.