YES, you CAN cook: stroganoff

There are a number of you out there who read these blogs for enjoyment, sort of as a voyeur because, as you have said to me "I CAN'T COOK" or "OH, it takes too much time." OK, before I call you out in public, (and you know I will...), I'm going to give you a recipe, more a "formula" that you CAN and you WILL make. From start to finish - and when I say start to finish, that includes getting the stuff out of my fridge, this recipe took me 32 minutes to make. I timed it. And a lot of that time is "do nothing time," so you can do something else.
Stroganoff. You all know it don't you? Or do you? If you are of a certain age, like Annalena, you remember the age of "the chafing dish," where everyone was looking for recipes that you could do, in the chafing dish, at the table, to impress your friends. It was always BEEF stroganoff, which is supposed to be Russian (although I have no idea why this is considered a Russian recipe. It seems more Austrian or German to me, but this is an area of cooking about which I know next to nothing).
Stroganoff seems to have many manifestations, but they all share a few things: an onion of some kind, a heavyweight dairy component of some kind, mushrooms, and meat. Beyond that, all bets are off. Frankly, so is the meat, as I have had plain mushroom stroganoff, green bean stroganoff, sweet potato stroganoff, and so on and so forth. Truth to be told, the sauce here is wonderful. You could put it on just about anything.
I made it today with veal. Again, if this brings in the "cute animal" issue with you, switch to classic beef. Or pork. Or perhaps boneless chicken thighs. Play with the protein component.

You will need half a cup of an onion variety of some type. Shallots are classic. I had bunches of spring onions, and I used those. You could use leeks, or a combination of these things as well. You will also need a pound of mushrooms, any kind. Classically, the good old button mushrooms are used. Use what you have and what you like, but don't leave them out. You also need 3/4 cup of a dairy ingredient: I grew up using sour cream, and that's what I used here. You can use heavy cream, or creme fraiche. PLEASE do not skimp on this with the low fat options. The sauce will not work. Even full fat yogurt will fail you, although perhaps the new Greek yogurts will work. I dunno. You also need a cup of stock of some kind, be it chicken or beef, and also, finally, 2 pounds of meat, cubed. Now, classically, we are told to use one of the better cuts of meat: tenderloin, or something along those lines. If the tenderness is important to you, fine, use it. Plain old stew meat is fine for me. Equipment wise, you need a big skilled. A BIG one.

Ok, lets get to work. First, pat the meat dry, and then liberally sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Chop the onion element (don't be a surgeon here), and then slice the mushrooms nice and thick. Put two tablespoons of oil (I used olive oil, with veal, but you could use vegetable) in the skillet, and get it hot. Add the meat, without crowding the pan, and saute until you've got a nice brown color on all sides. It will not take you more than five minutes. I promise. Move the meet to a tray that will catch its juices. Keep the pan on the heat, and add the onions with two tablespoons of butter. Cook em for about two minutes, and add the mushrooms. Keep your eye on things here. For a few minutes, absolutely nothing will happen. Then, the mushrooms will begin to give up their water, and they will give up a LOT of water. Cook them until it pretty much evaporates, probably about five minutes. Now add the cup of stock. I also put a few tablespoons of marsala (the dry variety) in with it. You don't have to, but I had "veal marsala" on my mind). This will evaporate down into a thick brown sauce. Now, you add the sour cream and stir it all together and add a tablespoon of dijon mustard. Let it conmingle for a few minutes, and put the meat back into the pan, and stir it all together.

Know what? YOU ARE DONE!!!! Unless you want to add some fresh dill.

See what I mean about fast? You could do this for a weekday dinner, boiling up some starch as it cooks. What I like to do, though, is to put it together on the weekend, and then reheat it. It's better that way.

Noodles, rice, spaetzle (my favorite), polenta, whatever you like. Just get in there and cook it up.

And remember, I WILL call you folks out...