BOOK/A TABLE - Beef Stroganoff

Over 20 years ago, my cousin and I started an ongoing tradition of making dinner together during my holiday visits to New Hampshire. At first, we were just cooking for her husband and three children, but word of our feasts started getting around and soon neighbors and friends also began showing up to see what we were making...such as lavender-roasted quail, venison steaks, classic Vietnamese dumplings, Thai noodles, beef Stroganoff, and chicken pot pie in pumpkins. 

The adults would mingle, but her children (practically babies at the time) would watch us goggle-eyed from the kitchen counter as we whisked, simmered, and chopped, preparing elaborate dishes that often wouldn’t be ready until late in the evening, bedtime be damned! 

It still staggers me that her children now have babies of their own. Somewhere, there is a picture of my cousin peering over my crib to get a look at me. 

When she and I were kids in the 70s, oh how we loved watching Charlie’s Angels on television. In case you don’t know, the cop drama was about three gorgeous gals who did investigative work for a mysterious man named Charlie Townsend. It was the one show I was allowed to stay up past my bedtime to watch.

I recently found my copy of one of the books based on the series, and was wildly amused to read this:

Charlie chuckled. “Jill, how’s the painting coming?”
The blonde Jill said, “I bought one of those cooking encyclopedias.”
Charlie chuckled again. “It’s hard to keep up with you.”
“I’ve gotten as far as B.” Her tone became inviting. “My beef Stroganoff isn’t bad, Charlie.”
“Let me know when you get to zucchini.”

Beef Stroganoff (named for the Russian Stroganov family) was one of the first dishes my cousin and I made together. There are many different versions, but this one should dispel any lurid memories of the glop perhaps served in your school’s cafeteria, or what you may have suffered through at home, made with Campbell’s mushroom soup.    

I think you can skip the fussy work of making matchstick potatoes. Hot buttered noodles will do just fine!

Beef Stroganoff
Adapted from Saveur magazine
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp dry mustard
1 cup beef stock
1⁄4 cup sour cream
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 1⁄2 lb beef tenderloin, cut into 3” x 1” x 1/8” slices
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Canola oil, for frying
4 russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/8” matchsticks
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Instructions
Step 1
Heat 2 tbsp. butter in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and dry mustard, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Gradually add stock, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil; cook until thick, about 2 minutes. Stir in sour cream, remove from heat, and set aside.

Step 2
Heat remaining butter in a 12” skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and cook until soft and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to high, add meat, and cook until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low, add reserved sauce, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.

Step 3
Meanwhile, pour oil to a depth of 1 1⁄2” in a 4-qt. saucepan, and heat over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 365°. Working in batches, fry potatoes until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels; season to taste with salt while still warm.

Step 4
Spoon stroganoff onto a serving platter, and cover with a mound of jumbled straw potatoes. Garnish with parsley.

 

Thanks NYT Cooking for the pic!

Moody's Diner Whoopie Pies

When I got wind that Dunkin’ had created a whoopie pie donut (available only through the end of this month!), I rushed out to get mine. Certainly it was a clever enough version the treat, piping their glazed chocolate donut full of sugary frosting as they did. And yes, it went down well with a cup of Dunkin’ coffee, but I thought you might enjoy making the real deal yourself—with creamy homemade frosting sandwiched between two fresh-out-of-the-oven mini chocolate cakes (not donuts). And where better to start than with a whoop-inducing recipe from Moody’s Diner in Waldoboro, Maine?

My parents used to have a cottage in Friendship, Maine, and Moody’s was en route—basically a counter and a few booths when I first started going in the 70’s. The slice of banana cream pie or whoopie pie I used to squirrel away as a kid would last me the better part of a week.

Moody’s has since added to the enterprise (I love when they pop up in magazines or on those diner and dive kinds of shows) and they continue to lay claim as purveyors of the best whoopie pies in the state of Maine. Several websites purport to give the recipe from Moody’s, but I pulled this one from my copy of their actual cookbook. Do enjoy! 

Moody’s Diner Whoopie Pies 

Adapted from What’s Cooking at Moody’s Diner 

Whoopie Pie Ingredients:
¾ cup oleo (margarine)
1½ cups sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp vanilla
1½ cups milk
3 cups flour
¾ cup cocoa
¾ tsp baking powder
2 ¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Method:
In large bowl, cream oleo, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add milk slowly and mix well. Combined dry ingredients and stir into batter. Drop batter with small scoop onto greased cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes at 350° degrees. Cool, then fill with whoopie pie filling.

Whoopie Pie Filling Ingredients:
1 cup milk
6 tbsp flour
½ cup shortening
½ cup oleo (margarine)
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Method:
Cook milk and flour in saucepan until thickened. Cool, and beat in remaining ingredients. Beat until filling is light and fluffy.

Dining at Sardi's

Sardi’s looks lovely this time of year, don’t you think? The old dame of the theater district was closed for quite some time after the pandemic and I was thrilled to finally return after so long and catch the bustling restaurant while still gussied up in all its holiday splendor.

When I was a theatrical agent representing actors, I often went to Sardi’s before the opening of a Broadway show—and sometimes my associates and I would sneak back in during intermission to grab a drink at the bar.

On this visit, the memories collected around me as my friends and I were ushered to our corner banquette, where we were flanked by caricatures of several of my former clients among the hundreds of other actors on the walls of fame.

It was cold out and French onion soup seemed the perfect antidote to the chill. I couldn’t help but think too of the times my husband and I, on varying occasions, served a French onion soup that left our guests gasping. The secret seemed to lie in the brandy we liberally ladled in as a substitute for the sherry. I forget who had given us the bottle, but we quickly ran out. When we went to get more, we realized why our soup was so good—the Courvoisier XO brandy we’d been generously gifted was very fine indeed and at $135 a bottle, it was rather the kind you’d sip and savor, instead of pouring into a soup.

A happy accident! And I’m not recommending you go nuts over your soup with such extravagance, but I do think you might use a more modestly priced brandy instead of the sherry suggested below. In any event, this recipe is sure to lead to many ovations, standing or otherwise.

Soupe à l’Oignon (French Onion Soup)

Adapted from Saveur magazine, Issue 107
SERVES 6

Ingredients:
1 cup white wine
1⁄2 cup plus 3 tbsp sherry
10 tbsp butter
1 tsp sugar
3 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
6 sprigs thyme
2 fresh bay leaves
2 qts Beef Stock
12 1⁄2"-thick slices baguette
2 cloves garlic, smashed
6 cups grated gruyère cheese
2 cups finely grated parmigiano-reggiano

Method:
1. Heat oven to 425°. Combine wine, 1⁄2 cup of the sherry, 8 tbsp. of the butter, sugar, onions, and salt and pepper in a 9" × 13" casserole dish and braise, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the onions just begin to brown, 40–45 minutes. Remove casserole from oven, cover with foil, and continue braising in oven, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 1 hour more. Keep the onions warm.
2. Meanwhile, tie parsley, thyme, and bay leaves together with kitchen twine to make a bouquet garni. Put bouquet garni and stock into a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Remove and discard bouquet garni. Stir in remaining sherry and cook for 5 minutes more.
3. While the broth simmers, spread the baguette slices with the remaining butter. Toast in a skillet over medium heat, turning once, until golden, 5–7 minutes. Rub the slices generously with garlic and set aside. Discard any remaining garlic.
4. Heat broiler with rack 6" from element. Arrange 6 heatproof bowls on a foil-lined sheet tray, divide onions and broth between bowls, and stir together. Place 2 baguette slices in each bowl; top each with about 1 cup gruyère and about 1⁄3 cup parmigiano. Broil until cheeses are browned and bubbly, 3–5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Thanks to @chrislabas for the snaps!

BOOK/A TABLE - Welsh Rabbit

It sure ain’t the charming tale of Peter Rabbit, foraging among the lettuces and French beans in Mr. McGregor’s garden until the old geezer chases him out with a rake. In Watership Down, the fear of being caught is very real—and everything is a threat.

Since I read Richard Adams’ book, I figured rabbits have enough to deal with in their everyday lives without me adding to their peril (much as I had previously enjoyed rabbit braised in Riesling or served with a creamy mustard sauce). But there is Welsh Rabbit—aka cheese toast, so warm and comforting—which was traditionally served as a savory course in England after dessert if the rabbit had gotten away. I hope all rabbits get away.

“To come to the end of a time of anxiety and fear! To feel the cloud that hung over us lift and disperse—the cloud that dulled the heart and made happiness no more than a memory! This at least is one joy that must have been known by almost every living creature.”

A happy, hopeful 2025 for everybody!

Welsh Rabbit
Adapted from saveur.com

Ingredients:
3 1⁄2 cups (about 3⁄4 lb.) grated aged English cheddar
1⁄4 cup light beer or ale
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1⁄2 tsp kosher salt
1⁄2 tsp dry mustard
Dash of Tabasco
4-6 slices crustless, toasted wheat bread
Ground pepper

Method:
Combine cheddar, beer, butter, worcestershire sauce, salt, dry mustard, and a dash of Tabasco in a medium pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it melts into a smooth sauce, 4-5 minutes.

Pour melted cheese over slices of bread, sprinkle with ground pepper, if you like, and serve at once.