Mushroom Stroganoff

Growing up one of my favorite meals was beef stroganoff. You know, the one with the sauce made of browned beef, onions, cream of mushroom soup, milk, and sour cream served over egg noodles. My mouth waters just thinking about it. Slathering the leftover sauce over toast the next day... Fogettaboutit.

I however had never made it.... for two main reasons:

1. It was one of those dishes that was always made by the same person and will never ever taste the same. Ever. No matter what. Ever.

2. I don't even have a can of cream of mushroom soup in my pantry.

Not to mention, up until about 3 months ago I thought I loathed mushrooms so buying some at the store for cooking was out of the question. Then I took a cooking class and learned how to properly prepare mushrooms for cooking and I've been hooked ever since.

After browsing through the recipes on Gina's site and coming across one for mushroom stroganoff (using real mushrooms!) I had to give it a try.

Flavor-wise this dish was fabulous! Was it the stroganoff I remember from my childhood? No, but I wasn't expecting that either. It hit the spot and thats all I care about.

The best part of all: the sauce tastes even better leftover on top of rice.

Garlic Shrimp Pasta

This is the kind of dinner you're thankful for turning out. This is the kind of dinner that you pull out of your ass because its 7 o'clock and all you have in front of you is thawed shrimp. This is the kind of dinner that makes you want to blog it for the next time your ill prepared.

I know this isn't anything new or inspired, but its just what we needed after a long day. Not to mention, it was the perfect dish to break in our new 12 inch All-Clad skillet!

Isn't she a beauty?

Retail price: $180.

Store price: $99.

Final price after using $50 gift card: $57.

Who's winning at life now Charlie?

I'm done now.

Restaurant Review: Zelo

As much as I love spontaneous dates, sometimes I get disappointed with the way they turn out. What can I say? I'm a planner y'all. So imagine my disappointment when I took the bus downtown one summer day for an impromptu lunch at our favorite spot, just to learn it closed 15 minutes before we arrived.

After whining for about 10 minutes hunger took over and we hopped on over to Zelo. Given it was a hot summer day we chose to sit on the patio, perfect for people watching. We were given menus and brought out a bread basket to enjoy while we waited for our meals to arrive.

I ordered half a brazilian salad with salmon and a cup of tomato basil soup. The salad came with mixed greens, hearts of palm, celery, tomato topped with a lemon vinaigrette. To ensure that I got some protein I added a piece of salmon and was (pleasantly) shocked to see that it covered practically the entire salad. The salmon was seared to perfection and paired well with the lemon vinaigrette on the salad. The soup, while flavorful, was just too heavy for me. I felt like I was eating a bowl of pasta sauce, so I will skip this soup in the future.

Do you see the size of that piece of salmon?

Before I get to what Mark ordered I need to share a conversation Mark and I had while browsing the menu:

Me: Do you know what you are going to order?

Mark: I actually think I am going to get something lighter for lunch. *half a second later* I'm getting the lasagna.

That is probably my favorite quote from Mark ever. He didn't even take a breath between saying he was going light and deciding on probably the heaviest menu item. Maybe you had to be there to get why its so funny?

Anywho, on to his dish: lasagna with sausage. Overall, it was very 'meh'... The piece was enormous, more than any one person needs in a sitting. The sauce was heavy, the sausage wasn't predominate enough, and the ending impression was that he wouldn't order it again. The one positive: he was beyond full until dinner.

About to take on his lasagna, which is much larger
than this picture makes it seem

Zelo was perfect for Nicollet Mall people watching but just ok when it came to the food. I loved my salad and if I ever go back would order it again. However I'm not sure if that is because of how good it was or out of fear of being disappointed in my choice of dish.

8.21.12

"Enchilada" Pasta

Mmmmm cheesy, meaty, pasta-y goodness

Most nights when I ask Mark what he thinks of the dinner I made he says "it's good, I like it". To me that is a success, especially because most of our dinners are really healthy and full of vegetables (which Mark isn't the most fond of). But every once in awhile my question is met with an enthusiastic "this is delicious, what's in it!", such is the case with this recipe for "enchilada" pasta as Mark lovingly named it.

It's the perfect dish for us because it combines meat, pasta, veggies, and cheese while staying relatively healthy until we decide to eat all 4 servings in one sitting.... It was an accident, I promise. But I don't even feel the need to justify, sometimes you just need a big bowl of pasta, sauce, and cheese.

No need to feel ashamed.

Restaurant Review: Buca di Beppo (Maple Grove Location

Most of us at Buca fro Daren's 25th birthday

Back in June our good friend Daren turned the ripe age of 52... I mean 25. It was a big one because he is the first of my friends to do so. If you couldn't already tell, we are pretty tight with Daren and his family. We try to get together once a week, and you will often find us over at his house where Mark will be playing MLB The Show with Daren's little brother Jeff. So when his birthday rolled around he and his family kindly invited us along for a birthday dinner at Buca. If you recall, Mark and I had recently tried Buca for the first time and were anxious to try it again.

We went with Daren, Jeff, their parents (Daryl & Sue), their aunt (Cheryl), and her roommate (Patty). Once we were seated the complimentary bread basket was delivered. Forgetting our previous experience, we made the mistake of eating some. It was a regrettable decision; sorry Buca two strikes and you are out with the bread basket.

Next we started looking at the menu, which turned into Mark and I getting schooled on the way Buca works. As it turns out each entree serves at least two people and there is still a good chance you will have leftovers. So Mark and I sat back and let Daren and his family take care of the ordering because we were rather lost.