Beef Stroganoff
Fall is approaching, and I plan to celebrate it with Beef Stroganoff - the real thing. Thin slices of tenderloin are pan-roasted in a hot skillet and then bathed with sautéed onions in a velouté that has been amplified with mustard and sour cream. This dish is garnished with a mound of shoestring potatoes. It's immensely satisfying, partly because it fills the house with "serious cooking!" smells that I recall from childhood.
As usual, I begin by saying "there's nothing to it" and then proceed to rely on expensive appliances. (Given today's excesses, they're not that expensive.) You can always have the butcher slice the meet, and nobody really needs a deep-fat fryer (except anyone stuck with an unventilated kitchen - that would be me).
More than half of the email that I get from far-flung readers is written in response to a Culinarion page. Considering the plethora of culinary sites out there, I'm a bit non-plussed. I took the branch down for a while, some time ago, thinking that it had nothing to do with the rest of Portico. But of course it belongs, because if I'm not reading or writing, going to concerts or museums, or paying attention to New York City, then I'm in the kitchen!
