January « 2012 « Dreaming Dragonfly

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff part2

So the other day I posted about making crock pot Beef Stroganoff.

It cooked for 6 or so hours on high and the meat came out nice and tender. The meat could have been more flavorful, but I blame myself for going too simple so I can’t complain too much.

I noticed that there was still alot of liquid, so I ladled that out and put it in a pan on the stove top. I mixed in a little flour & better than bouillon (this stuff is great, we always have beef, chicken and vegetable base in our fridge) and cooked it down. I like a nice, thick, rich sauce.

I should have cooked it down more since when I added the sour cream at the end it ended up being too thin again. It had a great flavor from being cooked down and concentrated but it was a little too thin to stick nicely to the noodles.

I would call this recipe a success with some future minor tweaks needed. It’s a relatively simple crockpot meal with a cheaper cut of meat when you can find it on sale.

Crockpot Stroganoff

Normally I make Beef Stroganoff the old fashioned way. Last week bottom round roasts were on sale. My husband made one into a delicious pot roast and we still had another one to use or freeze.

I wasn’t in the mood for another pot roast or a beef stew and I wanted to try something new. While cooking Stroganoff isn’t new to us. Cooking it in the crockpot is, and cutting up a bottom round roast for it is new too.

I used this recipe and

this recipe, as my inspiration.

I modified them to our taste, omitting the mustard, Horseradish, parsley, paprika and garlic. I wanted a simple Stroganoff. I did add some red wine to the beef broth.

We cubed up the bottom round roast, browned it before putting it in the crockpot with an onion, mushrooms and a can of beef broth and some red wine.

We set the crockpot for 5 hours on high and it smells delicious while it has been cooking. When the meat is tender, I will add in the sour cream with a little flour to thicken the sauce. I plan to serve this over egg noodles so I will start those cooking on the stove once I add the sour cream mixture to the crockpot.

Is it too early to start thinking of my garden?

Maybe for some folks it’s not too soon to start thinking of the coming gardening season, but living in the Northeast like I do all I can do is daydream. (and go through my seed starting supplies to see what I need)

I’m thinking of starting some Violas (Johnny Jump Ups) from seeds this year. I normally don’t do this as I like the instant gratification of planting already blooming plants. Especially since I plant these in a big planter by my front door.

However, over the last few years I have been sorely disappointed in the selection of plants to choose from. It doesn’t seem to matter if I go to a superstore or to the pricey garden centers near me. The selection is BORING. And that’s if they have Violas at all and not just Pansies. I love Pansies but prefer Violas for the planter near my front door. They are much more delicate and the smell is amazing.

Looking around at Viola seeds, I see several new ones for 2012 that are making my mouth water.

First we have Caramel Rose Shad es,

Caramel Rose Shades

Next up is Caramel Angelo from the same company.

Caramel Angelo

Burpee seems to only have 4 Violas to choose from but Holy Cow is one of them a knockout. It’s Pyschedelic Spring.

“Violas dazzle in delicious colors – good enough to eat. “

Pyschedelic Spring

I’m sure there are more out there and I plan to peruse the seed racks at my local stores as soon as they start putting them up. Another fun thing to do is if you find a seed/plant that appeals to you, look it up on Flickr to get an idea of how the colors really look and if you still like it as much.

Vera

Vera by Annita Wilschut

I recently downloaded Vera by Annita Wilschut off of Ravelry. I looked for several days for a simple (not just easy to knit but a simple design as well) stuffed animal to knit for a certain small person.

I haven’t started Vera yet but I love the non fussy look of this bear. It seems fairly straightforward to knit as well. I am going to knit it out of Spa from the Naturally Caron line.

Spa - Misty Taupe

The color is Misty Taupe. It is a Bamboo blended with acrylic. Acrylic isn’t usually my first, second or even third choice but since this is for a child I wanted something that was going to hold up to washing and I’m not sure if there are any Wool allergies so I am playing it safe.

The Barkside

When I saw this on TV it took me a minute to figure out what the hell they were barking…and then I laughed and laughed.
Hello…it’s dogs barking Star Wars and they have a Vizsla that looks and sounds like Brown.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff part2

Crockpot Stroganoff

Is it too early to start thinking of my garden?

Vera

The Barkside

10 things about me