So I mentioned something about balsamic vinegar in my last post. If you were to strike up a conversation about this particular condiment, it likely would not include “ice cream” or “cheese” as items to serve with the vinegar. Before now, I would never have thought that either item would go well with balsamic vinegar. Today, I am a changed woman.
There was a booth at the festival selling various kinds of balsamic vinegar. Now being a good Italian girl, I know the value of a good oil and vinegar, especially to dip fresh bread into or serve on top of a green salad. This is not that kind of vinegar.
First of all, it’s much thicker. Regular vinegar is akin to water in fluidity and texture (though not taste of course). This type is more like runny syrup. Second, this vinegar has been aged—and I don’t think the average vinegar is aged much. Third, this vinegar has added flavors from things that have been added to it, like raspberries or black currents. This creates a wonderfully flavorful, sweet (but not too sugary), and tangy food that now has so much more flexibility with foods and flavors it can be paired with. I’ve already snacked on some with bread and brie, and the combination was really good!
Being the food lover and cook that I am, the vinegar has inspired me to create a meal around the two types I bought (which were the raspberry and vanilla fig). I’ve already figured out how many courses I will have (five), each of which will include one of the two vinegars in some way. Mom, if you’re reading this (which I know you will at some point), you and Papa will be coming over to share this experimentation in the culinary arts.
And since I have a lot of catching-up to do in regards to recipes as well, I will finish this post with two recipes, a dinner and dessert if you will. We’ll start off with the main part of the meal: beef stroganoff.
I know that I have posted a beef stroganoff recipe before, but what makes this one different is that it’s “low-fat.” It can be made on the stove or in a slow-cooker, and it doesn’t sacrifice flavor in its effort to be more healthy. The original recipe comes from Fix It and Forget-It Lightly.
What you’ll need:
1 ½ lbs. round steak
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 lb. fresh mushrooms
1 can 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup
1 c. water
1 c. fat-free sour cream
What you’ll need to do:
1. Cut the steak into strips about 1 inch long and approximately half an inch wide.
2. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the meat on all sides. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and add the salt and pepper. Cook for another 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Mix the soup and water together. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the soup mixture to the skillet. Cover and cook until mixture simmers, about 15 minutes.
4. Add the sour cream and cook for a few more minutes until heated through. Remove from heat and serve.
To use a slow cooker, put all the ingredients except the sour cream into the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Add the sour cream at the very end and cook on high until it's heated through. This is a good recipe to serve over egg noodles or rice. For those who are interested, this recipe is only 7g of fat per serving (six servings total).
Once you’ve filled up on beef stroganoff, you can top it off with dessert: easy sticky buns. I caught this recipe on an episode of The Barefoot Contessa. I ended up substituting half of the light brown sugar with dark brown (because I unexpected ran out of the light), and the flavor was still really good. My only warning would be to eat these as soon as they are cool enough to handle—they don’t taste as good if they’ve cooled and been reheated. The original recipe can be found here.
What you’ll need:
12 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 c. brown sugar (I did half light, half dark brown)
½ c. pecans, chopped in very large pieces
1 pkg. frozen puffy pastry, defrosted*
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 c. light brown sugar
1/3 c. dark brown sugar
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. raisins
What you’ll need to do:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put a 12-cup muffin tin onto a baking sheet. This will keep any melted butter and sugar from spilling and dirtying your oven (I know this from personal experience).
2. In a medium mixing bowl, add the 12 Tbs. of butter with the 1/3 c. mixed brown sugar and mix until thoroughly combined. Distribute evenly into the 12 cups of the muffin tin. Add the pecans to each cup on top of the sugar and butter mixture.
3. Lightly flour a wooden board and unfold 1 of the puff pastry sheets. The folds should be going left to right. Brush the sheet with the melted butter. Sprinkle half of the 1/3 c. light brown sugar over the sheet while leaving a 1-inch border at the ends. Repeat with half of the 1/3 c. dark brown sugar. Sprinkle 1 ½ tsp. of the cinnamon and ½ c. of the raisins.
4. Start with the end closest to you and roll up the pastry like a jelly roll. End with the seam side facing down. Trim about ½ inch from each end of the roll and discard. Slice the roll into six equal pieces.
5. Put each slice with the spiral side up into half of the prepared muffin cups. Press gently on the top.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 with the second sheet of pastry.
7. Put in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the buns are golden brown on the top and firm to the touch. Cool slightly (only enough to handle them), then scoop each out of the muffin tins and flip them over so the pecans are on the top. Serve warm!
*Do not let the puff pastry defrost up to room temperature. This will make the dough stick together and it will be a hassle to separate. I would recommend putting the frozen puff pastry into the fridge the day before to defrost but keep cold—this should allow it to keep its shape and not stick together.
Enjoy!
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