Last day of February

Cleaning out the fridge with Stroganoff

Q: What to do with a ziploc bag of bison sirloin tips that have been hanging out in the fridge for at least a week and a bunch of mushrooms?

A: Stroganoff.

Ingredients
1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms (I used a bunch of leftover supermarket variety white mushrooms, a portobello cap and some shiitakes), thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup dry white vermouth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2-pound sirloin or sirloin tips, excess fat trimmed, cut against grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices, slices cut crosswise into 3-inch lengths
4 thinly sliced shallots
1 tablespoon flour
1 whole canned tomato or 1/4 cup diced canned tomatoes
1 cup beef broth
1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika
Salt and pepper

3 cups beef broth
1 cup Minnesota wild rice

Boil 3 cups beef broth, add wild rice, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 50-60 minutes or until rice has split and liquid is absorbed. Add salt to taste and fluff with fork.

While rice is cooking, melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil in large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add sliced wild mushrooms to skillet; sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until mushrooms release juices, about 6 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; sauté until mushrooms are tender and brown, about 4 minutes longer.

Add vermouth to mushrooms and boil until almost evaporated but still moist, scraping up browned bits, about 1 minute. Stir in cream; remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Thoroughly scrape out skillet and melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium-high heat. Working in batches, add beef slices to skillet and sauté just until brown outside but still pink in center, about 30 seconds per side. Transfer beef slices to plate; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add sliced shallots to same skillet, reduce heat to medium, and sauté until golden brown and tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and flour. Add broth and paprika and whisk to blend, scraping up browned bits. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat; cover and keep warm.

Add beef slices and juices to sauce in skillet; bring to simmer, stirring occasionally. Add mushroom mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over wild rice.

Q: Stroganoff + Buffalo= Stroganoffalo?

Sunny Monday

I'm midway through a two-week trip home. North Dakota is home, mine and this guy's (left), though for now I'm just a visitor. It's been bitterly cold the past week, barely getting above 0 (degrees F) most days. But today it warmed up a bit, to the 20s and it's sunny outside, so bright with the snow I had to wear sunglasses. I piled on some sweaters and insulated overalls, a Carhart coat, mittens and packs and my dad and I blasted over to the barn on the snowmobile with the dog hot on our trail. The two-year-olds didn't hang around for long after we arrived. They sniffed the air and half ran down the hill despite my attempt to hide behind my dad as we approached the corrals. The other half soon followed, wary of my unfamiliar scent. The furry bunch seemed bigger than I remembered last year's being, with sharp black fully curved horns and thick brown coats. The youngsters, warm in the hay stuffed barn were more curious. They cautiously made way for my dad as he followed the south wall of the barn to check the water tank, softly and reassuringly emitting buffalo grunts. Shortly they settled down and turned their curiosity to me and my clicking camera poked through the steel tube barn gates. Photogenic little fellas.