A few weeks ago, Tony and I sat down to watch Food, Inc. Of course, we were aware that it might make us a little bit upset, but I don't think that I really had an accurate idea of how upset it was going to make me. The food industry today has become unfair to workers, animals, and consumers. It's all about profit and not at all about health.
That said, Tony and I have decided to make some different food choices. We're buying local meat and produce from our farmer's market. We're buying organic products. We're making the effort to eat vegetarian until 6 PM (the Mark Bittman way. Have you noticed a theme here? I'm a Bittman fan.) to reduce our meat consumption and try to make healthier choices.
Given our change in eating habits, we've been finding new ways to create the foods that we enjoy. Since we were in the mood for beef stroganoff, we consulted--you guessed it--Mark Bittman. My father bought me an edition of his book, How to Cook Everything, which is where we found the recipe. It can also be found on Mark Bittman's website.
The interesting thing about this recipe is that it calls for both Dijon mustard and tomato sauce. Neither of those flavors are easily picked out from the taste of the dish itself when finished. In fact, you can't really taste them at all. They lend themselves to the overall flavor of the dish, but they are not such an overwhelming component that they are discernible. For me, the mark of a well-written recipe is a list of ingredients that mesh so well together that you can't tell what they are when you eat the dish itself.
The most prevalent flavor in this version of beef stroganoff, other than the beef itself, is the creaminess of the sour cream. The onion is present, the butter, the mushrooms, they all contribute. But the main flavors, the ones that you just can't ignore, are the beef and the sour cream. I think that's part of what I like so much about this particular dish. It's flavors seem, on the surface, so simple. Yet, omitting any of the ingredients would significantly alter the taste of the dish, and I feel it would be a negative alteration.
The amusing thing about this is that it was actually easier to make than the ground beef stroganoff. That dish was easy, too, but it was nowhere near as satisfying as this one. I dare say I actually put less effort into mixing and babysitting this particular version than I did its ground beef cousin. It also bears noting that the actual finished product was immensely more satisfying than the previously discussed version.
I guess this will serve as a lesson to me. Time and effort are not necessarily indicative of good food. Fresh ingredients lacking in chemicals really make the difference. Food that I can actually feel good about is more satisfying in the long run than something that is allegedly weeknight dinner friendly. This whole process has definitely been a learning experience.
