Print  email 

A crowd-pleasing stroganoff

• Published April 29, 2009

• Comments (0)

Sandra Worthington sent me an e-mail recently, asking for more vegetarian recipes.

“I like to experiment with new recipes, and after 30 years as a vegetarian, my husband and I are good experimenters,” she told me. That was a perfect opening for me to ask for one of her favorites.

Worthington did just that. Her recipe for Mushroom Cashew Stroganoff is “a sure-fire success with guests and family,” she said.

I gave it try for dinner on Easter. (The little ham I bought is still sitting on the back shelf of the fridge.) It was really quite delicious, but like the Worthingtons, I also like to experiment. In the course of the preparation, I made a couple of additions.

Stroganoff is traditionally served over noodles, although rice is a good alternative. If you want to use rice, start that cooking before you tackle the stroganoff so everything is ready to serve at the same time.

Raw cashews are available at the Olympia Food Co-op but I didn’t have time for a stop there. Instead, I got roasted, salted cashews from the bulk foods section at another store.

If you use raw, Worthington’s instructions included a first step to roast the nuts. Put a cup of raw cashews in a heavy skillet and heat, shaking the pan often, until they turn golden brown. Set them aside.

Mince a clove of garlic and chop up a large onion. Melt two tablespoons of butter in the skillet. Add the garlic and onion and sauté until soft, three or four minutes. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon.

Add another tablespoon of butter to the skillet. Stir in three tablespoons of flour, preferably whole wheat, and a tablespoon of tomato paste. Continue stirring until the mixture is smooth. I used more like a quarter cup of tomato paste as I like strong tomato flavor in stroganoff. I also could not imagine stroganoff without thyme, one of my favorite herbs. I tossed in about a teaspoon of thyme which was not in the original recipe.

Add three tablespoons of tamari or soy sauce to a cup of water. Slowly add to the skillet, stirring to combine the mixture. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens.

Slice up about a pound and a half of mushrooms while the sauce is cooking. When the sauce has thickened, add the mushrooms and two tablespoons of dry sherry. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as needed. Simmer on low heat until the mushrooms soften. At this point, I added about a half-tablespoon of porcini mushroom powder, available at Buck’s Fifth Avenue. It really boosts the flavor of the mushrooms.

If you are using noodles, bring the water to a boil and prepare according to package directions.

When you are ready to serve, add a cup of sour cream along with the cooked onions and roasted cashews. Allow it to heat through. Serve on the rice or noodles.

“I always double this recipe,” Worthington told me. “It refrigerates and freezes well.” However, leave the sour cream out of any portion destined for the freezer. It tends to separate when frozen. Add it just before serving.

We enjoyed this version of stroganoff just as much as my recipe, which includes beef slices. The crunch of the cashews was a bit of a surprise but we soon adapted and enjoyed every bite.

Shopping list

Cashews (raw or roasted)

Fresh garlic

Onion

Mushrooms

Tomato paste

Sour cream

Dry sherry

Pantry Items

Butter

Flour

Tamari or soy sauce

Salt and pepper

Optional additions

Thyme

Porcini powder