Sunday, June 8, 2008

Stoking the fire and feasting on Stragonoff


As the temperature falls and the nights get more chilly it's the perfect time of year to throw some logs into the fire, cuddle up in a chair with a blankey and watch a couple of sausages and meat cook up on the barbie. Unfortunately my friend Paul has been going through a 'green' and 'healthy' conundrum and bought veggie sausages! You ask what these are - and trust me you just NEVER want to know. Whoa, I mean my expectation levels were not very high once I discovered the sausages were made of tofu, carrots and other veggies minced together - but boy these so called sausages are bad news!


The fire provided considerable warmth and set the mood for the evening. There were roasted potatoes, a large bowl of salad and some garlic bread and well some very sweet wine that Andrea shared with us. After dinner we roasted some marshmallows over the fire on sticks and in a way I returned to my childhood of bobbing around the kitchen with my sister shrieking and licking gooey, sticky marshmallow off my fingers! I love the nostalgia that food so effortlessly has the ability to evoke anywhere, sneaking up on you at the most unsuspecting of times!


Straganoff is classic winter fare - and my purchase of Black Pepper Organic Egg Noodles from the Barossa Valley have been sitting on my shelf begging me to use them. Sliced beef rump steak, sauteed some onions, mushroom with a bit of garlic went in with the rest of my my mother's secret strag marinade, sorry can't reveal all my family secrets here guys! Instead of heavy cream I used some light sour creme that worked very well.


Voila - a hearty lunch of Beef Straganoff with Black Pepper German Egg Noodles on chilly afternoon, and the view of the beautiful birds taking a drink made it all the more pleasant!


No comments: