1. When the order of beef that Christy, Carol, and I went in together on arrived a few weeks ago, Christy and I were dividing out our shares of it. Included were a couple of packages of chuck tenders and neither one of us knew anything about chuck tenders. Well, it was my turn to make Sunday family dinner today and I decided I'd learn more about chuck tenders and, if possible cook something with them.
I learned that chuck tenders are lean and muscly -- in other words, not tender, but, in fact, tough. It is called a "tender" because it resembles a beef tenderloin. It's long and narrow cut with a pointy tip at one end. But, it needs to be cooked slowly and for a relatively long time.
I immediately thought I'd braise the chuck tenders and found a recipe for braised beef stroganoff. The recipe appealed to me because the beef sauce cooks for two and half hours in a 300 degree oven -- long and slow. That recipe is right here.
I had taken the chuck tenders out of the freezer and put them in the refrigerator on Saturday night and, to my delight, when I took them out this morning, they weren't quite thawed. This meant they would be very easy to cut into cubes -- and I did.
The recipe called for two pounds of braising beef, but without weighing what I had, it didn't seem like two pounds, so I stretched the beef part of the recipe with a package of hamburger from our beef order.
I followed the recipe, put the meat sauce in the oven, and then got to work on the evening's vegetarian option. It was possible that Cosette and Taylor would be joining our dinner and didn't think the beef would serve seven people. For over thirty years now I have been cooking out of a cookbook Christy gave me back in about 1984 or 85, called David and Nikki Goldberg's American Wholefoods Cuisine. One of my favorite recipes from this book is tofu stroganoff and I made it. If this recipe is online, I can't find it.
I spent the afternoon making these two stroganoffs and a big green salad made with romaine lettuce, red cabbage, a variety of vegetables, chunks of crisp, sweet Opal apple, bacon pieces, walnuts, red rice and a vinaigrette composed of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, the juice of a lemon, three crushed garlic cloves, a little honey, salt, pepper, and oregano.
I wanted to serve Rose (rosay) wine with dinner, but I didn't find any at Yoke's, so instead we each had a can of sweet, tart, dry, and sparkly BrightCider from 2 Towns Ciderhouse. I thought it tasted really good with the stroganoff(s).
As it turned out, Cosette and Taylor did not eat with us, but Christy, Everett, Carol, Paul, and I had a lively dinner together. We talked about many different things and we all enjoyed tonight's stroganoff extravaganza.
2. The Deke and I were going to talk on the phone this evening, but after a trip to Eugene back in September followed by an almost immediate trip to Maryland and New York in October followed by an almost immediate drive to Eugene and after a week in her new job and after performing on Saturday night with Laura and TR to a full house, ninety people, at Tsunami Books, the Deke was run down with a cold and sore throat. She texted me that she was going to bed really early. No problem I responded, but asked her to give a very quick rundown on the Saturday night performance. And, as you can tell, she did. We will talk on Monday.
By the way, it was painful for me on Saturday night to be in Kellogg while the Deke and two of her Babes with Axes band were performing in Eugene. But, just finding out in our quick text message exchange that the evening went so well and that Patrick attended relieved me of my yearning to have been there. The news made me very happy. (I mean very happy.)
3. Colette and I have had some correspondence via the mail and we have kept in touch on Facebook in the nearly thirty-five years that have passed since we last saw each other. Recently, Colette and her family moved to Walla Walla and today I told her I'd be at the Wild Horse Casino outside Pendleton this coming weekend and wondered if we might be able to get together. We can. We are. To my great joy, Colette recommended that we meet at one of my favorite spots, The Prodigal Son Brewery and Pub in Pendleton on Friday afternoon. Unreal. After all these years, I am most happily looking forward to this upcoming reunion with Colette.
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