How to Boil Water: Mushroom Stroganoff

I'm baaaaack!

It's been awhile, huh? We didn't resort to eating out, so don't you worry. No instead, we tried another route. Much more adventurous. And much much more dangerous. If you just guessed that Rob spent the last week cooking then you were correct. And maybe one day he'll actually write his own version of 'How to Boil Water' for the recipes he chose. Maybe if we take the same route that they used in Peter Pan for Tinkerbell - everyone clap together now - he'll finally write them.

And as much as I enjoyed my week off from cooking, I'm back to cooking again this week. And this entire week is all new recipes - last night was the exception with Asiago Tortellini, which is one of our favorites so if you haven't tried it yet you should do it tomorrow night for dinner.

But tonight we had Mushroom Stroganoff, which I found in one of my favorite recipe books (Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals).

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups uncooked medium egg noodles
Butter-flavored cooking spray
5 (4-ounce) packages fresh gourmet-blend mushrooms - Okay, so first confession with this recipe. I couldn't find what they wanted for mushrooms so I actually went with one 8-ounce package of baby portbellos cut. I know not anything like what they wanted, but I went with what I did and I hope you have better luck finding the right mushrooms.
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk - I just used skim milk. It's what we drink and if we buy 2% reduced-milk for one recipe then we are crazy.
3 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons light butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper - I want to take this moment to say how much I feel like a real cook with my fresh ground black pepper, because I used to just use the plain old shakers so now I feel like the real thing with my awesome pepper grinder (totally was a wedding present)
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped chives (optional) - I did not choose this option

Directions:
Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.

While noodles cook, heat a large Dutch oven over high heat; generously coat pan with cooking spray. Add mushrooms and onion; cook 10 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently.

While mushroom mixture cooks, place flour in a bowl. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add sherry and next 3 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Transfer cooked mushroom mixture to a large bowl. Gradually add milk mixture to hot pan, stirring with a whisk. Cook, whisking constantly 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Stir sauce and cooked noodles into mushrooms mixture. Stir in sour cream; sprinkle with chives, if desired. Serve immediately.

So what did we think? How nice of you to ask. It was so-so. Okay, Rob thought it was so-so and I just didn't like it, but hey we tried something new and like I have said a million (and now one) times before that is the purpose of 'How to Boil Water.' We are learning. We are trying. We are attempting and then eating candy later (So we went to the mall after and there was this really awesome Wonka candy machine....but that's beside the point). If you like mushrooms then this is definitely for you. I really don't mind mushrooms but the picture definitely looked good so we tried it, and you never know until you try it, right? So there you go. Another meal under my belt. And the nice thing about this meal was that there were many things happening at once, so I got some practice with that. I have never been all that great with multitasking when it comes to cooking so I got a little more practice today. And oh, I also learned all about dutch ovens via the internet today when I realized that I needed one and I didn't have one. But crisis in-hand and I learned something new.