Movie Night
This will age me a bit..but that’s ok. Some of my favorite memories of childhood involve going to the movies. I remember going to see movies like Star Wars, Gremlins, ET, and Jaws as a kid. Those movie going experiences were absolutely thrilling!
One of the most thrilling and exciting films ever is Raiders of the Lost Ark. I pretty much fell in love with Harrison Ford when I watched this film. It was an edge of the seat experience throughout this masterpiece of action and adventure film.
Several sequels followed Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I had the privilege of seeing them all. With one exception: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. My husband discovered that the Indiana Jones series is now on Netflix (yay!). Therefore last Sunday we chose Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to watch on movie night.
On movie nights, I love to cook a meal for that evening that has something to do with the film we are watching. For example either the setting of the movie, or food actually eaten or highlighted in the film can inspire the meal.
In this case, the film is about Indiana Jones being called back into action. He gets involved with a Russian plot to find the Crystal Skulls of Akator, which are Amazonian artifacts with supernatural powers. The movie was so much fun to watch! It was great to see Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones again! Also, I particularly enjoyed Cate Blanchett playing a SUPER villain with an awesome Russian accent!!
Russian Beef Stroganoff
I decided on Russian Beef Stroganoff for the meal, due to Russians playing a big part of the film. Beef Stroganoff has its origins in 19th century Russia. It’s my understanding that today’s version that Americans are used to varies considerably from the original. Although this recipe is Americanized, it is truly delicious. I hope you’ll forgive the departure from the original Russian version.
It had been awhile since I had eaten beef stroganoff. However after having dined on it that evening, it will definitely show up more frequently for dinner. My husband went back for seconds and completely wiped the remaining stroganoff out, leaving no leftovers for Toby. 🙂 I hope you’ll try this out soon and enjoy it as much as we did.
Russian Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef flank steak already tenderized
- 1-1.5 cup beef stock
- 3 gloves garlic minced
- 8 oz button mushrooms sliced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp flour
- 4 oz butter
- 1 onion diced
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 green onions sliced, for garnish
Instructions
- Season the flank steak with salt and pepper on both sides, and slice the steak very thinly (against the grain)
- Stir flour, tomato paste, and beef stock until well combined
- Melt 2 oz of butter in a heavy skillet (preferably cast iron) on med high
- Saute onion and garlic for about 3 minutes
- Add a pinch of salt and pepper, along with the sliced mushrooms, and saute for 5 minutes
- Remove the vegetables to a plate and turn up the heat to high
- Once the pan is really hot, melt the rest of the butter (2 oz) and add your steak (make sure pieces are not on top of each other) and sear each side for approximately 1 min. Remove to a separate plate
- Turn the heat back down to med, and add the combined flour, tomato paste, and beef stock. Stir and scrape up all the bottom bits, add the onions, garlic, and mushrooms back, and then simmer for 3 min.
- Add the steak back to the skillet, stir, then add in your sour cream and add salt and pepper to taste
- Garnish with green onions
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