I can’t believe I haven’t talked about this game before given the fact my husband and I play it on a weekly basis!! In fact, each and every person we’ve played the game with has LOVED it too. Some of our friends purchased the game right after we played the first time with them.
Typical board games are played every man for himself and the outcome is only one winner. Pandemic is a strategic, collaborative game so either all the players win……..or they all fail.
During Pandemic, you and your team have to work together to save mankind from 4 deadly diseases that outbreak and spread all over the world. The premise of the game is scarily realistic with the Ebola virus spreading throughout Africa! That shit’s crazy!
During the game there is only 1 way to win. You must cure all 4 diseases. However, there are multiple ways to lose…which means all humanity will die……and the game REALLY wants you to lose.
Pandemic is addicting. The first time Kieran and I played, we lost. We immediately agreed we HAD to play again….we played that night until we won. I think the lure of the game is how close you win….right before you lose. There have been several occasions where we are 1 or 2 moves away from winning the game…..but before we can do so, the evil “contamination” cards need to be drawn…..if the card you need gets drawn, you are in the clear and can win the game, but if the wrong card gets drawn….dun dun dun….you die.
Time after time we’ve sat in nervous anticipation as we reach for the card deck….not knowing if the card we’re about to draw is for all the glory, or the sad fate of our demise. It’s nerve racking and exciting all at the same time. I strongly encourage this game to any board game fans out there! The fun you’ll have is worth every penny.
If you want to purchase the game, click here or here.
So enough about games….let’s talk food.
Beef Strognaoff.
The end.
That’s all.
End of post.
(drop the mic – exit stage left)
Seriously though, what else do I have to say? Beef Stroganoff speaks for itself. The silky, salty, savory sauce…….the hot buttery noodles…….the tender, mouth-watering beef. Whoa….I need to step away from my computer and get some fresh air! This meal is so damn tasty it will take your breath away!!!!
The bad news…..this dish takes awhile to make……give yourself at least 2 hours……BUT….the taste payoff is worth Every. Single. Second.
Chef John from foodwishes.com inspired me to make this dish. Chef John rocks my world and everything he makes is magical in my mouth.
I’ve made this dish a few times. The first time I made this, I bought grocery store chuck roast. The dish still turned out flavorful, but the meat was tough. Of course, you take that gamble with pre-packaged meats at the super market, you never know how old that meat is! So do yourself a favor and find your local butcher in town. My local butchers are two older gents with a great sense of humor. When I told them I was making Beef Stroganoff and needed a chuck roast, their eyes light up. Immediately we started talking cooking methods and the next thing I knew they were launching into funny stories about their previous jobs in kitchens. The one guy use to work at the first Playboy Club in Chicago. He launched into a HILARIOUS story about how the cooks use to hide vodka in the restaurant’s plants.
The point is, go talk to your local butchers and get a good cut of meat…..you’ll be glad you did….and who knows, you may make a new buddy out of it.
Note, you can omit the corn starch and use flour if you want. The ONLY reason I used corn starch over flour is because I had to much wine while I was cooking and drunkenly forgot to add the flour! Whoops! I needed a thickening agent so I turned to corn starch to help me out. If you want to use flour instead of corn starch, use a tablespoon (or two) right after your mushroom and leeks are done cooking (right before you add the wine, stock, and soy sauce). Cook the flour for a minute before pouring your liquid in!
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 pounds beef chuck roast (this is best when you get it fresh from your local butcher)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1½ cups leeks, the white parts only, sliced
- 4 cups (approx 8oz) mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 2 teaspoons of water
- ½ cup white wine
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1-2 big handful of frozen (or fresh) peas
- ½ to 1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
- 1 tbsp fresh sliced chives
- Splash of red wine (optional)
- YOU NEED 48 HOURS TO MAKE THIS, BUT IT'S WORTH IT!!
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons cultured buttermilk.
- YOU NEED 48 HOURS TO MAKE THIS, BUT IT'S WORTH IT!!
- Mix the buttermilk and heavy cream into a mason jar, or a little bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot (preferably somewhere that is 70-75 degrees F) until the mixture gets thick, approx 24 hours.
- After 24 hours, or until it's thick, place the jar/bowl into the refrigerator and chill for another 24 hours.
- Now it's ready to eat!
- Cut your chuck roast into small bite size pieces. It doesn't particularly matter how large or small you cut the beef, just strive for the same size pieces. Salt and pepper the meat pieces generously.
- In a large stainless steel pan (use the best, largest pan you have), over medium-high heat, heat your coconut oil (using vegetable oil is OK too). Add all the meat. For this recipe you can over crowed the pan. Most recipes tell you to NOT overcrowd the pan, but you can with chuck roast. What will happen is, the meat will release it's juices and the meat will simmer in own juice! Just keep cooking until the juice boils off, and the meat gets nicely caramelized (brown). Depending on the size of your pan, the amount of meat you use, and the heat of your stove, this can take 20 minutes or more! Just be patient and keep cooking into all the meat juice evaporates, and your meat is gorgeously browned!
- Once the meat has browned, transfer to a plate and set aside.
- DO NOT WIPE OUT THE PAN OR DRAIN ANY OILS, instead, now throw a chunk of butter in, and let it melt. Now toss in the mushrooms and leeks. Salt and cook them until they are also a nice, caramelized, browned. Note, the mushrooms give off their own liquid and this will help deglaze the pan, not to mention give the mushrooms a tremendous flavor!
- Add the garlic and cook, while stirring, for about a minute.
- Now add the wine, ½ the chicken stock, and 1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce. In a small bowl, stir together the corn starch and the water, to make a slurry. While string, slowly add the slurry to the pan too. Let everything come up to gentle boil, scrape the bottom of the pan with a spoon or spatula (to scrape up the brown bites and add excellent, additional flavor) and add the beef back in. Stir everything together, bring the pot up to a gentle simmer (until you see it start to bubble), cover and braise for about an hour.
- My beef was done in an hour, but yours might not be, depending on how big/small you cut your beef. So, every 20 minutes or so, give the pan a stir, and if your meat is not tender enough after an hour, let it keep cooking!
- After the meat has been cooking for approx 40 minutes, taste the sauce. If it's not salty enough, try adding the additional soy sauce (make sure you stir and taste after you add each additional tablespoon to avoid over salting the dish). Also, I prefer a thinner sauce with my beef stragnoff, but some people like it thick. If you like it thicker make another slurry by stirring together 1 teaspoon of corn starch with 1 teaspoon of water. Add the slurry to the sauce and stir. Note, corn starch does a great job thickening up a sauce, but if you use too much your sauce may get too thick! If that happens, just add more stock or water!
- You don't have to do this, but at this stage, I decided to add a splash of red wine. It definitely helped add a robust flavor the sauce.
- Once your meat is very tender, stir in 2 or more big spoonfuls of the creme fraiche (or you can use sour cream, but note sour cream tends to curdle and separate in high temperatures). Taste the sauce, keep adding spoonfuls of creme fraiche until you reach the flavor and consistency you like.
- Add the frozen peas and continue to simmer until the peas are cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Do a final taste for salt, pepper, and creme fraiche.
- Stir in the chopped chives.
- Serve beefy goodness over buttered egg noddles!
If you make creme fraiche you will need to start making it 48 hours before starting this recipe!!! Note, it's SO easy to make, you just mix 2 ingredients together and let it sit. That's it!!!!
When my meat has about 20 minutes left to cook, I start to boil water and cook the egg noddles!
Adapted from Chef John at foodwishes.com
Good Lord this was the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten! I am still having dreams about this meal. The pictures are making me so hungry!
Getting the meat from the butcher was definitely a good call! So tender!
5 stars. Would eat again.