My mom's Mushroom Steak- a 70s classic

It's the stuff 1970s era casseroles were made of. Good old cream of something soup. 

Maybe your mom or grandmother made tuna and noodles back in the day. In the upper Midwest our mothers often made something called "hotdish" and every mom had a different recipe. Some moms made tator tot casserole. Whatever she made with it, most of the time these familiar dishes started with the same basic food- canned cream of something soup. Whoever invented this stuff surely didn't intend that people actually eat them as is. Yuck. Cream of celery soup in a big bowl? No thanks. But add some cheese, chopped veggies, some noodles and a can of tuna and we're in business!

Cream of chicken and some rice made a great base for some pork chops or chicken pieces- baked until the edges of the rice were crispy and browned. Cream of celery and tuna and those crunchy chow mein noodles made a great quick dinner that I used to love. Cream of mushroom went with everything- meatballs, chunks of stew meat, chicken, pork, and of course.....tator tot casserole.

My mom was the Queen of Round Steak. Oh how she loved the stuff. She made everything beef with round steak. Pepper steak. Stroganoff. My favorite- smothered steak. She would cut up some round steak (back then it was common to find big round steak cuts as big as serving trays with the bone in the middle), pound it with her meat mallet, dredge in some flour and sear, and pour over a couple cans of cream of whatever- usually mushroom or celery- pop it in the oven for a couple hours, and that cheapo cut of meat would be as delicious and tender as any good roast. She often added a can of mushrooms (she was a steadfast supporter of the Richelieu Stems and Pieces in a can) and an onion sliced into rings spread out on the bottom of the pan and a little sprinkle of parsley on top. 

My tastes have changed significantly over the years and I rarely buy food items like canned soup these days, preferring to make my own from homemade. But every once in a while I just get a craving for some of those wonderful food memories and I grab some cream of something soup.

Erika's Mushroom Steak, Lakehouse Style

minute/cubed steaks- enough for 4 portions

1 small onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon oregano

2 bay leaves

2 cups beef stock

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

flour, salt and pepper

cooking oil

In a Dutch oven, heat a couple tablespoons of oil.  Season the steak pieces with salt and pepper; dredge in flour. Brown in the hot oil until nicely browned on both sides. Remove from pan. If needed, add another tablespoon or so of oil. Add the onions, garlic and dried seasonings, stir well.

Deglaze the pot with the beef stock. Whisk in the cream of mushroom soup. Return the steaks to the sauce and cover. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Gravy will be nicely thickened and steak will be tender and delicious.

**Note- You can slice up half a package of mushrooms, saute them, and add to the sauce with the steak before popping in the oven, if you like. I didn't have any or I would have.

This dinner is nothing even remotely gourmet. It's not something a talented chef would create. It's not something you would order in a restaurant. What it is, is a memory on a plate for me, like a visit my mom again. Laughing over her hilarious stories and funny broken English. Teasing her about the rolls she burned in the oven. Remembering a time in my life when Mom was just a phone call away. Those were the best times.

Home Cooking- Sunday Dinner

Sunday dinner is a big tradition for lots of families. For our little family of two, and the Chef's varied schedule, we don't always have a Sunday evening together, so for us dinner together is a real treat, and most of the time, it's my turn to break out the cookware, don the apron and create.

Yesterday out of sheer boredom I went on a mini road trip to the city, with the big supermarket as my destination. Our small town grocery store is fine for every day but once in a while I just NEED the variety you can only get at a bigger store. The produce selections are almost endless and provide me with loads of options for making dinner a little more special.

I already know what my dinner is going to be. I have the Parisian market carrots that came from the garden waiting in the fridge and I need to get them cooked, so something roasted- root veggies for sure, and a roasted meat of some sort. What sort of root veggies.......well I have been saying forever that I need to learn to like beets, so I choose some nice organic beets and in the basket they go. I was hoping for some fingerling potatoes but none were to be found, and I chose strawberry baby potatoes- something I had never seen before. A package of perfect mushrooms completes my roasted vegetable combination and I'm off to check out the meat.

Strawberry reds are firm, waxy red-skinned potatoes,
perfect for roasting.

Beef was out- beef prices right now are sky high and the smallest roasts just weren't in my price range today, and I honestly just wasn't in the mood for a beef roast. Chicken? Maybe, but I have other dishes I'm planning with chicken and I just get bored with the same thing all the time. Browsing the pork selections proved to be more what I was looking for- plus I thought pork would be awesome with this selection of vegetables. A boneless pork loin center rib roast was the perfect size for my planned dinner, so in the basket with the roast!

The best part about Sunday dinner is the actual cooking. For me anyway, it's very satisfying to pull a stool up to the counter and peel, chop and prep. A roast is the perfect thing to make in my Le Creuset dutch oven so I get that heating and ready to sear my roast. Just a touch of olive oil in there and get that beautiful piece of pork sizzling until it's seared nicely and has a caramelized crust. 

Some of the beets were pretty good sized, so I quartered them.

I pile in my firmer root vegetables first- the beets and carrots, and season them well. Then the mushrooms and potatoes go in, sprinkled with thyme and a little mushroom stock, pop the lid on and in the oven it goes at 400 degrees.

Potatoes and mushrooms, thyme and mushroom stock and it's
ready for the oven!

About an hour and a half later I had a dutch oven full of delicious. The potatoes were perfectly fork tender, the carrots sweet and flavorful and the beets- I can't say enough about how surprised I am at the beets. I have never cooked beets before- shocking as that may be, my beet memories consist of my mom heating up cans of tiny beet cubes with no flavor at all. However, roasting with the pork and mushroom stock changed the beets into something earthy and lush and amazing.

The roast was fantastic. Sliced about half an inch thick, it was like pork prime rib. Soooo good. The mushroom stock, thyme, the pre-roasting sear and essences from the roasted vegetables created the juiciest pork roast ever. I chose not to make a gravy as the beets left their signature on the pan juices and it wouldn't have been very attractive at all. A little glaze of pan juices and butter gave the veggies the perfect finishing touch. And we have leftovers for lunch! Can't beat that!