Mushroom Stroganoff with Goat Cheese

Iron Chef Mario Batali recently introduced a concept called "Meatless Mondays".  He is an admitted carnivore, but he came to the realization that Americans typically eat too much meat.  It's more than we should eat for our own health, and for the sustainability of the livestock.  So he proposed that once a week we should eat something vegetarian.  I suppose if Mario can do it at all of his restaurants, then I can get behind it too.

Now I should point out that this is certainly NOT vegan.  There is dairy and beef stock.  But it is delicious   I got the recipe from another Food Network personality:  Alton Brown.  He said that he actually prefers this to the traditional Beef Stroganoff now.  And we might have to agree.

I start with a whole package of button mushrooms, sliced into 1/8 inch pieces.  You want them to be somewhat bulky, because this is going to be your faux meat in the dish.  I also leave the stems on.  If you stand them upside down, you can slice right down through the stem and have nice little cross-sections of the button mushrooms.

Melt 2-3 tbsp of butter into a large non-stick pan over medium heat.  Increase it to medium-high and throw in your mushrooms and sprinkle with salt.  Toss them around a bit to coat them with butter.  And then let them get a hard sear and release some of their moisture.  You are going for a nice caramelization on the mushrooms so they feel even more like beef.  Then take a bunch of green onions and dice them, separating the white part from the green tops.  Add the thicker, whiter, parts to your onions in the pan and cook together for another 2-3 minutes.

By this point your mushrooms should look something like this:

Now you will add 1 tbsp flour to thicken any liquid in the pan.  Cook for 1-2 minutes so the flour cooks off, and then deglaze the pan with 14 oz of beef broth.  Bring this to a simmer, then reduce the heat and cook for 10-12 minutes.  Finally, add 4 oz of goat cheese (or you could use cream cheese) and 8 oz of sour cream.

Let the mixture thicken together and then serve with egg noodles.  I like to toss the egg noodles in the pan so they get completely coated with the rich sauce.  Top it with black pepper and the green tops from your green onions.

The dish is very rich with the butter, cheeses, and beef broth.  You get a nice texture and sharpness from the onions. The mushrooms are "meaty" and flavorful, and the egg noodles round out this protein-packed vegetarian dish.  You won't find yourself asking, "Where's the beef?"