steak & mushroom stroganoff
Noodles and Co is one of the few chain restaurants I just fucking love. Despite serving mostly pasta, it's maybe the only restaurant I can think of that doesn't even reference "Italian" on its menu, instead dividing it up into American and Mediterranean, which is accurate.. In Chicago, this was my warm little oasis outside of the Southport brown line stop, where I'd place an order on the internet, trudge down into the snow under the tracks to pick it up, and try to make it back just as the next train pulled up. What I ordered depended entirely on how I was feeling when I originally boarded.
"I want my mom" = Wisconsin mac and cheese with chicken
"I wish it were spring" = pesto cavatappi
"I'm going to die of this cold probably" = chicken noodle soup with extra soup
"I need to be healthy but my day was garbage" = whole grain tuscan linguine with parmesan chicken
"This winter is endless and I may never feel warm again" = mushroom stroganoff
Last Thursday was foggy and cold (66°) in LA, meaning it was a Stroganoff kind of night. Stroganoff for some reason varies a lot depending on who writes the recipe, and the versions I've made with Worcestershire have always sucked. So I decided to track down the thing I really wanted and make it: the Noodles and Co way.
I was pleased to find an "official" recipe on a blog with an amazing title, noodlesandcompanyathome.blogspot.com, that apparently specializes exclusively in re-doing fast casual chain classics. I bought the sirloin tips it listed as the meat source. They were not good. Tough. Stringy. I was very disappointed.
And so began an obsessive compulsive meltdown to prove that, at one point, the meat in this dish was DIFFERENT, which led me deep into the bowels of Yelp user photos c. 2007 from now-closed Noodles & Co locations with 3 stars. But I found it.
BRAISED!!!!!!! →
(honestly now that I look at it I should prob make the wisconsin mac sometime too)
I don't care that they changed the menu. I care that I was right.
Short of actually braising beef, though, I wanted to find a tender-er substitute meat. So despite the decidedly unluxuriousness of trying to recreate Noodles & Co in my own house, I chose filet mignon, and it turned out to be a near-flawless representation of a time that the internet forgot. Perfect for the person in your life who hates updating their phone software and/or still listens to music from their oldest iPod playlist in the car!
oooooo. slick.
RECIPE
Inspired by Noodles & Company (truly), this American classic of the 80s gets a luxury upgrade with filet mignon, lots of meaty portobello mushrooms, and a creamy herbed sherry wine sauce that matches well with wavy egg noodles.
Effortful time: 30 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves 2, easily doubled
YOU NEED
1 small shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 big portobello mushroom caps, chopped into chunks the same size as your steak
2 tbsp. dry sherry
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
8 oz. filet mignon, cut into bite-sized cubes
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. rosemary
1/4 cup beef stock, I used Better Than Bouillon
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan or Asiago cheese, for serving
MAKE IT
Get prepped. Put your pasta water on for the egg noodles. Cube your steak, chop your mushrooms, and get your broth ready to go.
Sear the steak. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Melt the butter and add olive oil. Add the filet mignon cubes and cook as minimally as you can, browning the outsides while leaving the insides as rare as possible. Scoop the steak cubes out and reserve in a bowl covered in foil.
Cook the aromatics and mushrooms. Lower the heat to medium. To the same skillet, in the leftover fat, sauté the shallot. Add the chopped mushrooms and toss in butter to coat. When the mushrooms are browned and have released their water (they will be about 1/2 the size — this took me 8 minutes), add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more, until fragrant.
Cook the pasta. Doing so here should help everything finish at the same time. Drain—no need to save pasta water for this. Pour the finished egg noodles into a bowl and toss with the remaining 1 tsp. butter.
Build and simmer the sauce. Deglaze the pan with sherry, stirring to scrape all the browned filthy goodness into your shrooms. Add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the cream and keep cooking until begins to thicken. Lower the heat to a simmer and season with salt and pepper.
Finish the sauce. Add the sour cream and stir to completely combine. Keep heat at a low simmer. At this stage, add your steak cubes, and stir to coat, about 1 minute until everything is heated through.
Serve it up. Ladle over cooked egg noodles and serve with fresh shaved cheese. Congratulate yourself with a nice wintery cabernet: you just achieved time travel AND resurrection, all in one night.