A menu for the week of February 5

Well, I'm posting this menu a couple of days late. I finally had a weekend where I didn't have to work on the house the whole time, so I went to a martial arts seminar on Saturday and then snowboarding on Sunday.

Monday
Last night we had a very nice dinner of Dungeness crab and asparagus with the leftover hollandaise sauce from last week. I'll post the directions on how the crab was prepared as soon as Samantha lets me in on her secret.

Tuesday
Tonight Sam will be getting home late, so I'll prepare a venison stroganoff. The recipe is quite simple, and just about any cut of venison or beef can be used.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb lean meat (venison, beef, or chicken work best)
• 1 whole yellow onion, sliced.
• 1 lb ordinary white mushrooms
  
• 1 1/2 tsp powdered mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 T sour cream
  

Before you begin cooking, mix the powdered mustard with salt and pepper and a bit of water in a bowl to make a paste. You will want to let the mustard paste sit for a few minutes before using it. In a bit of oil, cook the onion over medium heat until slightly soft, then add the mushrooms and continue to cook until the mushrooms are soft and the onion is lightly browned. Remove the mushrooms and onion from the pan and quickly cook the meat until it is just evenly browned - you don't want to overcook it or it will get tough. Immediately add the mustard, mushrooms and onions to the pan and stir, then add the sour cream and stir a couple of times until it makes a sauce. Remove from the heat and serve over egg noodles or a mixture of brown and wild rice (my preference.)

Wednesday
Since I didn't manage to cook the cornish hens last week, I'll try again Wednesday. And I promise to get the recipe posted!

Thursday
Sam is planning to make a roast of some sort so that I'll have something left over for lunch meat. Not sure yet whether we'll do pork or chicken - most likely pork, given that we don't have a whole chicken in the freezer at present and we're trying to eat down the pantry a little bit. In the process of our remodeling, we realized that we've got enough frozen food to last us for quite a while, and we should really get working on it before some of it gets freezer burned.

Friday
Friday night we're going to a concert, so it'll need to be something quick. Perhaps pizza or pasta, or leftovers from Wednesday if I decide to cook a couple of hens.