Buffalo Stout Stroganoff over Wide-Cut Parsley Noodles

I love playing with food!
... and by playing I mean taking new approaches to old favorites, putting a simple added touch to a dish to make it extra special
or working with unique ingredients to create unexpected flavor profiles.

With this dish, I've achieved all of those things.

The old favorite: Beef Stroganoff.
The new approach: Substitute buffalo for beef. Not only does buffalo have 70% to 90% less fat compared to beef, on average it has 50% less cholesterol. And on top of that, it is higher in protein, iron and all the omega and amino acids. Plus, it's YUMMY! 
The extra special: Make the noodles from scratch. It's not as hard as it sounds ~ really. Making your own pasta is actually quite simple, especially if you invest in a pasta roller. You'll spend $25 or less to get hand crank style and it's well worth it. ( I paid $9.99 for mine on ebay ... it works great! ) 
The unique ingredients: Stroganoff sauce is traditionally made with wine, but I found a  Double Chocolate Stout  that I thought would complement the flavor of the buffalo beautifully. Additionally, I used smoked salt and flower pepper to flavor the dish.
 

To make my Buffalo Stout Stroganoff, you'll need to start by making the Parsley Noodles 

Pasta Ingredients:

1  1/3 cups Organic All Purpose Flour
1/3 Semolina Flour 
2 large Organic Eggs
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
Water
1/2 c flat parsley leaves - rough chopped 

Traditional pasta makers will make pasta directly on the counter top. I prefer to contain the mess, so, in a bowl or on a plate combine the flours and salt. Pushing the flour to outer edges, create a "well" to put the eggs and oil in.

With a fork (or your bare hands if you're a traditionalist) whisk the eggs and oil. Then slowly begin to incorporate the flour - pulling a little at a time in from the sides. 

This is what my dough looked like after mixing the flour, salt, eggs and oil ... it was too dry.  
(OK, here's where pasta making can seem intimidating but DON'T  FRET,  just try and think of yourself as an alchemist.) The amount of water you will need to add will depend on your personal elements ... the elevation in which you live, the relative humidity, the age of your flour, etc. Add just enough water, a little at a time, to pull the dough together and make it firm yet supple. Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes, until it's smooth and elastic.

... like this

Now slather the dough with olive oil, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it sit out at room temp for about a half an hour (longer is OK too) . This will allow time for the gluten in the flour to activate. 

In the meantime ... Chop the Parsley

After the dough has rested, it's time to roll it! 

Divide the dough into 4 manageable pieces. On the highest (thickest) setting of your pasta roller, feed in the dough, making four somewhat even looking pasta strips. (you may have to feed the dough through more than once to achieve this)

Now sprinkle the parsley on top of the dough. Fold the dough over lengthwise (so that the parsley is on the inside) Feed it through the pasta roller. Repeat the "fold and roll" process, decreasing the setting one notch at a time each time it's run through the rollers. This will fold in and evenly distribute the parsley. My pasta machine has 7 settings, I brought mine down to notch 3 in thickness.

The end product should look like this. Even strips of pasta, 2-3 inches wide, that are beautifully flecked with green

.

Cut the pasta into noodles that are approximately twice as long as they are wide. Toss with a bit of semolina flour and set them aside while you make the Stroganoff.

Stroganoff Ingredients:

3/4 to 1 lb Buffalo Steak -cut into cubes or strips
16 oz  plus 8 oz mushrooms (divided) -sliced thick
6 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
5-6 cloves Garlic -chopped
1 tsp Rosemary
1 cup Double Chocolate Stout
1 1/2 - 2 cups Half and Half
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
2 Tbsp Sour Cream
Parsley
Smoked Salt 
Flower Pepper
Flour

"The Unique Ingredients"

 

If this particular stout is something you can't find, any stout will do. However, make sure you taste it before adding it to your dish. Some stouts are stronger than others. You want a balanced flavor to permeate the Stroganoff, so you may have to adjust the amount of stout added accordingly. Smoked salt is now readily available but you can use regular sea salt instead. If you can't find flower pepper just use freshly ground black pepper.

Carefully dry the buffalo meat with a paper towel 
~this is crucial to to the overall tenderness - if the meat is damp it will steam when it cooks. 
Steamed meat = Tough meat. 
Generously salt and pepper the meat and then toss it in some flour to lightly coat it.

 In a large skillet, melt 2 T butter and 1 T olive oil. Saute buffalo and garlic. Once the meat has a nice caramel color, sprinkle on the rosemary.

 ... While this cooks, set a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta.  

Add 16 oz thickly sliced mushrooms and another 2T butter.Cook until the mushrooms are just tender, about 3-4 minutes  

De-glaze with the stout and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the half and half. Cook for 5 more minutes. Thin the sour cream by mixing it with the heavy cream. Now stir this into the sauce. Finish by adding another 2T butter and salt and pepper to taste.

... Put the noodles in the boiling water. They'll cook quickly, maybe 3 minutes or so.
When the are tender toss them into the Stroganoff sauce to coat nicely. 
If the sauce seems too thick add a bit of pasta water to thin.

In a separate skillet on high heat add the last 8 ounces of mushrooms. Dry saute until they sweat out and begin to brown. Add salt, pepper, chopped parsley and a wee drizzle of olive oil.

Plate the Stroganoff and Parsley Noodles. Top with the sauteed mushrooms. ENJOY!!