Fabiana's Brazilian Stroganoff

photo by Emily Hale

The Brox family is in our ward and we've started to eat dinner with them often. Phil served his mission in Sao Paulo, where Fabiana is from. Fabiana and Phil have two boys, Mathew and John. Mathew and John are the cutest boys you've ever seen, which is good because the last time we ate at their house Mathew couldn't stop giving Abby kisses...on the mouth! For dinner we had this stroganoff. Jon remembered having this on his mission in Brazil, even if it was rarely. Wow is it tasty! It's by far my favorite stroganoff recipe. I was excited to get it from cute Fabiana. I'm glad we're friends and I hope we can go to Brazil with them some day. . .
About this recipe, as Phil put it, "the magic happens" when you add the Media Crema, or table cream. You can find it in the Hispanic section at the grocery store. Everything else is up to your own taste. For example: you can put fries or shoestring potato chips on the top. I made fries by cutting potatoes thin with my mandoline, and sliced them into strips. Then I deep fried them until they were golden on the edges. Also: Fabiana said she liked to use Season-All, which I didn't have so I used a good seasoned salt instead. The rice you serve this over should be tasty too. Fabiana taught me to cook the rice with some diced onion in oil or butter for a few minutes until clear before boiling it like normal. Needless to say, we have no leftovers for tomorrow, just fond memories of a delicious Brazilian meal. Can't wait for the next one!

Fabiana's Brazilian Stroganoff

1 lb Chicken or beef cut into strips seasoned with salt, pepper and Season All or good Season Salt
Onion, diced
Garlic, pressed or diced
Cilantro, minced
Mushrooms (I used canned because that's what we had)
1 15 oz can tomtato sauce
Ketchup
Mustard
1 7.6 oz can Media Crema, table cream

Fry meat in a little olive oil with the garlic, onion and cilantro. When browned, add tomato sauce and mushrooms, a squirt of Ketchup and a smaller squirt of mustard, stir together. Cover and let simmer for a while, about half an hour (long enough to fry up some potatoes). Remove from heat and stir in the cream. Serve over rice and top with fries or shoe-string potato chips, or both! A traditional Brazilian side dish would be a simple salad with oil and salt.