Nonplussed by the Stroganoff

What did I do wrong?

The first right thing I did was decide to cook stroganoff on a snowy Alberta day. A cold snowy day is just perfect to eat something homey and "stick to your ribs" like that. And I did not feel that bad about sauteing sirloin in butter and then adding more butter becuase, heck, I shoveled the driveway 3 times!

First, the squash - Sandy, you are right - it is just like it was when we were kids despite the fact that Hubbard squash is nowhere to be found. But I loved it loved it. And, surprise, surprise -Jason loved it too. I got to thinking that it was a recipe that was really old fashioned and wondered how it could be "twisted" to be more modern - after some pondering, I think that I have come up with something.

Now for the stroganoff. It didn't rock my world and I am not sure why. In fact, a certain despondency settled upon my mood after I ate it (as pointed out by Jason). It was good - certainly better than the gummy (yet watery) shepherd's pie that I had at a trendy Edmonton bistro last week- but not great. Given that this is truly a classic recipe and we are fortunate to have it passed to us - I think something must have gone awry in my execution. I also think that there might be something to be said for not using the RTU (that is "ready-to-use") beef broth as maybe the salt in the old fashioned canned concentrated stuff adds something to the dish.

[side note: I think that RTU will be my Rachel Ray-ism. The EVOO thing just drives me batty but look where it got her......]