Ragout & Popovers

Last night, when we returned from our water park weekend, I made beef-vegetable ragout, noodles, salad and chive popovers for dinner. The ragout recipe came from a Better Homes & Gardens 1-dish dinners cookbook. I was very pleased with the ragout and J loved the popovers. It was the first time I've cooked in weeks, since before I left for Santa Fe! It feels good to get back into the cooking swing again and nice to be using fresh, summery veggies! For dessert, I rolled some bittersweet chocolate chips in Pillsbury reduced-fat crescent rolls and baked them as the package directs. Those were delicious, almost as good as the ragout.

Beef-Vegetable Ragout

12 oz. beef tenderloin, cut into 3/4" pieces
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 oz. sliced shitake mushrooms (although I used a blend of shitakes & oyster mushrooms)
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. flour
Salt & pepper
14.5 oz. can beef broth (reduced sodium, 98% fat-free)
1/4 c. port or sherry (I had burgundy on hand, so I used that)
2 c. sugar snap peas (I used fresh, but you could use a 10 oz. package of frozen ones, as the recipe calls for...just thaw them before you put them in)
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved

Heat oil in a skillet. Cook meat in oil. Set aside. In same pan, cook mushrooms, onion and garlic, until tender. Add flour, salt & pepper. Add broth and wine, cooking & stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly. Add sugar snaps, cooking and stirring 2-3 minutes. Add meat & tomatoes and heat through. Serve over egg noodles. Serves 6. 6 WW Points.

Chive Popovers

1 c. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/3 c. fresh chives, snipped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c. milk (1% fat-free works fine)
1 tbsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix flour, salt, pepper and chives. Add the rest and stir with a fork, just until mixed together. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin and divide the batter evenly among the cups. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake another 20 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 12. 1 WW Point.