OK, kiddos, Sunday June 16 is Father’s Day. Time for you to cook for him—for Pops, the Old Man, Daddy, Papí, Father, Papa.

For Dad.

Maybe you’ll need some helping hands from Mom (or Mother, Mamí, Mommy . . .) or an older sib, but turning ‘round the chairs at the dining room or kitchen table so that’s he’s sitting down for your food is your cooking gift to him.

Father’s Day recipes

I polled some dad friends for Father’s Day dinner ideas and beef stroganoff came up a few times because it’s fancy and delicious but still kid-doable. The recipe here is from Betty Crocker so it couldn’t be more basic.

The second recipe comes from a young father of my acquaintance, David Swanson. It, too, is eminently kid-doable. The directions are loosey-goosey, so no sweating the details. Substitutions or additions are possible at any stage; for example, I added jarred sweet roasted red peppers for both color and flavor.

My own father died early, as dad deaths go, at age 76, of cancer. A few weeks before he died, he asked me to cook him his favorite dinner from when he was growing up in Fort Lupton, north of Denver, the way his mother had cooked it. I did, of course. Cast iron skillet, lard, a cut-up chicken dredged in egg, buttermilk and flour, mashed russet potatoes, skillet gravy, steamed green beans.

It wasn’t the last food that he ate, but it was the last from my hands and I’m glad that I did it.

Kiddos, cook for your dad this Father’s Day. You’ll remember it and so will he.

 

Beef Stroganoff

From bettycrocker.com

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 pounds beef sirloin steak, 1/2-inch thick

8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced (2 and 1/2 cups)

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1/4 cup butter

1 and 1/2 cups beef broth

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 and 1/2 cups sour cream

3 cups hot cooked egg noodles

Directions

Cut beef across the grain into strips about 1 and 1/2 by 1/2 inches. Cook mushrooms, onions and garlic in butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender. Remove from skillet.

Cook beef in same skillet until brown. Stir in 1 cup of the broth, the salt and Worcestershire sauce. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Stir remaining 1/2 cup broth into flour; stir into beef mixture. Add onion mixture; heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in sour cream; heat until hot (do not boil). Serve over noodles.

David Swanson’s Spicy Eggs

Swanson writes: “This recipe was born out of a mid-summer garden crop and leftover taco seasoning. It is meant to be made with whatever pepper/alliums/tomatoes you can get out of your garden. Chorizo, bacon, or another fatty breakfast meat is a welcome addition. If using, cook it first and use as much as the fat as you see fit. I recommend adding butter, too. Using a pre-made Mexican seasoning blend will save time.” May be prepared year-‘round with grocery-bought ingredients. Makes 1 serving, easily multiplied. Slightly tweaked by Bill St. John.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter, divided
1/4 onion, peeled and chopped
1 chile pepper (medium-sized if jalapeño or poblano; small if serrano or habanero)

1 small tomato, chopped
Several strips of jarred or canned roasted red pepper
1/2 teaspoon Mexican seasoning blend (cumin, paprika, pepper, chile powder, coriander, granulated garlic, granulated onion, something along those lines)
2 corn or flour tortillas, cut in half and then into strips

1 serving cooked breakfast meat (crumbled chorizo, breakfast sausage, chopped ham, or the like), if desired and kept warm

3 large eggs
Chopped cilantro, leaves and tender stems, to taste
Hot sauce, if desired

Directions:

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, cook until soft, 5-6 minutes. While cooking onions, place chile pepper at edge of pan to sear and char, using tongs to rotate it for next several minutes.

Move onions aside and add tomato and its juices to skillet. Cook a couple of minutes. Add red pepper strips. Add Mexican seasoning blend, stir to combine. Set tomatoes and red pepper strips aside in skillet with onions. Lower heat slightly and continue to heat through.

Remove chile pepper; skin, if possible; chop flesh roughly. Add to pan; add tortilla strips, stir everything together until tortillas absorb liquids. Add in breakfast meat and stir to blend.

Make a well in the center of the pan mixture. Add second tablespoon of butter. When it melts, add eggs and cook however you please (fried hard; over easy; rough-scrambled; fine-scrambled; ask Dad what he wants).

Serve, topped with the chopped cilantro and hot sauce, the latter if desired.

Reach Bill St. John at [email protected]