Death by Beef Stroganoff?

Beef Stroganoff. A seemingly innocent dish. And yet, Dan and I unknowingly played Russian roulette (no pun intended) with our dinner on Wednesday.

I've been trying to cook more because the cook of my relationship is still a bit laid up with the achilles injury. I decided I wanted to make the classic Russian meal, beef stroganoff, for dinner this week.

I chopped the ingredients and sauted them on the stove top just like the recipe required. Then I got to the final phase, "simmer covered on the stovetop for 15 minutes." I happened to be cooking this concoction in my big wok-like pan (great wide base, tall sides, and non-stick) because it is wonderful, but I neglected to remember that I don't have a lid or any substitution lid nearly large enough to fit it. Dan's suggestion - "Honey, use your pizza pan. Just flip it over and leave a crack for the steam / heat to escape."

Sounds good in theory. In reality, when I removed the pizza pan "lid" 15 minutes later, the surface was melted and rusty-looking, and had this weird wet metallic-looking-and-tasting residue (yes, I tasted it). Was the food ruined? Would I need a tetnus shot if I ate it?

After much discussion and a call to my mom, we decided it was probably fine to eat. I'm still alive today, so hopefully I haven't done irreparable damage to me or my boyfriend.

As a side note, if you have chemistry/physics/science background and you know that I killed brain cells or will experience liver damage in a week or anything of the like, please don't mention it to me. I'd rather be living in ignorance...

The stroganoff was that good.