Beef Stroganoff
This was one of my mom's recipes. It only survives because I made her write it down.
This was one of my mom's recipes. It only survives because I made her write it down.
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 season packet from hamburger helper stroganoff
- 1 cheese packet from the cheap mac and cheese
- 1 tbsp fat (yes...fat that is what she wrote down. butter
- 3 4 oz cans of mushroom pieces (i only used 2 because mar
- 1 10 1/2 oz can of cream of chicken soup
- 1 8 oz container of sour cream
- 1 pkg egg noodles
- Carbohydrate 4.16081355701659 g
- Cholesterol 41.5553514525361 mg
- Fat 9.51366996488624 g
- Fiber 0.296810346023329 g
- Protein 11.8635536174297 g
- Saturated Fat 3.8945917037389 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (103g)
- Sodium 50.0308090974961 mg
- Sugar 3.86400321099327 g
- Trans Fat 1.34099227844791 g
- Calories 153 calories
Step-by-step
- Cook the onion and fat (or butter) in a large skillet until the onions are soft.
- Add ground beef and brown
- Add mushrooms, flour, salt and pepper. Mix well
- Cook uncovered for 5 minutes.
- Add cream of chicken soup. Stir into meat mixture thoroughly.
- Reduce heat to simmer.
- Cook covered for 10 minutes
- Mix in milk, sour cream, the cheese packet, and the seasoning packet.
- Heat thoroughly
- Serve over cooked egg noodles
Classic beef stroganoff relies on strips of beef tenderloin and a clear mustard-and-wine reduction, diverging significantly from this home-style version built on ground beef and canned soup. Ground meat demands different handling than whole cuts. Brown the beef thoroughly in a wide skillet over medium-high heat to develop Maillard compounds, breaking the meat into small crumbles to maximize surface contact with the pan. Trapped moisture prevents proper browning. Drain excess rendered grease if the mixture pools more than two millimeters deep, or the added flour will paste into raw-tasting lumps rather than thickening the sauce.
Substitutions alter both chemistry and texture. Using all-purpose flour requires cooking it with the fats and aromatics for at least sixty seconds to eliminate the raw starch flavor before introducing liquids. Canned cream of chicken soup provides a stable starch base that prevents the dairy from breaking under heat. Sour cream curdles easily if subjected to a rolling boil due to its high acid and low protein content. Temper the sour cream by whisking a few tablespoons of the warm pan liquid into it before stirring the dairy into the main skillet.
Visual cues dictate doneness in stovetop pasta pairings and sauce reductions. Cook the egg noodles in boiling water until they yield to the bite with a slight firmness at the center, typically six to eight minutes. Sauce readiness is judged by coating the back of a metal spoon: draw a clear line through the sauce with a finger, and if the path holds for two seconds without flooding, the starches have gelatinized correctly. Turn off the heat immediately before adding the sour cream and cheese packets.
Acidity and salt balance the heavy dairy fats present in the recipe. Stirring must remain gentle once the dairy joins the meat base to maintain a smooth emulsion. Leftovers store safely in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to seventy-two hours. Reheat portions gently over low heat while whisking in a splash of water to reconstitute the sauce without splitting the fats.
