Hamburger Stroganoff

Hello loyal follower(s)

Today Mr Nut made his favorite meal, known to his children as Yuck # 1 or 2, Hamburger Stroganoff.

The recipe used (revised) was good except it called for too much egg noodle (8 ounces), next time only 6 ounces will be used.

But first Mr Nut's garden is starting to produce,  take a look at the harvest from today.

These were picked at their prime.

The beets should be ready in about two weeks.

Cyndy has been picking strawberries each morning for her cereal. 

Back to the hamburger stroganoff, here were the ingredients.  The smaller measuring cup has sherry in it.

The finished product (too much egg noodles).

Mr Nut was very happy to have found a good Hamburger Stroganoff recipe.

Recipe (modified) follows:

À bientôt,

Mr Nut

Hamburger Stroganoff

Modified recipe from www.Simplyrecipes.com

Serves four

The main advantage of ground beef is clearly budget, and if worked properly you can also have wonderful flavor. First,  take the time to properly brown the meat. In other words, don't stir it! Just let it cook, on relatively high heat, until well browned, before giving it a stir. The browning is what gives you the flavor. Use the cooking of the onions and mushrooms to scrape up any of the browned bits, and sherry todeglaze the pan to get the rest. It's also important to salt while you cook. 

After gathering and processing the ingredients it take about one hour to make the stroganoff.

INGREDIENTS

Regular Smart Balance

1 lb ground 85% or better fat free

Salt and pepper

1 yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

8 ounces ( 3 1/2 cups) sliced mushrooms

1/3 cup of dry sherry, dry white wine, or water

1/4 cup chopped parsley, loosely packed or 1/8 cup parsley flakes

1 1/2 cups sour cream (room temperature)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon tarragon

1/4 teaspoon paprika or more to taste

6 ounces egg noodles

METHOD

1 Put a large pot of salted water (2 teaspoons salt and 2 quarts of water) on to heat, for the pasta.

2 Heat a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in the pan and swirl it around. Working in  two batches as not to crowd the meat (crowding it will make it hard to brown), break up the ground beef and add it to the pan. Sprinkle the meat with salt. Do not stir the meat, as stirring will prevent browning. Once the meat is well browned on one side (two minutes per side, depending on how hot the pan), Use a spatula to flip to the other side. Once that side is browned as well, remove the meat from the pan and set aside. Continue to brown second batch, adding a teaspoon of butter to the pan with each batch if needed, break up the meat into small pieces using the spatula.  Remove meat from pan. Drain excess fat from pan.

3 Lower the heat to medium. Add the onions to the pan. If you are working with very lean meat, you may not have any residual fat in the pan. If this is the case, add in a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Cook the onions, scraping up the meat drippings, until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove onions from the pan (add to the meat).

4 Depending on the cooking times of your particular brand of pasta, this is likely a good time to add the pasta to the boiling, salted water.

5 While the pasta is cooking, add a tablespoon of butter to the pan, increase the heat to medium high. Add the sliced mushrooms. Sauté until nicely browned (about 4 minutes). Add the sherry (or dry white wine or water) to the pan to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Let the sherry reduce by at least a half, then lower the heat to low.

6 Remove the pan from the heat. Mix in the 1 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/4 teaspoon paprika until smooth. Return the pan to very low heat, and not let the sour cream boil (or it may curdle).  Stir in the one teaspoon lemon juice, and about 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir in the meat and onions. Stir in the 1/8 cup parsley flakes. Add more salt, pepper, to taste.

7 Keep the stroganoff on warm heat until the noodles are done cooking. When the noodles are ready (al dente) drain and mix into the stroganoff.