Sorta Beef Stroganoff

Actually, you might call this Quick Quasi Stroganoff.

heh

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound ground beef (actually, ground chuck or better, or shredded, leftover roast)
  • 1 medium yellow (scourge) onion, chopped
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced (or use your garlic press)
  • 1 can mushroom soup (yeh, I use the fat free)
  • 8-12oz sour cream (for this, the fat free sour “cream” does fine, too)
  • about ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • a couple of dashes of Chinese five spice
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste (I like lots)
  • an 8-oz can of sliced mushrooms, drained, or clean and slice about 1/2 to 1 cup of mushrooms of your choice.

Prep

If using (lean) ground chuck, start browning the meat*, then add the chopped onion and minced garlic as the meat releases a little fat. Brown the meat on medium high and clarify the ionions and garlic with the meat. It should come out about right: the meat will be cooked through about the time the onions/garlic are done. Tinker with your timing. With good lean ground chuck, you shouldn’t have much grease to drain at all.

Add the grated nutmeg, pepper and a couple of dashes of Chinese five spice just as the meat is cooking thtough, toward the end.

Add the mushroom soup, sour cream and mushrooms (if using “fresh” mushrooms, add them a little earlier as the meat is just about done, as well). Bring to a nice low bubble and then back the heat down to simmer. Cover for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and serve over rice, egg noodles or… baked potatoes.

A side of fresh or frozen peas (cooked your fav method, of course, silly) and a salad can round this out nicely.

It’s a meal from semi-scratch in under 30 minutes. If I’m using baked potatoes to serve the stuff on, I just nuke ’em; rice—even brown rice—and noodles cook really quickly, so it really does only take 30 minutes to prepare. Easy, and it is at least evocative of real stroganoff.

*You thought I’d forgotten instructions if you use leftover roast beef, didn’t you? Nah, just tacking it on here cos it’s such an easy variation—actually saves time. Sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Add the meat and everything else and simmer til done. What could be easier?

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