Comfort Food

WITH the arrival of Fall, Dad begins to make heartier dishes. He even indulges in a carb or two. This is his version of Beef Stroganoff.

While not a pretty dish, it tastes great.

He boiled egg noodles. Browned ground beef. Sautéed mushroom and onion. Combined garlic powder, beef base, and sour cream. Mixed everything together and served over the noodles. He served it up to Opa with the vegetable soup he previously made. For recipe and prep directions, click read more.

Done noodles not too hard and not mushy.

Beef Stroganoff

1 16 oz. package of egg noodles

2 lbs. ground beef

2 medium onions diced

3 4 oz. cans of mushrooms

2 18 oz. tubs of sour cream

2 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Salt, garlic powder, black pepper, beef base

In a pot, add twice as much water by volume as there are dried noodles. Bring to boil. While waiting, in a bowl combine garlic powder (to your tastes, Dad used about 1/2 tbsp.) and sour cream. Also remove butter and Parmesan from storage and bring to room temperature. Follow the directions for the ratio of water to beef base assuming the sour cream is a liquid ingredient. Add to sour cream. Dad used about 6 teaspoons. Add black pepper to your liking. Cover and refrigerate until ready for use.

When boiling, add about 1 tbsp. of salt and the noodles to the water. Boil uncovered until al dente. Stir frequently. When done, drain and spin dry in a salad spinner. While still warm, return to pot, add butter and Parmesan. Cover and let butter melt. Mix to combine.

Saute the onion until brown adding mushrooms toward the end. Render the ground beef. Remove the beef and strain off the fat and excess water. Return to pan and brown. Combine the sour cream and the onion/mushroom mixture. Taste for salinity and salt as necessary.

Serve over noodles and pair with an IPA.

Notes:

The noodles will absorb water while cooking so you need more water than just enough to cover them. Dad likes the 2:1 water to noodle ratio becuase it is easy to remember. Some folks add oil or butter to the water in an attempt to keep the noodles from sticking together, This doesn't work. The oil just floats on the top of the water. Using enough water (and stirring frequently) will keep them from sticking together.

Dad has some corrosion in his aluminum pot. He believes this resulted from him salting the water before it boiled. He now salts the water after it has boiled. 

Dad doesn't like a hard noodle, but he doesn't care for mush either. These noodles cook quickly, so he keeps a fork and a glass of water nearby to test the noodles frequently for doneness. He stabs a noodle, dunks it to cool it, and samples it for chewiness. He removes them from the water as soon as he gets a good test result. Spinning them dry in a salad spinner helps keep excess water off of the serving platter. Adding the butter and Parm makes them good enough to eat alone.

The garlic powder will take some time to rehydrate in the sour cream. You might want to make the liquid portion of the recipe an hour in advance.

The best browning happens when you get all of the moisture out of the pan. Dad put the ground beef into the pan, broke it up, cooked it a minute, flipped it, broke it up some more, cooked it another two minutes (on a high flame) until the fat and moisture had rendered out. He strained the beef, cleaned the pan, and returned it to finish browning. He got an excellent crispy brown skin on it.

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