Beef stroganoff
When I was in elementary school I remember my brother coming home one day from an afternoon at his friends house and telling us about this “hamburger helper” dish his friend’s mom had made them for lunch. He simply raved about it and insisted my parents buy it so we could make it at home. My mom and dad made nearly everything we ate at home from scratch, so the thought of buying a semi-homemade boxed meal like this was slightly offensive; nevertheless, my parents obliged my brother’s request and bought this said “hamburger helper” to make at home the following week. And much to my family’s chagrin, the quick-fix meal was actually a hit! (Of course, my dad added a few of his homemade tricks to doctor it up, but we didn’t know that or really even care at the time.) Who wouldn’t love a meaty, cheesy pasta dish? It reminded me and my brother of my mom’s tuna noodle casserole, another creamy, comforting pasta dish, chock-full of tuna and peas and cheese. Ahhh the bliss of childhood.
Nevertheless, as we got older, our sophisticated palates outgrew this hamburger helper and its similar side-kick boxed dinners. When I got married, I started making my hubby all sorts of delicious meals, trying to especially reinvent homemade versions of childhood classics. Both my kids and husband love when I make pasta dishes, so I decided to give stroganoff a shot, which is essentially a very fancy hamburger-helper-ish meal. Stroganoff is a German noodle dish known for its rich sour cream sauce. I’ve made it two ways, one with slow-braised meat and one with ground meat, and by far, my family prefers the ground meat version. I have also made this recipe with ground beef and with ground venison, both fare excellently, in fact my husband may even prefer the ground venison! I add lots of garlic and mushrooms to the ground beef and the Dijon mustard gives the sauce a unique tang and embellishes the sour cream. What I love most about this dish is that I use one pot for the whole meal. I cook the pasta, then drain it, but I use the same pot right on the stove to start browning the meat and then the mushrooms, and then the sauce is made from all that goodness. Finally at the end, I add the noodles back into the pot with the meat and sauce to finish off. This recipe makes a large batch, but it makes for great leftovers. If you need less quantity, simply cut the recipe in half.
Beef stroganoff
2 boxes Jovial brown rice egg tagliatelle pasta
2 lbs. organic, grass-fed ground beef (we usually use 85%/15%)
2 lbs. organic baby bella mushrooms or white button mushrooms
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 quart (32 oz.) grass-fed beef stock
1/4-1/3 cup organic Dijon mustard
16 oz. organic sour cream, such as Nancy’s
1-2 tsp dried thyme
salt and black pepper to taste
First cook the pasta. In a large pot, cook the pasta until al dente, about 7-8 minutes. Be sure to not overcook the pasta in this stage, as the noodles would get mushy as they continue to cook in the sauce. Drain the pasta and run under cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.
Next, prepare the sauce. In the same pot you used to cook the noodles, brown the ground beef. Add both pounds of ground beef to the pot at medium-high heat and break it up with a spatula. Add salt and black pepper to taste, then add the thyme. Continue to stir and break up the meat, allowing it to brown, for about 10-15 minutes. Once the meat is thoroughly browned, turn the heat down low and remove all the meat from the pot, dumping it into a separate bowl. Add the garlic and mushrooms to the same pot and turn the heat back up to high. Continue to stir the mushrooms and garlic, adding more salt and black pepper to taste. Allow the mushrooms to cook down and caramelize (this may take 15 minutes or more). Once the mushrooms are browned and cooked down, add the meat back into the pot and stir. Turn the heat back down to medium-low and add in the beef stock, Dijon mustard, and sour cream. Stir all of the ingredients together and allow the sauce to simmer for a few minutes as it develops into a silky smooth consistency. Gently fold in the delicate cooked pasta and stir until everything is combined. Keep the pot of stroganoff covered and on low until ready to serve.
