10 October 2017

Hamburger Stroganoff


You know those foods from your youth that are the ultimate in comfort food? This is one of mine. The amount of ground beef used to vary depending on how much money we had, and sometimes there was more pasta than others, but the taste was always the same. Pure comfort.



The ingredients are simple, and often are not of high quality. As I've gotten older I've improved on them a bit, but feel free to substitute whatever you need. Ground beef, of course. Bacon, egg noodles, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, onion, pepper, and paprika. If you want to make it even better, use a good smoked paprika... it changes everything, and for the better.



I skipped taking a picture of just the bacon, because it's really only a couple of minutes before you add the ground beef. For this, you'll want to dice your bacon before cooking it. Toss it in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat until it starts to render some grease, then add the ground beef and cook, making sure to crumble the meat, until it's completely browned.



Then add the diced onion, and continue cooking over medium-high heat (maybe a little lower, depending on how much the grease is spitting), stirring fairly frequently, until the onions are translucent but not browned. Drain off the excess grease.



Stir the seasonings into the meat mixture, then stir in the can of soup. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking and drying out.



While the meat mixture is simmering, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain and toss with butter to coat.



Stir the sour cream into the meat mixture and continue cooking over low heat, stirring frequently, until completely heated through.



Add the noodles to the pan and stir to completely coat with the meat and sour cream mixture. Serve immediately.



I've been known to add a 4-ounce can of sliced mushrooms (drained), for more bulk and flavour. But usually not. You can also make this lower fat by trading the regular cream of mushroom for some 98% fat free, using light sour cream, skip buttering the noodles (in which case make them a little later so they don't get stuck together before you add them), and reducing the amount of bacon. It's still good, just not as rich.


Hamburger Stroganoff
Serves 6

5 slices bacon
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
3 cups egg noodles (dry, I used Ronzoni double fiber)
1 tablespoon butter

Set a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dice bacon and add to skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, 2-3 minutes, until grease starts to render. Add ground beef to pan and cook, crumbling with spoon and stirring frequently, 5-6 minutes or until browned. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, 3-4 minutes until tender but not browned. Drain excess fat.

Stir seasonings into meat mixture, then stir in soup to combine. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook 10-12 minutes, until desired doneness. Drain, return to pan, and add butter (return burner to low heat if necessary to melt butter). Stir until butter is melted and noodles are coated.

Stir sour cream into meat mixture and continue heating, stirring frequently, over low heat until completely heated through. Stir noodles into mixture and stir to coat. Serve immediately.

*If desired, reduce bacon to 3 slices, use 98% fat free soup, light sour cream, and skip buttering the noodles to reduce fat.


Per Serving (as written):
Calories: 447
Total Fat: 22.8g
Saturated Fat: 9.8g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 126mg
Sodium: 499mg
Total Carbohydrates: 24.7g
Dietary Fiber: 1.2g
Sugars: 1.2g
Protein: 34.2g

Per serving (with lower fat options):
Calories: 363
Total Fat: 15.3g
Saturated Fat: 6.5g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 117mg
Sodium: 417mg
Total Carbohydrates: 23.3g
Dietary Fiber: 1.3g
Sugars: 0.8g

Protein: 31.4g

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