Stroganoff
I think working for a German company for 10+ years has worn off on me, lol! If you like pasta, meet, and gravy this dish is for you.
Ingredients
1 tbl spoon EVOO
1/2 -1 Diced Onion (pending size and taste preference)
I prefer to dice my onions so they almost melt into the dish but I have seen people use thinly sliced onions if that yours preference. If I did thinly sliced, I would cook them over medium heat and caramelize them to enhance the flavor.
2-5 Garlic Cloves Dices
1 lb Ground Meet (generally beef or turkey)
I tend to use ground Turkey but you can also use ground beef or even sliced and chopped beef sirloin.
McCormicks Steak Seasoning
Red Pepper Flakes
1 Bell Pepper Chopped or Diced
Not a traditional ingredient but adds a good natural sweet balance to a very onion dormant dish. It’s also a good source of vitamins and supports good immune health. I prefer Yellow, Orange, or Red vs green.
8 oz Sliced Cremini Mushrooms
Umami Powder *Optional, but if you have it, use it! learn more about this at the end
Cremini are also known as baby Bella which is short for baby portobello mushrooms. White Button also works but I prefer the last of Cremini and they are easy to find now a days.
32 oz Low Sodium Beef Broth (I used Pacific Foods Broth, organic optional)
Egg Noodles
1-2 McCormick Stroganoff Package
8 oz Light Sour Cream
Arrowroot as needed for thickening
Spinach (Sliced, chopped, or whole leaf)
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, and Onion Powder to taste
Order of Operations
In a 3-5 qt pan cook onions till transparent and add garlic. Add garlic and cook for about 10-30 seconds. Add in ground meet and dust with McCormicks steak seasoning and top with a pinch + of red pepper flakes. Cook till it start to brown. As I cook with meet that has a lower fat content, I don’t drain any of the fat that comes off.
Add in diced bell peppers. Once they start to soften, I add in sliced mushrooms and dust with umami powder. Cover until cooked.
Add egg noodles and beef broth until noodles are slightly covered with the liquid. It will probably not be the whole 32 oz box. What ever is left, set aside for later. Cover and cook till noodles are almost al dente (tender but firm) as they will continue to cook as you finalize and reduce.
Add in McCormicks seasoning packet and stir, it will start to thicken. Turn down the heat and add sour cream and spinach. At this point you want to taste for flavor, don’t wait till the end! If needed, add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and or onion powder to taste. Which ever you think is lacking. It might be one thing, or all 4.
Leave the lid off and let the dish thicken. If you had too much liquid and you are finding the consistency more soup than chili, you have a few options.
Option 1. Make a slurry but mixing about 1 tbs spoon of left over broth and arrowroot/ cornstarch till it turns into a loose paste consistency and add that in to the dish. I don’t use water as I prefer to keep flavor in and not dilute what is there. NOTE_Arrowroot and cornstarch lack flavor and if you use too much, it can cause your dish to have a chalky flavor. Using this option, you will need to taste as you go to insure you don’t need to add flavor back in as you thicken.
Option 2. Use part of all of a another McCormicks seasoning packet.
Option 3. I tend to this tend to use option 2 and then arrow root as needed. Most of the time I’m trying to take liquid out of a dish while keeping flavor in so I find this to be the ideal method. If I didn’t have an extra packet I would use option 1
You will know if your dish is thick enough if you can run a flat spoon along the bottom of the pan starting at the edge of the pan working inwards and the gravy liquid will temporarily stay separated like you parted the red sea for a couple of seconds.
Serve hot and enjoy. Makes great left overs and easy to freeze.
Cheers!
Had to add sour cream to my shopping list :) Bottom left is testing for thickness.
UMAMI POWDER is made of mushrooms and other flavors and is an excellent source of glutamates and has a savory, brothy, and meaty flavor. These days you can find umami powder at Target, Trader Joes, HEB, and most grocery stores in the spice isle. Being a beef and onion flavor dish and since I used ground turkey, it’s a great way to enhance the flavor profile.
Calling all vegetarians or plant based eaters! This is your new best friend as it’s great options to use with vegetarian dishes as it’s great with tofu, veggie burgers, and more. Umami instantly added a “meaty flavor” to any dish without using meat.
If you try one new “spice” this is the one I would recommend due to the flavor profile and versatility in the kitchen.