Faux Hamburger Stroganoff
1 lb hamburger
1/2 chopped onion
2 tsp butter or margarine 
1 can cream mushroom soup
1 lb sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Brown hamburger, saute’ onion in butter add to hamurger. Add soup, when warm add sour cream and cook 10 minutes. We serve this over rice, but the original recipe called for it to be served over rice or noodles.
Since I’m the one who suggested the Hamburger Helper, I have to reply to this.
Hey, I like good (“snobby”) food as much as the next person.
Fancy seafood? Yum. Grilled salmon with dill sauce; scallops sauteed in garlic butter, mmmmmmm.
Fresh veggies? Well, of course they taste better than canned or frozen. Nothing like some lightly steamed fresh broccoli with a dash of real lemon juice; or fresh, crisp green beans, mmmmmm.
But some cheap/easy food is good. The HH is pretty good. I also like grilled cheese made with Kraft singles and served with Campbell’s tomato soup. I’ve had grilled cheese made with four kinds of fancy aged cheddar, and it’s just not the same.
I have several recipes for chicken casseroles that call for cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup as a base. What’s wrong with that?
Now are you REALLY speechless? I mean, how shocking can it be when you probably see it in the supermarket all the time?
It is one thing to appreciate the finer things in life, another thing entirely to be a snob about it. There is nothing redeeming or postive about being a snob.
BTW, Techchick’s meal of grilled cheese and Campbell’s tomato soup is making my mouth water…
I love good food. This includes fine/complicated food, as well as plain, simple food.
I like my ingredients natural, fresh, and if they are organic that’s a huge bonus.
The thought of chemicals and additives sickens me. When fresh food tastes so good, it makes you wonder what the processed stuff would taste like without all the E numbers in it. shudder
Also we used to have chickens at home, so for this reason, I will only ever buy properly free-range eggs. (Not the fake “barn fresh” or “farm fresh” types). Quite apart from the fact that when you know what they feed battery chickens you wouldn’t want to eat the eggs, I believe if we are going to eat meat, we should at least give the animals we rear a humane existence while they live.
We are what we eat. I don’t want to be a Big Mac.
I just realized this morning that I think Necros missed my point and I may not have made it clear. So I’ll try again.
SOMETIMES quick and easy and campbell soup and margarine are usable.
When I’m making Chicken Kiev or Homemade Soup or stew or stir fry…they are not.
I DO use fresh vegetables, but when I’m making meatloaf for me and my husband and I have an hour until rehearsal, I’m more likely to heat up some frozen corn than scrape it off the cob and make a souffle out of it.
And when I refer to simple cooking being great, I mean, when I make my grandma’s pierogis it’s Flour, Butter, Salt, Pepper, Eggs, Oil and Cabbage. THAT’S it. Don’t come stand over my shoulder in the kitchen and say,
“You know, with some sun dried tomatoes and olives, those would be great”
THEY’RE GREAT ALREADY. I don’t need to fruuf it up.
And sometimes I DO like to drink Harp or Bass, but when I’m eating ten cent wings and watching football, I’d rather drink ice cold Miller Lite.
And you know what? THAT’S OK.
jar
Ach. Kapusta in pierogis. Everyone knows you just put mashed potato and onion, with maybe a little farmer’s cheese if you must.
:: d&r
And so is butter. And so are you. And so am I.
OHHHH, you mean artificial chemicals, do you?
That I might buy, depending on the brand - although bear in mind that some of the more “artificial” sounding additives have perfectly natural sources. Lecithin, for example, is a texture enhancer and emulsifier widely available from soy (I use it for baking). Mono and diglycerides are fats that have emulsifying properties, and today are usually extracted from vegetables. Potassium sorbate is a preservative fatty acid derived from natural sources including mountain laurel and blueberries. Citric acid, another preservative, is derived from (guess what!) citrus fruits (and some sugars). Even “artificial butter flavor” is often milk-derived and can provoke a reaction in the dairy-allergic.
And yes, the big point is that hydrogenating vegetable oils - the essence of making margarine - is an intensely artificial process. Mists of anachronic sentiment aside, however, I’m not sure making butter or cheese is really any less artificial.
jinwicked said:
Well, good for you. But just because you’re not eating Big Macs for dinner every night doesn’t mean that I’m going to applaud your food choices. It’s not an either/or proposition; it’s a continuum. 
PT said:
I’m totally with this reason, which I think is a good one for using frozen vegetables. Especially if you’re eating for one, it can be difficult to use the entire eggplant, or whatever. That’s why freezers were invented, right?
Kinsey said:
It doesn’t taste good? I guess that’s my opinion. If I’m going to go to the trouble of making something, I don’t want it to taste bad. YMMV.
Caricci said:
I try to avoid that aisle whenever possible.
jarbabyj sdaid:
I vote for Campbell’s Soup never being usable. But I buy you’re second argument wholesale. I suspect that most people chiming in on your side in this thread will differ with you here. They most likely do make their Chicken Kiev with condensed soup. And when you can make a mushroom-cream base for your whatever in just a little more time that tastes much better, I have a hard time seeing the benefit.
Fine. Time constraints can put a crimp in your style, definitely. But in the 30 minutes you take to make that meatloaf, you could have made something different with fresh veggies, too. Just to keep your options open.
I don’t doubt they are. I’d love to try some. Simple, basic cooking, especially from fresh ingredients, is awesome. But “this one recipe I got from Herberger’s cookbook which calls for Cheeze Whiz” is not simple cooking. I know that’s not what you’re talking about, but others in this thread are.
Sure is. I’m not a beer snob.
Hey Wave…gotta agree with the Miller Lite rant. Y’all drink what you want, but when you have such fine beverages as British bitters, German & Belgian Weissbeirs, Czech Pilsners and the such to choose from, I cannot fathom why you’d opt for Miller Lite, or even worse, Busch Lite.
(Exception: It is allowed, if not required, to drink Bud, Old Style and the such at American sporting events.)
Margarine: Eh, I like the taste of butter. Margarine’s fine, but I love a fresh baguette with some Danish butter. Mmm, mmm, heaven. I’m not being a snob, it just tastes fucking good. Simplicity at its finest. The only thing I use margarine for is Buffalo wings (gives better texture to the sauce then butter.) But where its flavor is not important, I don’t care if you use margarine or butter.
Anyhow, I do enjoy my food and I LOVE to cook. I will not let my girlfriend anywhere near the kitchen (except when she makes fried chicken.) I never noticed any trend in fancy restaurants to include “27 ingredients” in every dish. If anything, the opposite. Good cooking starts with fresh ingredients prepared perfectly. You can get yourself an expensive filet mignon and serve it with a nice sauce bearnaise, but that don’t mean shit if you can’t cook it right to begin with.
I agree with most of your points, jarbaby. And who the fuck wants to put sundried tomatoes in your pierogi? Them’s sketchy people you been hanging around with. (For the record, I’m 100% Polish, so this is a particularly ludicrous suggestion.)
Re Why A Duck. Hey, hey, hey. Nothing wrong with kapusta in pierogis. Mashed potatoes with farmer’s cheese are my fav. (Why “if you must” on the cheese? It’s required!) Anyhow, those pierogi are referred to as “Ruskie Pierogi,” or Russian pierogi. Other acceptable fillings are: meat & bacon, kapusta & morel mushrooms, blueberries, strawberries, sour cherries. Although when I was back in Chicago in August I had some unusual pierogi which were really good, namely spinach & cheese pierogi. My mom even liked them (what is this world coming to?)
One more point: Canned soup stock sucks for most applications. I would strongly advise to make your own and freeze it. It’s not difficult and improves the flavor of sauces, gravies, soups and the such ten fold.
Hey Wave…gotta agree with the Miller Lite rant. Y’all drink what you want, but when you have such fine beverages as British bitters, German & Belgian Weissbeirs, Czech Pilsners and the such to choose from, I cannot fathom why you’d opt for Miller Lite, or even worse, Busch Lite.
(Exception: It is allowed, if not required, to drink Bud, Old Style and the such at American sporting events.)
Margarine: Eh, I like the taste of butter. Margarine’s fine, but I love a fresh baguette with some Danish butter. Mmm, mmm, heaven. I’m not being a snob, it just tastes fucking good. Simplicity at its finest. The only thing I use margarine for is Buffalo wings (gives better texture to the sauce then butter.) But where its flavor is not important, I don’t care if you use margarine or butter.
Anyhow, I do enjoy my food and I LOVE to cook. I will not let my girlfriend anywhere near the kitchen (except when she makes fried chicken.) I never noticed any trend in fancy restaurants to include “27 ingredients” in every dish. If anything, the opposite. Good cooking starts with fresh ingredients prepared perfectly. You can get yourself an expensive filet mignon and serve it with a nice sauce bearnaise, but that don’t mean shit if you can’t cook it right to begin with.
I agree with most of your points, jarbaby. And who the fuck wants to put sundried tomatoes in your pierogi? Them’s sketchy people you been hanging around with. (For the record, I’m 100% Polish, so this is a particularly ludicrous suggestion.)
Re Why A Duck. Hey, hey, hey. Nothing wrong with kapusta in pierogis. Mashed potatoes with farmer’s cheese are my fav. (Why “if you must” on the cheese? It’s required!) Anyhow, those pierogi are referred to as “Ruskie Pierogi,” or Russian pierogi. Other acceptable fillings are: meat & bacon, kapusta & morel mushrooms, blueberries, strawberries, sour cherries. Although when I was back in Chicago in August I had some unusual pierogi which were really good, namely spinach & cheese pierogi. My mom even liked them (what is this world coming to?)
One more point: Canned soup stock sucks for most applications. I would strongly advise to make your own and freeze it. It’s not difficult and improves the flavor of sauces, gravies, soups and the such ten fold.
p.s. jarbaby - where do you use soup in your chicken kiev? i make mine with rolled chicken breast stuffed with homemade herb butter? i’m not criticizing it, just curious. maybe i’ll try it differently next time.
Okay, Necros, I was thinking about you today while I was getting dinner ready. Aren’t you flattered? 
I have a challenge for you. This is what I made for dinner tonight. I love it, my family loves it, I’ve even made it for dinner parties. (the horror! It has Campbell’s soup in it! :o )
I challenge you to make it, following the recipe exactly, and then report back and tell me honestly what you and your dinner companions think.
Here goes:
Kinsey’s Famous Chicken
8-10 skinless chicken thighs
1 jar of dried beef (comes in a little glass jar with a pop-top, little circles of dried and formed beef {oh, shut up})
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 8-oz. container of sour cream
about ½ cup of milk
Spray a baking dish with a little Pam. Unroll the dried beef and lay it out acoss the bottom of the pan, overlapping the circles a bit. Lay the chicken thighs on top of the beef. Mix the soup and sour cream together with the milk and pour it over the chicken. Now the tricky part. Bake at 275° for 2½ to 3 hours. That’s right, low and slow. You cannot rush this one. It must bake for a long time at a low temp. The soup and sour cream mix together to make a yummy sauce, and the dried beef is nice and salty under the chicken.
Are you up to it?
Wait a second. You want me to lay out my good, hard-earned cash to not only buy Campbell’s Soup, but dried beef?!? Are you out of your mind?
OK, I’ll do it.
But I have to downsize it, a bit; it’s just me and my girlfriend. And I’ll give you my honest opinion, as long as you’re up to it. I’m not sure girlfriend’s opinion counts. She’s from Minnesota and grew up with the infamous Hot Dish. And liked it. 'Nuff said.
Wait a second. Dried beef? You’re not talking about beef jerky, right? Where can I find this tasty tidbit at my local supermarket? I’ll try to locate it, but any pointers (brand, food-type aisle, label color) would be helpful.
Is this stuff it? http://www.knaussfoods.com/kdbcproductspage.htm
Sorry for the triple-post, but I don’t have any Pam, either. Can I substitute, or do I have to buy some?
God, no it’s not beef jerky. I’m not that bad.
It might be like what you linked to, but I get it in little glass jars, with a metal lid that has to be pried off with a bottle opener (and goes “Swoosh” when you break the seal). I’m thinking Hormel maybe? Sorry, but the trash is already gone.
It’s usually in the aisle with “Canned Meats” or “Prepared Meats”, meaning tuna and Vienna Sausages or canned spaghetti (Franco-American stuff).
Nah, there are two things worse than ketchup on a hotdog…
I have a friend who puts ketchup on BRATWURST, and a friend of mine’s Dad eats white bread, ketchup and bologna sandwiches!
Funny, I do that to, only without the bologna…
Quick question to everyone who felt the need to step up and offer there thoughts on margerine/Campbell’s soup/Miller Lite/etc.
What does it matter to you what other people eat or drink? You don’t understand it? You don’t like it? Fine. Don’t eat or drink it, but I’m with jarbaby that people should just shut the fuck up about it if it’s what the other person likes.
Sometimes it’s nice to make a good meal complete from scratch. Sometimes one just doesn’t have the time or the energy and using other, quicker ingredients (Campbell’s soup, Hamburger Helper, etc) gets a meal that the person likes without as much effort. It may not be just as good, but it’s good enough for the person eating it.
I only have one thing to yell at jarbaby for from the OP:
Bullshit, jarbaby. How do you make a turkey from scratch? Do you make one out of clay, stick feathers on it and give it the breath of life before killing it for dinner?
im solidly on crunchys side, except for one little thing. chipped beef! uuuggghhh, kinsey, thats so wrong! (shudder)
my moms fave quick meal was to pry open a jar of chipped beef (saving the jar for use as a juice glass), dump it in a skillet, pour a can of carnation condensed milk over it, boil it, and serve it over mashed potatoes.
makes my skin crawl just THINKING of it…