# Name This Recipe **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850 "2009-09-20T17:54:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/1 "2009-09-20T17:54:49Z")
Once upon a time, my daughter’s friend offered to cook dinner for us. It was “dinner” in the broadest of terms: basically, she browned some ground beef, with salt and pepper, then drained it and added a can of cream of mushroom soup. She simmered this mixture while she boiled egg noodles to serve it over. It wasn’t wonderful, but not nausea-inducing. Certainly edible. I thought of it as “people chow”. But my hubby and I have kicked it up a level. Here’s how we do it: Brown 1lb of lean ground beef (85/15) with salt and pepper; break up beef as it browns. Remove ground beef from pan. Deglaze the pan with a little dry red wine. In the drippings and liquid, sautee a small, diced onion and a diced sweet red pepper. When the pepper and onions are softened, add beef back in. Add cream of mushroom soup and about 1/3 can of Half and Half (to make it “saucier”). We serve it over whole-wheat rotini. Problem is, even though this is a _very_ basic recipe, and I’m _sure_ we didn’t invent anything new, we don’t know what it’s called. I’ve been calling it “hamburger slop”, but it seems like we could come up with something more appetizing! So, have you had/cooked a dish like this? If so, what’s it called? If not, and you were to cook it, what would you call it? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/2 "2009-09-20T17:58:44Z")
Sounds like a variation of Stroganoff to me. Someone at the church I went to as a kid always brought something very similar to that as a casserole. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/3 "2009-09-20T18:17:55Z")
I make something similar once in a great while, only I add French-cut green beans, tarragon, and some sour cream. I call it stroganoff even though I know it isn’t. Yeah, it’s basically just “people chow.” Something to throw together when you’re hungry and want something that’ll stick to your ribs, but don’t want to work too hard. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/4 "2009-09-20T18:35:27Z")
It’s definitely a type of modern (post-1950s) beef stroganoff; I’d especially expect to find it in Midwest rural or suburban cookery, like most of my extended family makes. Those folks would think the addition of wine very odd and probably morally suspect, of course. My parents regularly made something like it when I was growing up. Another variety of hamburger slop we ate often was “goulash” (ground beef simmered in in tomato sauce with green peppers). If you put green beans in the stroganoff type – possibly substituting cream of celery for cream of mushroom soup – and bake it in your good casserole dish with tater tots or ready-made french-fried onions on top, you are ready to go to a potluck. Traditionally, [beef stroganoff](http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmeats.html#beefstroganoff) involved non-ground strips or cubes of beef in a sour cream sauce, often with mushrooms, but there are thousands of variations. I knew a fellow in college who lived on a dish not all that different: he sauteed chopped-up chicken, added a little hot water and instant cream-of-chicken soup mix, then dumped in whatever frozen veggies he’d got on sale that week, and served it all over noodles. It was healthier than the ramen most of our friends ate, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/5 "2009-09-20T18:43:15Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > I make something similar once in a great while, only I add French-cut green beans, tarragon, and some sour cream. I call it stroganoff even though I know it isn’t. > > **Yeah, it’s basically just "people chow.**" Something to throw together when you’re hungry and want something that’ll stick to your ribs, but don’t want to work too hard. Premium people chow. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/6 "2009-09-20T19:33:37Z")
Definitely a midwest staple. Meat + noodles + cream of something soup. You can even skip the noodles and serve the meat-soup mixture on a bun and call it a sloppy joe. One of our favorites is hamburger boiled in water, with onions, thickened with cornstarch and served over potatoes or toast. If you add some Kitchen Bouquet to change the color from gray to brown, it doesn’t look so much like puke. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/7 "2009-09-20T20:25:31Z")
Call it “Stroganoff a la Norine”. It sounds yummy! ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/8 "2009-09-20T20:42:06Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Sounds like a variation of Stroganoff to me. AKA 47 (bouef a la Kalashnikov)?? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/9 "2009-09-20T22:54:02Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Call it “Stroganoff a la Norine”. It sounds yummy! I refuse to call it stroganoff! Well, at least until next time I make it and add some sour cream at the end. Proper stroganoff has sour cream! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/10 "2009-09-20T23:26:07Z")
Rotini Norini? ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/11 "2009-09-20T23:31:03Z")
hamburger helper. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/12 "2009-09-21T00:26:36Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > I refuse to call it stroganoff! … Proper stroganoff has sour cream! “Stroganott,” perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/13 "2009-09-21T00:32:25Z")
AKA ‘yumasetta’, thought to be Midwest or Amish. Hamburg, onion, tomato soup, cream of chicken soup, maybe velveeta cheese, served over egg noodles. Filling enough after a hard day digging up taters, but I think Hamburger Helper is easier. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/14 "2009-09-21T00:35:04Z")
Oh, my god. (hands over ears, hums Talking Heads’ “Big Country”) ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/15 "2009-09-21T00:41:39Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Definitely a midwest staple. Meat + noodles + cream of something soup. Yep. I like ground beef or sausage + egg noodles + cream of mushroom and tomato soup + cheese + whatever random vegetables we feel like. We don’t even have a name for it, it’s just “casserole.” ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/16 "2009-09-21T12:51:22Z")
Husband Helper. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/17 "2009-09-21T21:19:11Z")
I think this broadly qualifies as a Midwestern “hot dish.” > **[Hotdish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotdish)** > > A hotdish is a casserole dish that typically contains a starch, a meat, and a canned or frozen vegetable mixed with canned soup that must be served hot or warm. The dish originates in the Upper Midwest region of the United States, where it remains popular, particularly in Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and eastern Montana. Hotdish is cooked in a single baking dish, and served hot (per its name). It commonly appears at communal gatherings such as family reunions, potlucks, and c... ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/18 "2009-09-22T00:02:09Z")
Noodly-Food! Ours is usually with chicken or turkey, though. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-recipe/510850/19 "2009-09-22T00:43:50Z")
> [@Fetchund](#): > > Noodly-Food! Ours is usually with chicken or turkey, though. Heh. Noodly Food. I like it. Kinda rolls off your tongue! 😉