I woke up today with a wired craving for something I haven’t had in a long while. Beef Stroganoff.
But the problem is I don’t like it the real way. It was one of those fast and cheep dishes my mom would make when she had little time, and the budget was thin. Mostly ground beef, Cream of mushroom soup, Flour and milk with tons of pepper on egg noodles. Kind of an SOS variation.
But I was really shocked the first time I saw it on a menu and saw someone order it, for something like 18 bucks. Made with filet, and real mushrooms. It did look great, but it just wasn’t “real” Stroganoff, I simply can’t reconcile the two into a single name.
While we haven’t made it in a long time, my family has completely changed the bulk of beef stroganoff, preferring not to use sour cream for health reasons. And then skipping the mushrooms as well since I don’t like them. It’s a dish almost (but not quite) completely unlike the original.
Someone else made it the real way once for a large group of people, and I hated it.
Shake-and-bake pork chops. I deliberately over-cook them, so the shake-and-bake gets very crispy and slightly caramelized and the pork is a little dry. For some reason, I just love the taste more this way. My husband thought I was nuts, but has now come around to realizing that it’s the only way to eat them! Other pork chops get cooked properly, but not shake-and-bake!
I haven’t made stroganoff in like 20 years. As near as I can remember it was cube steak, Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, sour cream, chopped onions, sliced fresh mushrooms, and Worcestershire. I always ate it over rice, rather than noodles.
I prefer Shake’n’Bake pork chops to properly-made ones. So sue me. I’m a good enough cook that I can indulge in childhood comfort food now and again.
Pizza toppings without anything else. We used to eat italian sausage with onions, heated in a pan with a little oil in it. We also used to eat only the toppings off the crust.
Two pieces of pizza smooshed together like a sandwich. Keeps the toppings from burning the roof of your mouth.
Ume juice in shot glasses, straight.
Roasted laver (sushi seaweed) like potato chips.
Chopping up the noodles in the lasagna with a fork so it comes out like soup.
Putting soft boiled eggs in a bowl, and then mushing them up so it comes out like yolk soup.
Adding one tablespoon of sauce to a serving of spaghetti so it barely turns pink.
Splitting a baked potato in half, loading it up with butter, sour cream, etc. and then eating it like a taco.
When I was a kid my mother would make this dish we called ravioli which in no way resembled anything vaguely italian but I loved it. I think she found the recipe in a Pillsbury Bake Off cookbook and it used ground beef, jarred spaghetti sauce, canned crescent rolls, and american cheese slices.
As an adult I really don’t like much processed, prepared foodstuffs anymore but I still have the occasional yearning for Mom’s ravioli.
Not just beef stroganoff made with mushroom soup, but the mushroom soup itself, and anything made with it. Any mushroom soup other than Campbell’s is just wrong. You can’t replace it with great ingredients like fresh mushrooms; it’s not the same.
Yeah, every Thanksgiving I try to make some new thing for people to try, usually to great acclaim. Most things I try get put in permanent rotation. “Real” green bean casserole, though? Total fail.
We too use rice (always Texmati), but haven’t ever used cream of mushroom soup in the mix. I’ll start with good cubed beef, maybe a couple of bouillon cubes, some seasonings and water and let it simmer slowly for several hours. Later I’ll add fresh sliced mushrooms and near the end to thicken it some flour and sour cream.
I loves me some hamburger stroganoff, probably because it’s sorta like hamburger gravy. I haven’t made that in many years and may have to revive the recipe.
Enchiladas are far too much work. I used to layer them like lasagna, using ground beef & canned sauce. Far easier to make, easier to serve, and leftovers can be frozen for future meals.
Chilaquilas – a Mexican girlfriend of my uncle’s made it for my family once. Delightful, but again, too much work. The bachelorette version used canned shredded chicken, La Victoria mild green taco sauce, and parmesan cheese out of the green can. The only “real” work put into it was frying the tortilla strips. Definitely not gourmet, but “good enough” for me, and plenty of leftovers. Not bad in my opinion.
Oh, and I made the Campbell’s mushroom soup beef stroganoff, too. Ground beef, mushroom soup, sour cream, and lots of onion powder. I absolutely hate the crunch of onions, but like the flavor that the seasoning adds. So-called “real” stroganoff is just too over-the-top fancy for me.
