CREAMY, DELICIOUS & FAST

     Our son is away for the weekend on a youth group retreat. Why does that matter to you? Because it mean that for three whole days, I'm cooking with no dairy allergy to take into account! So the first thing I did was pull out my grandmother's Ground Beef Stroganoff recipe - full of sour cream. Honestly, I could eat the whole pot. It's just one of those comfort foods for me. She used to make it for casual family gatherings and I thought it was the most delicious thing she made. Well, that and her clam chowder. Aha! That's what I'll make for dinner tonight - New England clam chowder - since the kid doesn't get home until midnight!
     Back to the stroganoff...healthy? Well, in a word, no. We're hearing more and more lately about how canned food is toxic. This recipe has two cans of condensed soup - and canned or not, we know that's not healthy. I could certainly can my own soup (in glass jars, I mean), and make it totally organic if I wanted to. But it'd be ready-to-eat, not condensed. That's going to take some research.
   Meanwhile, when the opportunity arises, I'm going to make this recipe, canned condensed soup and all!


GROUND BEEF STROGANOFF

1 lb ground beef
3 med onions
garlic, optional
1 can mushrooms (save juice) - I sometimes use fresh instead, about 1/2 lb
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can tomato soup
2 c (16oz) sour cream
1 T worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins is the only brand I buy)
4 drops Tabasco pepper sauce
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
1 pkg broad egg noodles or spaghetti
Parmesan cheese for garnish, optional

Brown meat; add onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook until onions are tender, then reduce heat to low.

Combine in separate bowl: mushroom liquid (if using canned), sour cream, soups, seasonings. Pour over meat mixture. Simmer very low so as not to break down sour cream, about 1 hour. May cook for much less time, but the flavor is best if you can cook it a while. If it gets too hot, and the sour cream breaks down, it will still taste great but will be soupy.

Ladle creamy mixture over hot buttered noodles and top w/ parmesan.

Hope you enjoy this. I'm off to the store for some clams!