I like to think of myself as spontaneous, and always able to travel at the last minute. But normally, I associate that scenario with fun things, and vacations, not emergency travel. Last week, my mom had to have a last minute surgery in Ft. Wayne, IN, and I decided the morning of the surgery that I needed to be there. So, at 2pm I bought a plane ticket, and at 8pm I left the house for the airport. It was not necessary the best packing job I have done, but it worked!
My mom's recovery has been going very well, but one of the side effects of being on morphine (yes, morphine) is loss of appetite. So, yesterday we got to take my mom home to Michigan, and my dad asks her what she wants for dinner. She said nothing has been sounding too great, but "maybe steak shishkabobs?" My dad says ok. Then he mentions rice as a side, and she says, "I want noodles". Beef and noodles? If I didn't know any better, I'd say my mom was hanging out with James too much. But I do know better, so I know she isn't talking Asian food, she is just being random.
I learned all my cooking skills from my dad, so I was not surprised when he immediately thought of beef stroganoff for my mom. I guess he makes it from time to time in the slow cooker, and I was curious as to how he was going to get the meat tender in 2 hours time. He didn't disappoint! It was soooooo amazing. I had 3 helpings, and I drank the sauce from my plate. I'm not exaggerating, and it wasn't lady like, but it was delicious and thus, completely necessary.
We all agreed, this was "company worthy", meaning, it's something we would serve if having guests over for dinner. I told my dad, "this was blog worthy".
Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): I'm not sure how something so delicious has no cheese
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 6 it's pretty dang long cook time, but not much prep time
Easy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): I didn't cook it, but dad says 4
Beef Stroganoff
2 Tbl olive oil
1.5 Lbs top sirloin steak, cut into 1/2 in pieces and seasoned with fresh ground black pepper
4 strips thick cut bacon, cut into 1/4 in pieces
1/2 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1.5 Tbl seasoned salt
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
4 cups beef broth
1/3 cup red wine
1 package (8 oz) dry egg noodles
2/3 pkg fresh mushrooms, sliced
1.5 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp butter
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup cold water
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
In large dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add cubed meat, brown, then remove from pan. In the same dutch oven, add bacon, onion, celery, and saute until onions and celery are translucent and bacon fully cooked. Then add browned meat back to pan. Stir in seasoned salt, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, red wine, thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer (low to medium-low heat), simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours, until meat is fork tender. When meat is fork tender, take separate large pot, fill with water, season with salt, and bring to boil. Add egg noodles and cook 8-10 minutes, or until al dente. In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat, add mushrooms and saute 3-4 minutes, then add them to the meat mixture. Bring the meat mixture to a boil. In small bowl, whisk/mix together corn starch and water, then stir this into the meat mixture, stirring constantly while adding. Add sour cream slowly, constantly blending sour cream into liquid until creamy. Remove from heat, let stand 1-2 minutes, serve over egg noodles.
Yum yum yum. I just ate breakfast, and typing this is getting me thinking I may need a snack of left over stroganoff.
