My instant beef strogie

I started out to make Broccoli and Beef stir fry, as a quick dinner for the tribe. But to my horror, the old veges had another idea about that. So what else could I fix in a half hour, with all this sliced beef that I now had on my hands? Suddenly, I thought Stroganoff! Only one problem with that, I've never made a Stroganoff before, and hadn't a clue how it's done! So I popped open Betty' and Southern Heritage, and starting comparing recipes (that's what programmer's do, we rarely read just one), and between the two, and my own imagination, I came up with something my family was quite pleased with, that they requested I keep.

However, I recently lost a hard drive, and this recipe with it, once it never got posted to my old blog, I've been emailing my group to try and recover it, with no luck. But suddenly it surfaced on my desk. See, I'm a stacker, and every once in a while, the heap gets shuffled, and lost things get found. I couldn't be happier.

Rule #1 from a guy who been working with computers for 30 years: Print EVERYTHING, and just throw it in the heap! Hard copy might be flooded or burnt, but it's less vulnerable than digital. Biggest danger to hard copy, is a fit of neatness. But your hungry, lets get on with this already! I hear ya...

• 1 1/2 lbs of sliced stake/roast beef cut to bite size pieces, just about big enough to choke on. I used a tritip roast.
• 1 clove garlic (sliced and diced)
• 2 C egg noodles (al dente)
• 3 T extra virgin olive oil (separated)
• 2 t granulated garlic (yes that too, but not salt)
• pinch of Savory (this can be hard to find. It's a lot like oregano lite. Which is great in sausages, breads (including noodles))
• 10 oz, can of beef broth
• (optional) sm can of mushroom (bits and pieces)
• 1 C sour cream
• 1/4 C flour
• Dry Mustard
• Kosher Salt
  

There's your shopping list. Mind you, I'm reading what was going to be my old blog posting, and trying to improve it as I go. I hear you laughing!

Now this is kind of classic Randy Style cooking; I like to use two bowls with wet and dry ingredients.

Dry bowl:
1/4 C flour
1 t dry mustard
1 t Kosher salt
stir well together

Wet bowl:
2 T butter (softened)
2 T Catsup
1 T Worcestershire sauce
Mix

Set bowls aside, and start by boiling up the 2 C of egg noodles, let simmer on the side.

Brown the beef in an a large skillet or wok, with high heat, to really get it browned on the outside, with a few splashes of the olive oil. Once 80% of the meat is well browned, toss in the Wet bowl, and stir. Now add the diced fresh garlic. This will create a wonderful beef stew, right off the bat!

Take noodles off the heat, and just let sit on the side, in the undrained pot.

Reduce the heat on the meat to medium. I had no time to dredge the fried meat, as one recipe called for, so instead I just started spooning it in, a little at a time, to get it all coated. Wow where did my soup go? Pour in the can of beef broth, a little at a time, to restore this to being a gravy. Which makes the whole idea of a breading kind of silly in my opinion. Now add those mushrooms (drained or fresh if you got um), and let simmer...

Drain the noodles now. Grab one of those leftover bowls, and mix with a dash of extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle the top with the granulated garlic. Toss, and repeat. Then just a tiny pinch of Savory, toss again. I like to spice up the noodles and serve them on the side, so they can stand on their own, should we run out of the good stuff, we're topping them with. But it has yet to happen in this house!

Back to the beef. Stir in the Cup of sour cream, and let that simmer for a short while longer.

I use this time to make a salad or fruit dish to go with it.

Within 10 to 12 minutes of letting it simmer, I had it in bowl, and served to yummy sounds, and complements to the chef. Actually very quick and easy, other than that research part. Most things I cook take 2 hours or more, so this seems turbo charged to me.

For this meal, I'm going to recommend a Shiraz.
Enjoy!