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The {Most Amazing!} Beef Stroganoff

The past few days have been a bit stressful for me.  The group size wasn’t huge (50), but each day, I needed to make something that I’d NEVER made before.  It’s one thing to experiment with new recipes for my family.  It’s a whole different ballgame when I have 50 hungry teenagers eagerly awaiting something yummy for their tummies!!

The first meal was to be Beef Stroganoff.

I remember when Connie and I were first planning what meals to prepare.  We were sitting at the table surrounded by recipes and papers and computers and coffee.  She started talking about how delicious Beef Stroganoff was, and I believed her hook, line, and sinker.

I didn’t fess up at the time that I’ve never even eaten Beef Stroganoff before ~

except if you count the Hamburger Helper variety.

Somehow on that day, I must have thought she’d be around to walk me through the process…or at least there’d be a recipe or something…

Alas, we were finally at the point where it was time to make the Stroganoff.

There was going to be no Connie.

Nor was there a recipe.

{Help?}

Connie walked me through the process and I wrote down everything she said in great detail.  Then I looked up YouTube videos.:)

Seriously. I didn’t even know what it was supposed to look like!!

All day long I fussed and fiddled with the stuff…and wondered if I’d ever do it again.

Then, I took the first bite.

De-li-cious!!

Yes, it’s a keeper.

Here’s how I did it (for 50 people ~ mostly teens)

BEEF STROGANOFF

1 & 1/2 boxes stew beef (3 individual packages – I’m not sure of the poundage)

Put a generous amount of olive oil in the ginormous round pan and “caramelise” the beef with about 6 diced onions. Salt and pepper.

Using the large metal scoop, transfer the beef into 2 medium-deep hotel pans.

Pour over enough beef stock to barely cover the meat.

Cover with aluminum foil and place in an oven that’s been preheated to 300 degrees.

Turn the heat down to 275 degrees and let it simmer for hours and hours.  (It was in for 7 hours that day.)

Check it every so often to make sure it isn’t getting dry.  If it starts to cook down too much, add some more beef broth.  I also added in some Worcestershire sauce at some point.

About one hour before serving, add in precooked whole mushrooms (that were sautéed earlier with lots of garlic and butter and were in the cooler).

If after slowly “stewing” all day and the juice is still quite runny, add in some cornstarch for thickening.  (I put 3/4 cup cornstarch in a 2 cup measuring cup and slowly added water while stirring until my spoon moved easily in the mixture.  Then I stirred the cornstarch mixture into the beef mixture and put it back in the oven.)

About 40 minutes before before serving, start boiling water for the egg noodles.  I wish now I had measure the noodles…but I didn’t.  I guessed the amount by eyeing it and took into account that they’d double in size.  (I wanted about a medium deep hotel pan’s size in total.)  Boil until just al dante, and immediately drizzle olive oil over so they won’t stick together  Cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Immediately before serving, stir in 1/2 the noodles and about 2 cups sour cream into each pan.

Here’s where I wish I could insert the picture…

Sorry, I totally forgot to take one!:)

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2 Comments

  1. You are totally forgiven for forgetting to take a picture. I would be SO stressed out I would probably forget how to find my way back home!! I am an OCD recipe follower. I can think of only about 3 things (after 33 years of marriage) that I make by just “adding a little of this and a little of that.” I measure EVERYTHING! I do veer from the recipe now and then, but if I do, I make a note of exactly what I do. The sense behind this “madness” is: if it turns out fabulous, I want to be able to do it again! I like consistency.

    HOWEVER, if you threw me into the situation you are in now, I would just…be a basket case, to put it mildly. I admire WHAT you’re doing, girlfriend, and even more so HOW you’re doing it – with such a sweet attitude! I would be hard pressed to do either!

    HUGS!!

  2. I agree 100% with Lynn. I measure EVERYTHING (and have to clean up after using each thing) 🙂 I am praying every day that you will get a camp cook SOON. But in the meantime I’m sending all the love I can give over the miles. Wish I could be there to help…I’m not sure we’d make anything edible but we’d sure have fun trying. Love you!

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