Easy Stroganoff

With the emphasis on easy. I'm laid up with a badly sprained ankle so my husband is doing the cooking. He's not exactly a gourmet cook and he doesn't want to spend too much time in the kitchen. I'd say he perfectly represents the type of cooks I'm trying to reach with this blog. He got to test my latest recipe, a very easy stroganoff.

Stroganoff is usually made with beef (if you want to impress, make it with beef filet), but I had some ground turkey that needed to be turned into dinner. Sometimes you need to use what you got (or what's on sale) and ground turkey isn't that different than ground beef. Generally, I'm not a fan of canned condensed soup because it contains a lot of ingredients that are far from natural. But, in an emergency, canned soup would work. My perspective is you shouldn't depend on convenience food all the time, but it has its moments. And, I offer a homemade replacement for the creamy soup here too, which is what I'd make if I wasn't stuck on the couch.

It's important that you remove the stroganoff from the heat before adding the sour cream. Sour cream (regular or low-fat) is not able to withstand boiling and it will separate if overheated.

Easy Stroganoff
(serves 4-6)

2 Tablespoon oil or butter, divided
1 pound ground turkey
8 oz. sliced white mushrooms
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet (optional; it's for color, not flavor)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (see homemade version below)
½ cup sour cream (full-fat or reduced-fat)

Heat ½ Tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add turkey and cook until cooked through and browned. Remove to a bowl. Heat the rest of the oil in the same skillet. Add mushrooms and cook them for about 4 minutes. Add back the turkey, dried onion, beef bouillon, garlic powder, ketchup, Kitchen Bouquet (if using), and cream of mushroom soup. Heat to boiling, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add sour cream, stirring to combine. Serve over hot noodles.

To make a homemade version of canned condensed cream of mushroom soup:

2 tablespoons butter
a couple of mushrooms, finely chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup low sodium chicken or beef stock
½ cup 2% or whole milk

a healthy pinch of dried thyme
a pinch each of onion and garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Heat butter in a medium saucepan. Sauté the mushrooms until softened. Sprinkle on flour and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring. Whisk in broth and milk until the mixture is smooth. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens. Stir in seasonings.

You can also use this recipe to make other cream of whatever soups. For cream of chicken, leave out the mushrooms and use chicken stock. For cream of celery, replace the mushrooms with a stalk of minced celery.