Author Laura Karr shared a similar recipe in her book The Can Opener Gourmet. If you do much cooking with canned foods, you will really enjoy her book and it’s companion Pop It, Stir It, Fix It, Serve It: Can-Do Cooking.
Beef Stroganoff is Fred’s absolute favorite storage meal in the whole wide world. We serve it over rice, but you can serve it over cooked spaghetti or egg noodles instead. Also good on popovers, biscuits, mashed potatoes, or pretty much any cooked grain.
I always add a splash of wine to Beef Stroganoff because it masks the slightly gamey flavor of canned beef in gravy. You can leave it out if you like, or replace it with a teaspoon of vinegar or a splash of grape juice. Since this dish uses canned soup, it is not gluten free.
Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter or alternative of your choice
- 8 ounce can mushrooms, drained
- 2 (12-ounce) cans roast beef in gravy
- 1 (10-ounce) can condensed mushroom soup
- 1 or 2 tablespoons dry onion flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 or 3 tablespoons dry white OR red wine OR sherry OR vermouth
- About 1/2-cup sour cream OR homemade yogurt OR canned cream soured with lemon juice (see below)
Directions
First put the rice or noodles or grain on to cook. While your starch cooks prepare the stroganoff.
Melt the butter or other fat in a 3-quart saucepan. Add the drained mushrooms. Fry the mushrooms for about 5-minutes, or until lightly browned. This improves their texture. Add the roast beef in gravy, mushroom soup, dry onion and garlic powder. Mix well. Bring to a boil. Simmer for several minutes to heat everything completely and allow the flavors to mingle a bit. Stir in the wine. Simmer a couple of more minutes. Stir in the sour cream or alternative. Mix until creamy. Heat through and serve over rice or noodles.
To Sour Canned Cream: Shake a 7 or 8-ounce can of Nestle Table Cream briskly before opening it. Open the can; add 2-tablespoons of lemon juice or 2-packets of True Lemon (lemon juice crystals). Stir with a chopstick until the cream is thickened and sour. Stir about 1/2 of the can into the stroganoff. The remainder of the cream is good if you stir in a spoonful of brown sugar and spoon it over canned fruit. Yum!
To make a meal serve rice or noodles, Beef Stroganoff, peas and carrots and fruit cocktail.