Category: Main Dishes

Connie’s Jiffy Beef Stroganoff

When we lived in Kentucky, we belonged to a dinner group which met every other month or so. Couples took turns hosting a special dinner, the hosts determined the menu and members brought the dish assigned to them. It was a fun group, we ate well and everyone learned some new recipes. For me the only downside was the fact that my serious weight gain began around that time.

The husband of one couple taught Russian language and literature. His wife, Helga, was from Germany and was a wonderful cook. I and other husbands used to point out to our wives that she also washed their garage door windows weekly. Actually, we called this to their attention only when we were looking for a fight or were trying to deflect our spouse’s attention from grass that needed mowing or some other such unpleasant chore.

One time, Helga decided to host a Russian dinner. I don’t remember what Jerri’s assignment was, but Russian cuisine features lots of mushroom recipes, so she may have made something with fungi. We had mushroom appetizers, mushroom salad and mushroom soup brought by visiting couples. Helga cooked two different kinds of beef Stroganoff with wild mushrooms which she served with a choice of kasha or noodles.

I am pretty sure that that dinner was the first time I tasted kasha, that wonderful alternative to rice or noodles made with buckwheat groats. Kasha has been a popular Russian dish for hundreds of years, so Helga very likely included it on her menu for a Russian dinner.

Everything was delicious if somewhat repetitious. I have a vague recollection that dessert was baba au rhum and I know that we had ice cold vodka for an aperitif and a good red wine with the meal.

This recipe for beef Stroganoff is not an authentic Russian recipe (note the can of mushroom soup), but it is simple and absolutely delicious. Connie, Jerri’s friend and fellow teacher at Maine South High School, gave it to her before our wedding. Connie was the sharp-eyed friend who spotted the traffic jam on the Interstate and helped Jerri find a way home through fifteen miles of city streets during the Chicago Blizzard of 1967.

Connie wrote the recipe on a “Here’s what’s cookin” card which Jerri files under main dishes in the box she got for the recipe shower her friends gave her before she left Chicago. As you would expect from a teacher, the recipe is clear, concise and foolproof. Here is Connie’s Jiffy Beef Stroganoff. It serves six generously. May you enjoy it as much as we have.

INGREDIENTS;

1 1/2 lbs. beef
2 T all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 T vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 small clove garlic
4 oz. canned mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 T water
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped pimiento
1 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp. brown seasoning sauce
2 T minced parsley
Rice or noodles

PROCEDURE:

Slice the meat into strips about 1 1/2 by 1/4 inches and dredge them in the flour, salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a covered skillet over medium heat and brown the meat.

Chop the onion, mince the garlic and drain the mushrooms while the meat browns.

Reduce the heat to low and mix the onion, garlic, mushrooms, soup and a tablespoon of water with the meat. Cover the skillet while you grate the cheese and chop or drain the pimiento. Stir in the cheese and pimiento, cover again and simmer for about twenty minutes until the meat is done.

Stir in the sour cream and seasoning sauce. Mince the parsley and stir it into the mixture. If the sauce seems too thick, you can thin it with a little milk. Continue simmering the stroganoff over very low heat for an hour. Connie says that you can serve it almost immediately but that it is much better simmered for awhile.

Serve over rice or noodles with a green salad, bread and a glass of red wine.

NOTES: Connie noted that you can substitute hamburger for the beef, but I would not recommend it. She also suggested that the Stroganoff was great with Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice. I can vouch for that, but I still prefer noodles.

It is great warmed up!

Bean Soup

“Arghh! Don’t go there!” said Connie, “Look at all those cars!”

Jerri, Connie and Sandy had just finished teaching another day of classes at Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. All three lived on Lakeshore Drive in Chicago, thirteen miles from the school. Connie and Sandy shared an apartment in a high rise overlooking Lake Michigan. Jerri had an efficiency apartment overlooking a parking lot.

The three young women took turns driving from their apartments to the school. It was January 26, 1967 and Jerri was behind the wheel of her trusty Chevrolet Impala. When she picked up her friends that morning, it was snowing, but that was normal for winter in the Windy City. The morning forecast predicted snow accumulations of four or more inches by the afternoon and hazardous driving conditions.

“Or more” were the operative words. The snow was a lot deeper than four inches when they left the school parking lot, and when Jerri started to turn onto the entrance ramp that would put them on I-90 heading toward Chicago, Connie’s quick warning saved them from joining the hundreds of cars and trucks already stalled on the Interstate.

It was the Chicago Blizzard of 1967 which dumped 23 inches of snow on Chicago and left about 50,000 cars and 800 Chicago Transit Authority busses stranded on the streets and expressways. Jerri’s Impala was not one of them. With Connie and Sandy providing directions and a lot of luck, Jerri maneuvered her Chevy through city streets for over two hours, dropped her passengers off, and made it into the driveway of her building where she finally got stuck.

According to Jerri, a handsome Swede who lived in her building and worked for SAS helped her get out of the snowdrift and into the parking area the next day. Since the airports were shut down, chances are he welcomed the opportunity to help a good-looking girl like Jerri. I was lucky that he had to go back to work before she invited him up to her apartment for some navy bean soup.

Navy bean soup is one of the best ways to enjoy a snowy winter day. It requires a little planning as you should soak the beans the night before you make the soup, but otherwise it is a simple and satisfying meal all by itself.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. navy beans
Water
1 large smoked pork hock
1/2 medium onion (about 3 inches in diameter)
2 ribs celery
1 large carrot
1 large clove garlic
2 or 3 medium potatoes
1/4 cup milk
2 T butter
1 tsp. salt, divided
2 or 3 chicken bouillon cubes
1/8 tsp. white pepper
Freshly ground black pepper

PROCEDURE:

The night before you plan to make the soup, rinse the beans in cold water. Although I haven’t found any pebbles or sticks in the beans for many years, I still check to make sure while rinsing them. Put the beans in a large bowl and cover them with water. The water should be at least an inch above the beans.

Drain the beans the next day and put them in a large pot. Cover them with cold water and bring them to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer them for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes until they are very tender. Drain the beans and set them aside. Reserve the liquid.

About five hours before you plan to serve the soup. put the pork hock in a three or four quart pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for three hours, turning the hock two or three times. Add more water if necessary. When the hock is tender, remove it from the water and let it cool. Put the water, which is now the broth for your soup, in a large soup pot.

While the hock is cooking, clean and chop the onion, celery and carrot and mince the garlic. Peel and quarter the potatoes.

Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with water, add three quarters teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Boil them until they are tender enough to mash, twenty to twenty-five minutes.

Put the chopped vegetables and garlic in the broth, bring it to a boil. reduce the heat and simmer for about twenty minutes while the potatoes are cooking.

When the hock is cool enough to touch, remove the skin and outer layer of fat. Separate the meat from the bones and chop it into small bite-sized pieces. Add the meat to the broth and vegetables. Stir the beans into the soup along with two or three cups of the liquid you drained from the beans. Bring the soup back to a simmer.

Drain and mash the potatoes, adding two tablespoons butter and about a quarter cup of milk. You should have about two cups of firm but creamy mashed potatoes. Feel free to add a little more butter or milk if you think the potatoes need it. Stir the mashed potatoes into the soup.

Season with a quarter teaspoon of salt, two bouillon cubes, about an eighth teaspoon of white pepper and a grind or two of black pepper. Simmer for ten to fifteen minutes, stirring often. Taste and adjust the seasoning. If the soup needs salt, add a third bouillon cube or a teaspoon of instant bouillon, stir and simmer it for a few minutes, then taste again. Adjust the seasoning further if need be.

Serve with a crusty bread and green salad.

NOTES: Bean soup, or any soup that starts with boiling a smoked pork hock, is a good way to learn the importance of tasting. Pork hocks vary considerably in size and in the amount of salt they contain and how long they have been smoked. The bouillon adds salt and flavor, but you will almost certainly need to adjust the seasoning to suit your taste. If you use two smaller pork hocks or a very large one, you might want to add only one bouillon cube to begin with.

This soup may seem like it takes a long time to make, but most of it is just simmering the beans and pork hock. You can be outside shoveling snow or, if the sidewalks are bare, have time to catch up on your reading while the soup is cooking.