[Sca-cooks] Mock Beef Stroganoff

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Dec 10, 2005, at 7:35 PM, Lady Ro wrote:

> Just remember G. Adamantius Tacitus (sp?) YOU asked.
>
> This was a hit when we were kids, and the evening of Mom's funeral,  
> was the
> requested dish of 4 of my 5 remaining siblings.  The Baby (she will  
> KILL me
> if she ever finds out I referred to her that way) doesnot eat meat,  
> but does
> eat fish, so she had fish.  She calls it Vegetarian, and since it's  
> her
> diet, I figure she should know. <shrug>

As I said elsewhere in this and possibly related threads, there's  
often very little logic to one's convictions, but that doesn't make  
them any less real. Many would call your daughter's diet "doesn't eat  
meat" and leave it at that, but either is fine if outsiders like us  
are let in on the secret code ;-).

> Mock Beef Stroganoff
>
> Brown 1 lb of ground beef, drain well.  Put GB back into pan, add 1  
> can
> UNDILUTED cream of mushroom soup, 1 can UNDILUTED French Onion soup  
> and let
> simmer as long as you can.  Just before serving add 6 oz of sour  
> cream.
>
> Serve over noodles, or rice or whatever tickles your fancy.
>
> This is better the 2nd day.

As an old friend of mine is wont to say, "There's nothing there  
that'll kill ya." It's a lot more positive than it might sound...

I'm interested in the whole stroganoff spectrum because A) I like it,  
and B) it's one of the Great Triad of classic dishes that have been  
Americanized, sometimes beyond  all recognition (the others being  
"goulash" and "chop suey"), or sometimes in which any resemblance to  
the original foods living or dead is purely unintentional. I'd put  
American spaghetti and lasagne dishes on the fringe of this  
phenomenon, but they at least are based on a main ingredient that is  
actually present ;-). Please understand that I'm not dissing these  
dishes, just noting that they diverge greatly from the original  
formulas. They're fine (or can be) for what they are, and not bad for  
what they aren't, if you get me.

The Mock Stroganoff has some/most of the same flavors and ingredients  
as the Russian-inspired French dish, and sounds harmless enough  
(although I wonder if it can become very salty if simmered for a long  
time?). When I was a kid I was exposed more than once to the stew- 
like form that Kiri spoke of, and then I encountered it again as an  
adult and realized it wasn't just something my Mom had made up.

On the whole canned soup cookery theme, I also remember my mother  
baking bluefish fillets under an undiluted layer of Campbell's Cream  
of Shrimp soup, and I recall thinking that was pretty much the height  
of elegance. With really fresh fish my father had caught a couple of  
hours previous, it probably was ;-).

Adamantius


"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
eat cake!"
     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
"Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04