Recipe: Beef Strokin'-Off

[jough]

Hi kids,

Here's my recipe for ghetto food that costs less than $10 and feeds four.  Oh yeah, and it's TASTY AS A MOTHAFUCKA.

Beef Strokin'-Off
-------------------

2 lbs. 80% Lean Ground Beef (that's pretty much the cheapest) - $3.00
2 lbs. Extra-Wide Egg Noodles (or any kind of bowtie pasta) - $2.50
2 cans Campbells Large Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (or else however man cans it takes to equal 36 ounces) - $3.00
1-2 large onions (white or yellow) - $1.00

Total Cost: $9.50

Feeds four hungry poor people.

Total Preparation Time: 25-30 minutes.

Get an 8-quart pot and fill it 2/3 of the way with water (for the pasta).  Bring that bitch to a boil. Add pasta.  Cook five minutes or until mostly tender.  Drain.

Get another pot of the same size and brown the beef (no need to add oil - the 20% fat will be enough) and break it up into smaller pieces.  Once the beef is all brown and cooked, slice the onion into rings, slice the rings in half, and break up the strings of onions into the beef. Mix it well.

At this point you can either leave the fat in or drain it through a strainer.  Personally I'd say that the fat adds flavour and you should probably leave it alone.

Add the mushroom soup mix to the pan, and stir it up well so that it completely covers the meat and onions.

DO NOT ADD WATER.  I know it'll say to add it, but don't.

Cook over low heat for at least ten minutes, mixing every minute or so, until the whole thing gets hot and the onions cook a bit.

Serve over the pasta.

Eat with a side of bread that you already have in the house, or else just with your usual two-sixpacks of coors light.

When finished the meal, you should leave your trailer or ghetto apartment and go for a walk.

[slink]

You should get your own cooking channel show man, you really know how to sell a meal .

[AugustWest]

To make it more Stroganoff-y, you could substitute 1 cup of sour cream for one of the cans of mushroom soup.

I'm just saying, is all...

[jough]

Two AMAZING variations involve replacing one of the 26 ounce cans of soup with either:

Sour Cream
or
Ricotta Chesse

Oh. My. God.  Sooooo good.

But over $10.

-- Jough, and for a bonus treat for yourself you can serve it with a side of ghetto bruschetta (Ellio's French Bread Pizza drizzled with Olive Oil) and top the Strokin'-Off with shredded sharp provelone cheese.

[slink]

Ah, on the subject of bruschetta - one for when you're *not* spending he next three days with a lady friend!

Slice some french bread and cook it in the over, until it is hard enough for the next step - peel some garlic cloves, and scrape on one side of the bread until it is covered enough to have a real bite to it, drizzle with good olive oil, then add some slices of tomato, or a good cheese (probably wise to use a little less garlic if done with cheese) and then add more olive oil generously.
The garlic is, I think, one of the most important parts of a good bruschetta!

[AugustWest]

Hmm, Slink, would you do that with raw garlic or roasted garlic.

Probably it would be good either way.  Garlic is always good.  With anything.

[slink]

Oh absolutely! Erm, tend to do Bruschetta with raw garlic, gives it a real kick, a good garlicy heat that totally rapes your tongue.

Best thing for roast garlic is meditarranean vegetables:
Cut up some say - Red/Green bell peppers, onions (both the former in quarters say), Courgettes (Zucchini I do believe?), Eggplant, tomatos and anything else comparable, and add some whole garlic cloves. Put all in a big, deep oven tray, and add industrial quantities of olive oil, and roast in the over til they are all slightly caramelised and lovely. Eat with good bread, which soaks up the olive oil wonderfully.
The roast garlic goes beautiful and sweet, as do the onions. Fairly simple and excellent for if you have vegetarians round!

[AugustWest]

Ah Slink, great minds, they think alike.

I do this very roasted vegetable thing every summer with great regularity.  When I'm more vigilant with my weeding, I use vegetables from my own garden.  

I tend to use cubed potatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, onions and mushrooms.  Season with fresh herbs, especially rosemary, lots of olive oil and a decent sized splash of balsamic vinegar.

Man, I could LIVE on that stuff.

[slink]

Oh yes! hehe. I forgot the seasoning and balsamic which I do tend to give it, since I love balsamic (fresh tomatos halved with olive oil and balsamic is just a great snack). And I forgot the mushrooms too!
But yea, it is such a wonderful summer dish. And if it weren't for the fact that if you eat too much roast garlic you start to smell of it I would live off it!