Hearty chunks of ever-so-tender roast beef that just melt in your mouth, a velvety,  creamy sauce with cremini mushrooms, sweet onions and tart sour cream, all ladled over piping hot, fluffy egg noodles….my kind of cold weather comfort food! And *no canned cream soups are in this one, though I don’t have anything against them, personally. But for those who do, this one’s for you! 

I do this one in the pressure cooker to tenderize the meat and get it done quickly and easily. You can also do this in a crock pot, but I highly recommend you give pressure cooking a try! Though I have the old-fashioned kind, they have all kinds of new ones out now. I’ll stick to my old kind, though. Trading it in for a newer model would be like trading away a good friend! 

With the extremely busy holidays and the hustle and bustle this time of year, this is a much needed comfort meal that I know you’ll not only have time to make, but thoroughly enjoy as well. It’s budget friendly, kid friendly, and TIME friendly…so what’s not to love? 🙂 

Seriously, though, pressure cookers have many uses and they really shine for tougher, cheaper cuts of meat to make them extremely tender in a fraction of the time that slow cooking can, and usually with even better results. 

So after a long day of hard work, last minute shopping in the bitter cold, shoveling snow, scraping icy windshields, and stepping in slushy puddles, keep this one in mind for a much needed, well-deserved and comforting meal!!  Being very mild, and no alien “green things” in it, the kiddos will love it, too! Just serve with a simple fruit or lettuce salad, some bread and butter and you’re good to go! 

I hope this recipe helps you out and provides you with a heartwarming meal to make  after the holidays that takes the chill out and provides something to fix for your family when the receipts of Christmas start flooding in! It’s nice to have a little extra helping hand this time of year! 😉 Enjoy, bundle up and stay warm!  🙂

POOR MAN’S CHUNKY BEEF STROGANOFF

6 Servings

3 Tbl. olive or vegetable oil

3 lbs. chuck, arm or blade roast, trimmed of fat and cut into 1 – 1 1/2″ pieces

2 cups boiling water

1 Tbl. Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Beef Base, though I prefer this product, you can sub 3 cubes or 1 Tbl. granules

1/2 Tbl. finely minced garlic

1 tsp. coarse ground black pepper

4 Tbl. butter, 1/2 stick

2 large onions, halved and thickly sliced (about 1/2″ thick)

1 (16 oz.) pkg. fresh sliced cremini mushrooms

1 rounded Tbl. tomato paste or ketchup, both work just fine

1/4 cup red or white wine, optional

1/4 cup + 1 Tbl. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper

2 Tbl. finely minced garlic

1 cup sour cream, I like Daisy’s

8 oz. (half of a 16 oz.) bag wide or extra-wide egg noodles

1 Tbl. kosher salt

2 Tbl. fresh minced parsley, optional garnish

DIRECTIONS:

In pressure cooker, add oil and heat on high heat, add meat and let sit a minute, then stir. Stir now and then until pieces are browned on all sides, 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat.

In glass measuring pitcher, bring 2 cups water and bouillon to a boil. Stir to dissolve bouillon. Add to pressure cooker. Add minced garlic and black pepper. Turn heat back on to med-high, place on lid, place on regulator, and heat until all valves close and regulator starts to rock. Set timer for 15 minutes. Adjust heat to med-low or until regulator is at a nice, steady rock. When time is up, turn off heat, and slowly and carefully move to cool spot on the stove. Let the temp drop on it’s own accord.

While the pressure cooker is cooling, melt butter in a large frying pan over low heat. Add onions and sauté over very low heat for 25 minutes until soft and caramelized. Add cremini mushrooms and sauté another 5 minutes.

By this time, the pressure cooker has long cooled and is safe to open. Open cooker and add onions and mushrooms, butter and all. Gently fold in. Add tomato paste or ketchup, wine, 1/2 tsp. salt, pepper and garlic. Sprinkle flour evenly over top and stir in gently as to not break up meat too much until no lumps of flour. Bring just to a low simmer over medium heat, and simmer for 1 minute. Turn off heat and gently stir in sour cream. Taste and adjust seasonings to your own preference.

Bring a pot of hot water to a boil with the kosher salt, and cook noodles according to package directions. Drain. Serve stroganoff on top of noodles, or stir noodles into pot and serve that way. *We prefer to just stir them all into the pot, and the pic was only taken separately to present it nicely. Leftovers don’t need any extra liquid added and stay nice and moist. 

Garnish plates with fresh minced parsley if desired for a little color and to combat garlic breath, lol! 😉 Enjoy!

*You can also do this in the crockpot if desired. Brown meat in the oil, then add meat to crockpot with the bouillon. Cook for 3-4 hours on HIGH, or 6-8 hours on LOW, until fall-apart tender. Then continue with rest of recipe. Heat to high when adding flour. Cook noodles separately, or add to pot and continue to cook until tender on HIGH for another 30 minutes to 1 hour.