Beef Stroganoff (Crock Pot)

Beef Stroganoff is an old school recipe that I cant get enough of. My parents made it. My grandmother made it. It was a meal that you could plop on my plate and I would eat it without any complaints. Little did I know that it was an economic meal that would feed a ton. Really it is Stew meat that is cooked slowly in a heavenly beef gravy sauce that then at the last minute you add sour cream to make it creamy delish. This recipe is not the version that my Gram would make although I can imagine she would love it, it uses a cream of soup in it which the woman loved and it has cream cheese as a secret ingredient. I promise you it makes it divine. Cream cheese is my weakness. It is in a ton of my recipes. This being the only gravy beef one.

A little story about my stew meat. The recipe calls for stew meat. I bought Stew Meat. Handed The Ballplayer a package of stew meat to put in the FREEZER in our garage. I found it in the frig. Needless to say, I had to use a roast and painstakingly trim it of the fat. I recommend using stew meat.


Beef Stroganoff (Crock Pot)

1 pound of stew meat
1 can of Golden Mushroom Soup
2 TB French Onion Soup Mix
1 small onion diced
1 cube of cream cheese
2 TB sour cream
1 cup of flour
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
1 TB season all
pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

These are the seasonings I will use to season up the flour I will fry up the meat in, you could just throw the meat into the crockpot and skip this step but I find that searing the meat really adds to the flavor of the sauce
So like I said, I trimmed up the meat the best I could.
Mix the flour with the seasoning and then dip the meat into it. Dont take too much time on this. You just want to dust the meat and get it into a pan that has 2 TB of oil (canola, or vegetable-not olive) and heat the oil to medium high)
Dont crowd the pan. Brown each side and place on a plate
Those brown bits are going to really add flavor
Thats what I am talking about
Just let it sit on a plate while you keep cooking the meat until you get it all done
dump all into the crock pot. I am getting a late start. Its all good. Dinner will run late here tonight anyways. So I am going to cook the meat on high for three hours with no sauce to start.
yes I really said HIGH
But look at the time...seriously
ok so we are not done here... so no need to even wipe out the pan.
Take the onions and just plop them into the pan
cook them until brown
Then put them on a paper towel. I mean really there is enough fat in this meal
So the meat looks good so I am going to drain it off. Again there is enough fat in tonight's meal
Hold the meat out, just for a minute while we make the sauce and add the soups and one can of water
It doesn't look appetizing yet but I promise it will


Add the onions, Worcestershire sauce dry onion soup mix, and give it a stir
add the meat back and let it simmer until the meat is falling apart
thats better. Oh I know, not pretty to photograph
Now, here is where I am asking you to take a leap in faith and add a whole cube of cream cheese. I cut mine into cubes to make it melt easier
Put the lid on, walk away for ten minutes. Come back, stir. Drool
Looking better right? You better have made some noodles. If not dont bother with the next step until you do
Ok, are your noodles done now? Ok add a spoonful of sour cream. My Mom would add two but she doesnt know the calories that are in this dish.
Ok I added two....
DINNER!!!!!
Now I have to confess that the next day this is sorta fought over. I don't even need noodles. Toast up some bread, serve open face, and call me happy