Quickie Ground Beef Stroganoff #giveaway

 Please join me in welcoming today's guest author, our friend and colleague, the very talented Victoria Hamilton, who is here to share a terrific recipe for those busy September days that are just around the corner and also to give us a glimpse at her forthcoming vintage kitchen mystery.  Plus Victoria has a fabulous giveaway for one lucky commenter who answers her question. Make sure you read to the end to get the details!

 

Quickie Ground Beef  Stroganoff  By: Victoria Hamilton

 

It’s almost September. Things get super busy in September for many people, and there will be days when you don’t have the slightest idea what to make for dinner, nothing sounds good, so you grab a box of that fabulous (!!) cooking crutch, Hamburger Helper. I’ve done it many times. Super easy: fry ground beef, open a box, and add water. Voila, dinner is served. Get fancy and you’ll add a salad or green beans on the side.

 

But in truth, do-it-yourself Stroganoff Hamburger Helper is almost as easy, still just one pan, and no powdered sour cream necessary… use the real thing! Yes, you need more than two ingredients, but it doesn’t take a whole lot more time and it truly is better. And better for you. (I wouldn’t lie to you… I only do that in my novels)

 

And dang… you can still make those garlicky green beans on the side, serve a glass of wine, and call yourself Fancy!

 

Here is my take on Hamburger Helper’s Beef Stroganoff, using my Curtis Stone electric frying pan, which I like because it is super deep and beautifully non-stick.

Ingredients

1 lb Ground beef

8 oz Cremini mushrooms (baby Portobello and button mushrooms are the same and can be substituted… I forgot to photograph them for the ingredients, so they get their own photo!)

3 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1 small chopped onion – OR – half a large sweet onion

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

3 stalks parsley

3 – 4 cups beef broth

8 oz egg noodles

½ - 2/3 cup sour cream

Method

Prep the veggies! Slice the *mushrooms however you want… I like mine thin-ish, but thicker works too. Dice your onions and chop the garlic ahead of time too… this meal comes together very quickly. (*A word about mushrooms… when you fry mushrooms, make sure they are dry and go into a hot pan and that you don’t salt and pepper until they have started to brown. That’s how you get perfect mushrooms every time!)

Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil until it starts to spit, then add the mushrooms (make sure these are dry) and cook until they are tender and slightly browned. This will take just five minutes or so. Remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Heat remaining two tablespoons of olive oil and add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook on low to medium heat until translucent… another five minutes or so. Stir in the garlic and cook over low heat very briefly, then add the ground beef, breaking it up as you add it to the pan. Continue to cook until it is browned and cooked through. This is when you decide how big you want your ground beef bits to be, larger clumps or smaller bits. Sprinkle in the paprika, stir to combine.

Pour in the beef broth and the noodles, bring to a light boil, then turn way down and cover the electric skillet. Continue to cook, stirring it often, until the noodles are done to your liking, probably 10 to 15 minutes.

Turn off the heat and stir in the mushrooms and sour cream, incorporating completely.

Serve immediately, topped with a sprinkling of the fresh chopped parsley. I like it with a side dish of green beans, simmered and then dressed with butter and chopped garlic!

 

And now a peek at A Calculated Whisk:

 

A Calculated Whisk Info

Title: A Calculated Whisk

Series: Vintage Kitchen Mysteries #10

Author: Victoria Hamilton

Publisher: Beyond the Page

Release Date: September 21, 2021

Pre-Order NOW!

 

In the new Vintage Kitchen Mystery from the author of Cast Iron Alibi, Jaymie Leighton Müller is confronted with two murders and the threat of danger far too close to home . . .

When a woman living under a cloud of suspicion for her husband’s death comes to vintage kitchen collector Jaymie Leighton Müller with a mysterious request, she’s not sure whether, or how much, to get involved. The police believe they have new evidence of foul play in what was initially ruled an accidental death, and the woman’s terrified they’ll try to pin the crime on her. Before Jaymie can decide whether to help her, though, the woman’s found murdered in the woods near Jaymie’s cabin.

Still unsure whether the woman was truly innocent in her husband’s death, Jaymie decides to get to the bottom of both murders. But as she digs deeper into the couple’s past and discovers a tangled array of long-buried wounds and family secrets, Jaymie begins to sense that danger is still lurking in the woods near her home. With a killer on the loose and her family in danger, Jaymie must uncover the culprit before she loses all she holds dear, including her own life . . .

Includes a vintage recipe!

***

GIVEAWAY!

Comment here with at least your first name and email (yourname at yourserver dot com) – but I’d prefer it if you tell me what your quick go-to dinner is! - for a chance to win a $25 US gift card from Amazon. Open to everyone!!  Contest closes Midnight, September 1^st.

***

About the Author:

Victoria Hamilton is the pseudonym of nationally bestselling romance author Donna Lea Simpson. Victoria is the bestselling author of three mystery series, the Lady Anne Addison Mysteries, the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, and the Merry Muffin Mysteries. She also writes a Regency-set historical mystery series, starting with A Gentlewoman’s Guide to Murder. Visit her website at victoriahamiltonmysteries.com.

Social Details:

Website: http://www.VictoriaHamiltonMysteries.com (Sign up for her newsletter for all the latest!)

On  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorVictoriaHamilton

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/MysteryVictoria

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mysteryauthorvictoriahamilton/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/598635.Victoria_Hamilton

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/vintagekitchenm/_saved/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Victoria-Hamilton/e/B007T7LGAU