Slimmed-down stroganoff
By Kathy Manweiler
McClatchy Newspapers
When Janette Judd’s sister Denise came for a visit, she brought a special recipe along.
“She made the most awesome beef stroganoff that I can’t get enough of!” Judd wrote. “She continues to bug me about sending it to you to see if you can slim it down for us.”
Just reading the recipe made my mouth water, so I went home to see what I could cook up for them. Most of the excess fat and calories in this stroganoff come from the creamy sauce, and that’s where I focused my efforts.
The original recipe calls for a more than a cup of half-and-half. I get good results by using a fraction of that amount along with some beef broth and fat-free milk, saving 59 calories and 5 fat grams per portion.
Judd’s sister sautes the onions and mushrooms in half a stick of butter, but you can get the same flavor with less than two tablespoons of butter. That switch shaves off 43 calories and about 5 fat grams per serving.
I also substitute light sour cream and reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of mushroom soup to lighten this dish up a bit more.
I tried this stroganoff with whole-wheat noodles and No Yolks noodles, but in this case I think regular egg noodles work best. You could also serve this stroganoff over rice.
My version of this recipe trims the calories by 25 percent and the fat by 27 percent. You can have a serving of my beef stroganoff for 394 calories and 19.3 fat grams.
KATHY’S BEEF STROGANOFF
1 pound top round steak
3 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
¾ cup chopped green onions
¼ cup cooking sherry
1 10.5-ounce can of reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of mushroom soup, unprepared
1 ½ tablespoons butter
¼ cup half-and-half
½ cup beef broth
½ cup fat-free milk
¼ cup light sour cream
¼ teaspoon pepper
Cooking spray
4 cups hot cooked noodles
Use a mallet or rolling pin to pound the top round steak. This helps tenderize the meat. Slice the meat diagonally across the grain into ¼-inch wide slices. Cut each slice into 2-inch pieces, if you wish.
In a bowl, whisk together the soup, half-and-half, beef broth and fat-free milk.
Saute onions and mushrooms in butter. Turn heat down to low and add cooking sherry.
Lightly coat a pan without a nonstick surface with cooking spray. Over medium heat, cook the meat until it’s lightly browned and the meat’s juices are released. Stirring constantly, turn the heat up and cook the meat until it’s fully browned and the juices are cooked down. You want the bottom of the pan to develop a dark brown coating, but be careful not to burn the meat.
Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.
Turn the heat back down to medium and add the soup mixture to the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape the pan and mix in the browned bits at the bottom. The soup mixture will darken. Return the browned meat to the pan and add the mushroom and onion mixture. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
Just before serving, remove pan from heat and stir in the sour cream and pepper. Serve hot over cooked noodles.
Makes 6 servings.
Per serving (2/3 cup beef mixture with 2/3 cup noodles): 394 calories, 19.3 fat grams, 110mg cholesterol, 396mg sodium, 33 protein grams, 35 carb grams, 1.8 grams of fiber.
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