Genevieve's Fravorite (Ground Beef Stroganoff)

This one came from a cookbook I don't even own anymore: the edition of Fanny Farmer just before Marion Cunningham took it over and got all fna-fna (Susan please correct spelling) "We don't cook with Campbell's soups." It's cool, Marion had the right idea; I'm still a little ashamed of this 50's era dish.

All the same, Genevieve has fed it to many of her friends (secretly, and only leftovers, at first; I think she knew I wouldn't volunteer to make it for strangers), and declares that they, as well, consider it food.

2 tbsp. butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1-2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 can Campbell's "Healthy Bequest Request" Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 cup (8 0z.) sour cream

I use a 12-inch non-stick electric skillet to make this. If you don't have one, you probably should just go buy one. 11 inches would do, but a round 12-inch skillet is 31 sq. in. shy and a bit too shallow as well.

How much garlic flavor you want is a choice. You can chop the garlic finely and include it in the last couple minutes of cooking the onion for a distinctive, strong flavor; or you can put peeled cloves on toothpicks for most of the cooking process and fish them out at the last minute for a much milder flavor. Unpeeled would probably be milder still.

Heat the butter and saute the onion until translucent. If desired, include chopped garlic for the last minute or so. If you want to keep the onion flavor separate, remove it and set aside. Put in the ground beef and turn the heat up, breaking the beef up as it cooks. When it is all cooked, you may drain some of the fat if you like.

Stir in the mushrooms and flour (less if you drained fat off, more if you didn't). Lower the heat and cover the skillet, cooking for about five minutes, or until the mushrooms start to look cooked.

Stir in the cream of mushroom soup and return to low heat. This is one of the two places you could return the onions, if you removed them. It will take fifteen or twenty minutes for the whole thing to come together.

Check the seasoning, and add salt and/or pepper to taste as necessary. This is the other point at which you could return the onions. Stir in the sour cream. Some like it thoroughly mixed in, some like it stirred less, kind of streaky. Cook it only briefly and don't let it boil with the sour cream.

Serve over rice. I know, I know, regular beef stroganoff is over noodles. Get it through your head, this isn't regular beef stroganoff.

Big Batch Vegetarian Red Sauce

This recipe is pretty seriously cribbed from Bob Sloan's Dad's Own Cook Book, which has at least the minimum number of usable recipes (3) to justify its space on the shelf. My changes are absolutely crucial and remove any question of copyright violation.

Actually, before we get started, let's talk about tomatoes. It is, of course, possible to make a tomato sauce starting with fresh tomatoes rather than canned. But I don't see why you'd bother, unless you're making one of those uncooked fresh tomato sauces that is really something else entirely.

So, what canned tomatoes? The original recipe calls for crushed tomatoes, but that just doesn't sit right with me. Even settling on whole tomatoes still leaves lots of choices. Some people like San Marzano tomatoes, though this merely starts another argument about what really defines San Marzanos. Some like Glen Muir Organic Tomatoes. Some insist the tomatoes must come in tomato juice, not puree. Some say that the sauce won't cook down properly if the tomatoes have calcium chloride added.

Here's what I suggest: buy the most expensive Italian San Marzano D.O.P. tomatoes with as few additives as possible, and make a sauce. The next time, go to the Dollar Tree and buy Uncle Ernie's Holiday Camp Tomatoes. If you can't tell the difference, well, there you are. If you can, interpolate.

2-3 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped or grated
1 green or red bell pepper, seeds and membranes removed, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 - 1 cup red wine
2 28 oz. cans tomatoes
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
2 tsp. dried basil or 1 tsp. dried and 2 tbsp. chopped fresh
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp. dried oregano
1-1/2 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste
2 cups water

In a large pot, with a heavy bottom (unless you don't mind stirring constantly to avoid scorching), heat the oil until a drop of water sizzles in it. Add the onion, celery, carrots, and green or red pepper. Cook, stirring, until most of the moisture is gone and the carrots begin to soften, 8 minutes or so if grated. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the wine and raise the heat, cooking until the liquid begins to thicken. Break up the tomatoes by hand and add them, along with the tomato paste, dried basil, about half the parsley, the oregano, salt, pepper, and water.

Lower the heat and stir the first few minutes until there is a low, steady bubbling. Simmer, continuing to stir now and then, for an hour or so. At this point, you could:

• Serve the sauce with chunky vegetables;
• Use a food mill to process the liquid into a thin tomato sauce (a passata, I think), discarding the solid vegetables;
• Use the food mill in multiple passes to grind the solids, producing a thick, smooth, sauce (Papa's favorite);
• Use a food processor to puree the sauce, if you don't mind it turning slightly orange;
• Use a blender, if you don't mind the orange and also don't mind the vague sense that you're producing the base for a Bloody Mary Smoothie.

Or continue to cook the sauce further, choosing any of the above options after the sauce has cooked down further. Somewhere late in the process, add fresh basil, if you are using it. Fresh basil is probably wasted (compared to dried) if it is added first thing, but that works, too. I recommend dried basil early, and fresh at the last minute. You can use the rest of a bunch of basil to make pesto.

Serve with pasta. Or vodka and tabasco.