Beef Stroganoff (Recipe)

Ingredients

1 pound beef round steak, cut into 3/4-inch cubes

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 cup margarine or butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

3/4 cup beef broth

1 small bay leaf

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 8-ounce carton dairy sour cream

1 8-ounce package medium noodles, cooked (4 1/2 cups dry noodles)

Steps

1. Season the meat with the paprika, salt, pepper and garlic salt.

2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the margarine or butter.  Add the meat and onion.  Cook and stir until the meat is browned on sides.

3. Add the mushrooms, beef broth, bay leaf and Worcestershire sauce to the skillet.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until the meat is tender.  Remove and discard the bay leaf.

4. In a small bowl, stir together the flour and sour cream.  Add the sour cream mixture to the meat mixture in the skillet.  Cook and stir for 1 minute more.  Serve over the hot cooked noodles.

Tips:

To season the meat cubes evenly, place the paprika, salt, pepper and garlic salt in a heavy plastic bag.  Add the meat cubes and shake.

Sour cream that is tightly covered will keep in the refrigerator up to four weeks.  Freezing is not recommended because the sour cream will separate as it thaws.  If you notice any spots of mold on the surface of refrigerated sour cream, discard the entire container.

In this recipe, the sour cream is mixed with the flour before it is added to the skillet to prevent it from curdling when it is heated.

To reduce fat and calories, you can substitute "light" sour cream for the regular sour cream in the recipe.