Throw Back Thursday: Summery Ground Turkey Stroganoff

5/05/2013

Summery Ground Turkey Stroganoff

Ah Sunday dinner, that somewhat bygone tradition from yester-year, and one this family is trying to bring back.  You know Sunday Dinner, right? Cloth napkins, nice plates, candles, and a big family-style feast?  A time for everyone to reflect on the weekend, to talk about the upcoming week, and to spend one last family bonding moment before the hectic ways of modern life begin once more on Monday, where dinners may not be eaten all at once around the table, and where everyone may not even eat the same thing.

Yes.  So we’ve been bringing the Sunday dinner back – whether it’s here just the four of us or with my parents.  It’s a nice tradition, one that further grounds my kids to something more solid in life.  And that always makes me happy. 🙂

So, it’s Sunday evening right now, and as it happens, we just finished Sunday dinner.  Liam is presently and rather incessantly asking me for an apple, Chloe is outside riding her bike, and Brian is putting the finishing touches on our composter (FINALLY!! YAY!!).  I have cleaned the kitchen and put the food away and have found myself with a block of free time.

And here we are. 🙂  This recipe was yummy enough to share:

It’s turkey stroganoff! Stroganoff was all the rage in the 50s and 60s, then kind of faded away until Hamburger Helper picked it up in the 80s in box form.

Stroganoff is a very unpleasant food memory for me, so unpleasant that I only consumed it that ONE TIME, and indeed, it was the Hamburger Helper version of so many 90’s kids’ households. Suffice to say, it is not unpleasant because I didn’t like the taste. You can fill in the blanks, if you dare.

Alas, tonight I realized I had some nice mushrooms on their last legs and some fresh dill about to expire.  What’s a girl to do but decide to tackle her worst food memory and try to overcome it?

And overcome it I did!!  I googled several recipes, then pulled ingredients from other dishes of mine I enjoy with mushrooms, and voila! Eureka! An absolutely delicious stroganoff was made, and no one got sick.  Win!  Chloe liked it, Liam ate the noodles (which is why he wants an apple), and Brian and I pronounced it good enough to make again (which doesn’t always happen in this house). 🙂

I steered clear of the overly rich and heavy flavors of traditional stroganoff and took a lighter approach.  The result is something Brian labeled “summery,” so that’s the term we’ll go with. 🙂

Summery Ground Turkey Stroganoff
Yield: about 6 servings

1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
1/2 very large sweet onion, sliced thin
8 ounces of portabello mushroom caps, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 T olive oil
3 T flour
2 t sea salt
1 t black pepper
1/2 t white pepper
2 T brandy
1 T dijon mustard
2 T worcestershire sauce
2 T soy sauce
1 T lemon juice
1 1/2 C beef stock or water
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 C cream cheese

2 C uncooked wide egg noodles
4 T salted butter
2 T chopped fresh dill
2 T chopped green onions

Heat the olive oil and butter in a wide and deep skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and mushrooms and cook until soft.  Add the ground turkey and season with the sea salt and both peppers.  Cook until turkey is done.  Add the garlic and the brandy to deglaze the pan.  Let the brandy cook out.  Add the flour and stir it around the pan for 30 seconds, then add the beef stock and stir.  Add the dijon mustard, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and lemon juice.  Let this mixture bubble about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring, to let it thicken and let the starchy flavor of the flour cook out.  Stir in the sour cream and cream cheese.

Meanwhile, heat a pot of salted water to boiling.  Add the egg noodles and cook 5 to 6 minutes, just to al dente.  Drain well.  While draining, melt 4 T of butter in the pot.  Add the noddles and toss it all around, then add the fresh dill and green onions and stir well.

Serve the noodles under the stroganoff.  Garnish with  more chopped dill, if desired.