Moms Beef Stroganoff

1 lb ground beef
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (you can use low fat)
1 cup sour cream (you can use low fat for this too)
2 tbls milk
1/2 cup diced onion
salt and pepper
pinch of paprika

Brown the onions and ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sour cream, milk and soup. Mix it together and let simmer for 15 minutes or so. Add paprika, salt and pepper to taste, then let simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve over egg noodles.

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Ok, I know. This isn't much of a recipe. Or even "real" stroganoff (yes Shane, you can call it "faux-ganoff", but I'm going to glare at you. Heh). But whatever, it's one of my all time favorite comfort foods and what it lacks in authenticity it more than makes up for in cream based products. My mom used to make this when I was a kid, I'm pretty sure she got it from an old cookbook that was put out by a soup company. Every fall I start wanting to make it wicked bad, it's just the best thing in the cool weather. It's a great weeknight meal too, since it's so fast. And even people who don't like mushrooms (like my girlfriend and me) love it. If you have something against condensed soup there is nothing stopping you from making this from scratch. Just make up some white sauce, add some chopped sauteed mushrooms to it, maybe a little garlic and spices to punch it up a bit and use that instead. I've never tried it, but I can't imagine it wouldn't work. I would let the sauce simmer with the mushrooms in it for a bit to give it some extra flavor. If anyone gives it a shot let me know how it turns out. But, lets make it how my mom did.

First, brown you onions and ground beef. I like to get the onions really brown or even caramelized for this, I think it adds great flavor. Once it's all cooked add the soup, sour cream and milk (and the paprika, if you want to mess up and add it too early...). Mix it all together and let it simmer for 15 minutes or so, stirring frequently. If you notice it getting too thick (personally I like it thick enough to eat with a fork) you can add more milk. Add salt and pepper to taste, and the paprika if you want to time things right. I've heard that heat does bad things to paprikas flavor so you should add it towards the end of cooking. I don't know if it's true, but I just try to add it at the end anyway. Can't hurt. Let it simmer for another couple minutes and that's it. Serve it over egg noodles.