Beef Stroganoff

I first made this for the Chief Taster when I still lived in Oregon, and she came out for a visit.  It's one of those dishes I usually think of as "quick and easy" until I actually start making it, but I've had enough practice with it that now all the things that seem to happen at the same time and used to stymie my calm aren't the concern that they used to be.  I had made it for myself once before her visit, but I'm pretty sure I can remember saying a lot of colorful and panicky things while cooking it for her that first time that were generally met with a timid, cautious call from the couch.  "No, I'm fine!  Don't mind me!"  I would frantically reassure her, moments before adding, "Oh, crap!  It's all over the counter!"

I'm better at planning it now, and I do things a little differently than the recipe suggests.  You can't tell from the results.

Beef.  It's what I sometimes make for dinner.

 We each have a 12" Lodge skillet.  Normally, that's what I use to cook pasta sauce, or whatever combination of meat, onion, and garlic goes into a larger dish.  It would work for this, too, but instead of topping the noodles with the beef mixture, I like to mix them both together once they're each done cooking.  This calls for a larger pot.  A pound of egg noodles already barely fits in the pot I use for pasta, so I cook the beef, onions, and mushrooms in the larger half of a Lodge Combo Cooker, which gives me plenty of room to cook the saucy portion, and to stir in noodles later.  Dad got me a large set of Lodge cast iron several Christmases ago, and since that time I've barely used the Cuisinart pans I was once so proud of selecting for myself.  I still use them when I need pots (pasta, rice, some soups), but I fricking love cooking in these skillets.  Plus, cleaning them is a breeze.  Sometimes all I have to do is run a paper towel around inside, and I'm done.

The other picture was a mess because the steam caught all the flash.

I prefer mixing in the noodles because the Chief Taster's lunches are almost always leftovers from dinner.  Adding sauce right after draining the pasta keeps it from sticking together, and make sit really easy to dish into microwaveable single-serving containers.  Voila, leftovers are done!

Just typing this post made me hungry.  The pictures are killing me.