Hamburger Stroganoff

-Here is what you will need-

*1 lb. ground beef (we say hamburger at our house) - brown in skillet, don’t chop it up too tiny
*1/2 c. chopped onion ( chunks about a half inch square)
*1/4 tsp. paprika (nice color and flavor)
*1 c. sour cream (this makes it stroganoff)
*1 c. cream of celery soup – ( most use mushroom soup, but I hate mushrooms, if you like um, us it) Do not measure – dump in a can
*3 Table spoons bacon bits or three or four slices of bacon
* Pinch of salt (no more than ¼ teaspoon)
*Dash of pepper (to taste)
I love recipes that say a pinch of this and a dash of that— this will give you a chance to make it your own)

-Here is how you fix it-

-One cup -Old fashioned noodles (cook just until they are soft, drain and melt in a quarter stick of butter (not margarine) set aside and save

-Brown hamburger, add bacon bits the last few minutes
-Add onion and cook until soft
-Add seasonings –you a few pinches or dashes of this or that, I add a little sage, and some thyme
-Stir in soup
-Cook slowly, uncovered for about 20 minutes (I usually crank it up on high and cook about 8 or 9 minutes, civilized cooks use twenty minutes and simmer) simmer is another good cooking term-not sure what it means but do remember people telling me to simmer down when I was a kid.
-Stir in sour cream – right at the end of the simmer
-Heat and serve over the hot buttered noodles from above

This stuff is good – we serve with diet cola or ice tea and corn bread, raw vegetable tray on the side

Looking At Other Cooking Blogs

Been traveling through a bunch of cooking blogs the past few days, know what I found—a lot of stuff I would never eat. Who really cooks like this at home?

I want good food that does not take much time. Oh- and not from a box or package from the freezer section. Over the years my wife and I have found some swell stuff we can put together in only a few minutes. I don’t actually use the word swell but thought it sounded funny. Back to the subject-quick good food in a reasonable time-

My next three blogs—maybe four, will cover my favorites.

Can’t hardly wait, can you?

Happy eating

The Best Ice Cream EVER

By Neil Waring
Revered Wyoming Chef, outdoor cooking expert, admired woodsmen and honored citizen.

We have a small, inexpensive ice cream maker, not sure where or when we got it, but more than likely I bought it somewhere along the line because it was setting in a store display to catch shoppers like me. But it really works. My wife is convalescing after major surgery and today wanted Ice cream, not from the store, but my good old home-made. And you know what? It tastes great, every time.

-Ingredients (2 Quart tabletop maker)-Ours is a Rival but there are many great little makers today.

1cup milk (1%, 2% or whole, doesn’t matter, who can tell the difference anyway)?

3/4 cups sugar (most reciepes call for a cup or more—but trust me, this is enough and tastes best)

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups half and half (I use cream if I have it for ½ of this)

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract (I use the fake stuff—cheaper)
And that’s it-add flavors through the hole in the top a few minutes after starting, Today’s flavor at our house was strawberry. The frozen berries are great for this.

Hint for us guys who hate doing dishes—I dump the ingredients straight into the maker and let-er-rip, no need to use a bowl or your very fine Waring blender to mix before stating. Saves time too, and the wife will say, “how do you do that so fast?”
You will smile that wry, cowboy smile and say, “I am the world’s greatest Ice Cream maker.”

-Joke to follow-

Old guy walks up to an Ice Cream booth at the local fair, "What kinds of ice cream do you have?”

"Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry," the young girl behind the counter wheezed as she spoke, patted her chest and seemed unable to continue.

"Do you have laryngitis?" the guy asked sympathetically.
"Nope," she whispered, "just vanilla, chocolate and strawberry

Today - Eat Like A Kid

My lunch today

Peanut Butter and Jelly on wheat toast & Chicken Noodle Soup

-Here is what you need-

Jelly – (my homemade chokecherry—and it is some fine tasting stuff)
Peanut butter - (I like the super junk)
Bread-2 slices (I buy the cheap stuff, my wife finds better, doesn’t matter, toasted and covered, cheap seems good to me)
One can chicken noodle soup (I like Campbell’s, because it is really salty tasting – not sure that is a great endorsement)
Anyway—toast 2 slices of bread –and then the tricky part, peanut butter on one, and jelly on the other. Smush um together. (My spell checker did not like that last sentence-a-ur-fragment)
Now the soup—the secrete- opps- secret, use only half a can of water—yes really! (One exclamation per recipe, no more)
Turn the stove as high as she will go and make the soup boil as fast as you can.
Add crackers to soup (I really like the little round ones made from oysters)

-Eat like a kid and enjoy-

Onion Rings and Other Stuff

Neil Waring
Revered Wyoming Chef, outdoor cooking expert, admired woodsmen and honored citizen.


Homemade onion rings are a real treat at our house and have been for thirty years. They are simple to make and the mess is not too bad.
Okay – here is what you need.
A big ol’ soup bowl & a Fork - That’s it
-Ingredients-
If you are new to the old chef’s blog I try to explain everything as I go, and never too fast.
Ingredients means the stuff we will be using and today the ingredients are—
Flour, salt, baking powder and milk (that’s it four things and they are all white)
I throw in stuff like they are all white just to make this blog not only informative but interesting and memorable.
Oh—you will need an onion –I like white onions but red or yellow will work
• Mix one cup flour (in the soup bowl)
• One teaspoon of baking soda
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• Enough milk to mix, should be about the consistency of a raw egg white ( or not quite so much)
Slice onion into ½ inch rings—separate the rings
Dip until well coated – make sure it sticks – but don’t let it fill the hole in the middle (rings)
Drop into a pan of hot oil –this is what you need the fork for— (I turn the burner to a bit past medium heat, 360 if you have a fryer with a thermometer) CORN OIL, nothing fancy
If using a pan or skillet or a big chunk of aluminum foil the oil needs to be about ¾ inch deep.
Fry one side then flip –once again using the handy fork (each side will take about 30 seconds)
Fry the other side and lay on a paper towel-shake on a little salt or your favorite seasoning salt.
When finished they should be about the color of a pancake and boy do they ever taste good.
ENJOY

Have some of the coating left? Roll some chedder chunks in and fry as above--much better than you can find in your favorite cafe.

Merry Christmas With Only One Mishap

Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you all over ate (I did) and baked and cooked untill you were happy. (We did at our place)
Christmas is over and I am sitting in my recliner playing with my brand new Kindle. All four kids and all seven grandkids made it. BUT as always there had to be a mishap and this one was a dozy. Our four year old granddaughter broke her leg sledding. It was our second day on the hill (yesterday) she is a tough little kid but when she said she needed to go to the doctor we knew it was hurting. Now it is all cast up (hip to foot) and in about eight weeks she will be as good as new. Thank God for grandkids, good doctors and quick healing for four year olds.

Yea Christmas Vacation

My first day of Christmas vacation-two weeks before I go back. First day and I already over ate. How can I do that--well Grandma (my wife) and two young (6&4) grand kids made Christmas cookies today. I became the designated taster. Then Pizza tonight. Remember those old Alka-Seltzer adds from years ago? I look and feel like one of those guys -- think I will go get some exercise. Maybe watch a football game on TV.