Chicken Stroganoff

Erratic, is the word that I would use to describe my meal preparation lately.  This week, I've prepared a couple of meals for myself, several meals for my husband and I, a brunch for 40, a dinner for a family of 8 and a cake for 350. 🤪  The leftovers in our house this week, consisted of pieces of breakfast burritos and buttercream slathered cake scraps.  😅

I have a collection of recipes that I pull from when I'm cooking for two people.  Things like grain bowls or simple fish recipes are great two person meals.  I have a separate bank of recipes that I use to cook from when I'm preparing food for a crowd.  (Any gathering over 6 people is a "crowd", in my world.😉)  Big bowls of pasta and pots of hearty soups are my go-to foods for a group.  🍝

29 years of marriage of cooking for the love of my life has taught me a few things about feeding him.  I generally know his likes and dislikes, and with some degree of accuracy, how much he will eat of any given meal.  Preparing meals for people that I know is easy.  Preparing meals for people I don't know - takes meal preparation to a whole new level.  Quite honestly, the challenge of trying to decide which foods someone else will find appealing can feel like trying to pick winning lottery numbers.  

Chicken Stroganoff is a dish that I made recently for a family of 6 that I really didn't know much about.  I was one of several cooks who were donating food to this family and I feared that they would end up with 6 different versions of lasagna.  Pasta dishes are usually a safe bet when cooking for strangers but I wanted to provide some lean protein as well.  And that, my friends, is how I landed on Chicken Stroganoff.  Arguably, mushrooms can be a little risky, especially for kids, but I figured if I left them big enough, they could be easily removed.

Chicken Stroganoff
12 ounces (6 cups) egg noodles
1 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon pepper
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1" pieces)
12 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced thin
1 onion, chopped fine
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
2 Tablespoons dry sherry
1/3 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons parsley

Bring 4 quarts water to a boil.  Add noodles and 1 T. salt. Cook to al dente.

Drain noodles, return to pot, toss with 2 T. butter.  Cover to keep warm.

Combine 2 T. flour, mustard, paprika, 3/4 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper.  

Add chicken and toss to coat.  

Melt 2 T. butter.  Add chicken.  Cook without stirring until browned.  

Stir and cook until chicken is cooked through.  Transfer to a plate.

Melt 2 T. butter in skillet.  Add mushrooms, onion, 1/2 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper.  Cook 7-9 minutes. 

Stir in garlic, tomato paste, thyme and 1 T. flour.  Cook 30 seconds. 

Stir in broth and sherry and bring to a boil.  Add chicken and accumulated juices and cook until sauce thickens. ​

Stir in sour cream.

Spoon noodles into a bowl.  

Spoon stroganoff over top of noodles. 

Make this stroganoff for a family of 8 or make it for a family of 4 and freeze half for another day.  

Ciao!

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