Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone. When you think of comfort food, usually food high in calories, fats, and carbs come to mind such as fried chicken, mashed potatoes, or beef stew. This food is nourishing to the soul, and often brings you to a more peaceful state of mind. In my family, the one meal that my mother makes that stands out as comfort food is beef stroganoff. Every year since we were very young children, as soon as it got cold in the fall my mom would whip up beef stroganoff for my brother and I in her crock pot. She would prepare the meal in the morning, and leave in the crock pot for the next six hours. As soon as my brothers and I entered the front door after walking home from school, we were engulfed with the familiar smell of our favorite meal. After working on homework and allowing ourselves to salivate over the smell of the food, we would sit down as a family at the dinner table to enjoy the delicious meal our mother had prepared. When I’m asked “What’s your comfort food?”, my mind instantly imagines the taste of beef stroganoff on a cold fall day. This year, I finally got a crockpot of my own (gifted by my aunt, Amy). I asked my mom for her beef stroganoff recipe, eager to make it on my own for the first time. She told me she doesn’t really have a recipe, and that she slightly changes it every time. I pushed harder, and she eventually listed all of the steps she normal takes and ingredients needed for the recipe. I eagerly jotted down the steps and ingredients, and stopped by the grocery store on my way home from class. As I was leaving the store, the weather took a drastic turn for the worst and it began snowing furiously. I took my time getting home safely on the dangerous roads, and as soon as I crossed the threshold of my warm apartment I knew I wouldn’t be leaving again for the rest of the day. I took my time preparing the meal, and left it in the crock pot to cook while I worked on homework. This really brought me back to my childhood, but also gave me a new feeling of maturity. I was finally at a point in my life where I could continue on with my required education, and at the same time carry on family traditions. The process of making the food, and the sense of accomplishment I felt when my friends gathered at my house to enjoy it gave me a clear head and feeling of true happiness. I’ll attach the recipe below, it touches the soul on a cold day in fall or winter.

Ingredients:

1.5 LBS of beef (I get the pre-sliced stew meat from my grocery store)

1/2 container of fresh mushrooms (optional, not in my mom’s recipe but I enjoy adding fresh ingredients)

1/2 yellow onion, chopped and sautéed

1 can golden mushroom soup

1/2 cup white flour

1 bag egg noodles

2 1/2 cups sherry wine (loosely estimated)

1. Sauté onions in pan with 2 tbsp vegetable oil, place in separate bowl
2. Add 2 tbsp vegetable oil to same pan then brown (cook about 2-3 minutes on each side) the beef
3. Remove from heat, then deglaze beef by adding beef broth to pan
4. Pour beef mixture, onions, mushroom soup, and fresh mushrooms (optional) into the crock pot and cook on LOW for six hours
5. Separately- mix about 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup water in a bowl (this is called a slurry-equal parts water and flour)
6. Six hours later- add sherry and flour/water mixture to crock pot, stir to check for thickness of stew
7. If the stew is still pretty runny, mix another 1/4 cup of flour with a 1/4 cup of water and add to the crock pot
8. Turn crockpot on HIGH for another 30 minutes, and cook egg noodles while the dish finishes
9. Switch crockpot to warm setting, and enjoy the food!