Non-veal Paprikash - Recipe #42

The tour of my college cooking career continues. The summer between my sophomore and junior years, I moved to the campus apartments. I was eager to begin cooking more often, as the kitchen was shared with 5 other women, instead of dozens and I no longer had a dining plan. That Christmas, under my parents' tree was a copy of the November/December 1997 Cooking Light magazine, along with a promise of more to come to my mailbox (hooray for something other than bills and junkmail!)

I have made this recipe a number of times since then. The last time was about three years ago, when we had to move from our rental home and were waiting for our house to finally close. Our wonderful friends let us stay with them for two or three weeks and we had a number of meals together. I enjoyed alternating cooking with Emi (who is a fantastic cook). This is best made on a weekend or a day when you get home early from work, as it takes at least two hours from start to finish.

While the recipe is for Veal Paprikash, I have always made the substitution of boned sirloin steak or sirloin tip round roast. As I am no longer a broke college student, I also try to purchase ethical, high-quality ingredients whenever possible. I had quite a time of it at the grocery store, nearly succumbing to the 50 cent cans of broth before noticing that they had MSG and that the chicken broth had "chicken flavor" listed as an ingredient. I quickly changed my choice. Why is so much of our canned food or processed food not real food? Shouldn't the default for chicken broth ingredients be chicken, water, vegetables and maybe a few spices? [end of rant]

• 1 T. butter, divided (original called for margarine, which I avoid buying whenever possible)
• 1 (2 1/4 lb) lean veal tip round roast or boned sirloin steak cut into 1" pieces
• 1 1/2 c. sliced carrot
• 1 c. sliced onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 T. paprika
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1 c. low-salt chicken broth
• 1 c. fat free beef broth
• 1/2 c. dry white wine (I picked up some Muscadet from my local wine store, City Cellars. Trent still has some relatives in France that produce Muscadet. While we can no longer get the family wine in the U.S., it's still a go-to favorite.)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 5 1/4 c. hot cooked medium egg noodles (3 1/2 c. uncooked)
• Chopped parsley (optional)

Melt 1 t. butter in a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray (or lightly oiled) over medium-high heat. Add meat; cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove meat from pan. Set aside.

Melt remaining butter in pan over medium heat. Add carrot, onion and garlic; saute 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in flour, paprika, salt and pepper. Add broths, wine and bay leaves; stir well. Return meat to pan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until tender, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaves. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Cook over low heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve over noodles, garnish with parsley if desired.