beef stroganoff, for the win! (a cream-of-mushroom-recipe)

For about three weeks, I have been craving stroganoff. Not anything fancy, just plain ol' cream of mushroom soup with ground beef and noodles (maybe some spices thrown in for good measure).

The problem is that our commissary doesn't carry any gluten free cream of mushroom soup. So online I went, only to find how difficult of a mission this would be. Not only do I need it to be gf, but it needs to be lactose free as well. I could find one or the other, but not both. Not anywhere.

So for three weeks, I have been craving in vain. Finally I decided I would just make it myself. It couldn't be that hard, right?

Oh, when will I learn?!

I found a lovely recipe for homemade cream of mushroom soup. The only drawback is that to make it, you have to have condensed milk.

Of course, our commissary does not have lactose free condensed milk. Lactose free milk? Yep. But not condensed.

So back to the interwebs I went, to search for a recipe to make condensed milk.

Why, oh why?!

Many of my searches for condensed milk used evaporated milk or milk powder as one of the ingredients. Really, internet? In this day and age, with all the allergen-friendly food recipes out there, there isn't an easier way??

After getting over my initial rage annoyance, I began looking at how-in-the-world one makes evaporated milk.

So I evaporated, and I condensed, and I creamed. FINALLY, I had some cream of mushroom soup to put in my stroganoff!

I was seriously worried at this point that it wouldn't taste like 'real' stroganoff and that the hours of torment and hard work were all for nothing.

Luckily, I was wrong! It was delicious, and now I will forever know how to make my own cream of mushroom soup completely from scratch.



I have put both recipes here, so if you have found this post on a frantic search for gluten free/lactose free cream of mushroom soup, you won't have to look any further!


Cream of Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

• One small can of mushrooms (or a handful of fresh ones), rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• ⅛ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon salt (or to your taste)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder 
• Pinch of sugar
• 8 ounces condensed milk** (see below for substitution)

Instructions

1. Using a blender or food processor, blend all of your ingredients. Pulse until mushrooms have reached the consistency you prefer. (I like them nice and small, so I tend to pulse longer than you might want to.)
2. Pour into a 2-quart microwave-safe bowl and microwave for two minutes. Remove from microwave and stir. Then, microwave for another minute. 

Condensed/Evaporated Milk (makes approx. 8 oz)

Ingredients

• 14-16 oz milk. This can be regular milk. I used Lactaid milk to cut out the lactose. I have not yet tried this with almond or soy milk, but probably will in the future.

Instructions

1. Put milk in a saucepan on the stove and bring it to a simmer. The purpose of this is to reduce the water, thus making your milk thick and creamy. Make sure to keep the milk from boiling in order to keep it from curdling, and make sure it doesn't get scorched on the bottom of the pan.
2. Continue simmering and stirring until milk has reduced by about half.

**Substitute**

If you are in a hurry, I have tried out this substitution and it's worked well. Instead of using condensed/evaporated milk, use 3/4 cup of milk and 3 tablespoons of softened butter instead. (Last time, I used 3/4 cup of almond milk + 3 tablespoons of vegan buttery spread and it worked like a dream.)