Stroganoff Soup (first attempt)

(photo sadly lost)

Half a bag of curly noodles (6 oz) cooked

1 cup finely chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium diced white onion
2 cloves finely diced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Sweat these down in a bit of butter or olive oil, starting with the carrots, about 10 minutes till all is tender and reduced. Deglaze with red wine and set aside.

1 lb bulk italian sausage
1 lb thinly sliced stew beef
Cook the sausage, break it up as you go, and then add the steak and cook another two minutes or so till steak is brown. Stirring as you go, add 3 heaping teaspoons of flour, keep the heat up and incorporate the roux. Slowly add 64 oz. beef broth and 3 beef bouillon cubes and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme.

Throw it all together, the meat, the veg, the noodles, simmer till all is happy in the pot. Add fine chopped parsely, chopped chives for garnish, and the big finish, 8 oz of sour cream. Stir and serve.

Afterthoughts: Originally I had pondered adding a lot of whipping cream, but I didn't want this to be heart attack soup. In the photo the broth looks a bit thin, so I used the "forbidden" cheater method of a couple spoons of cornstarch mixed in warm water to thicken it. It worked perfectly, really a great example of when it's ok to use cornstarch to thicken. It gave the broth the proper cling without all the extra fat of cream. This is a keeper.