Betty Crocker cooks Chicken Stroganoff

 

A Betty Crocker catalog from the 1970s

Yesterday about noon I asked Jordan what was for supper, and she said, “I’m working on it.” Off the top of my head, I volunteered to make Chicken Stroganoff which I thought was in one of the cookbooks I’ve published. Turns out it wasn’t. How hard could it be? We just had Hamburger Stroganoff, I had a deboned rotisserie chicken in the freezer, and it seemed to me the principle would be the same—just chicken and chicken broth instead of beef. To be sure, I went online where I found complicated recipes with long lines of ingredients. But I found one that was fairly quick and easy. And guess whose name was on it? Betty Crocker.

Betty is a hundred this year. General Mills, who owns the fictional character, intends to keep her around for another hundred years. The iconic baker first appeared in response to letters from home bakers who wanted cooking advice. When the Washburn Crosby Company (later reorganized as General Mills) ran a contest promoting Gold Medal Flour, they were overwhelmed with letters asking for help, so Betty was born. Her first name was chosen because it sounded friendly; the last name was in tribute to a retired board member named Crocker. In no time Betty was on radio with “Betty Crocker’s Cooking School of the Air.” Her cookbooks appeared, often the first cookbook a young girl was given when she left the nest. The first product to bear her name was a pea soup mix. In the Depression, Betty dispensed advice on stretching what food a housewife had. She was among the best-known women in America, second only to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Today, she has her own web site, an entry in Wikipedia, and an online catalog. You can buy a Bett Crock mug, counter-top pizza maker, or any of countless cookbooks—even one titled Betty Crocker’s Lost Recipes which features vintage recipes. An online search turns up recipes from chili and Sloppy Joe to pineapple upside-down cake—remember when that was classic?  You can buy mixes for cakes, cookies, biscuits, muffins, and even casseroles. And what does this fictional character look like? There have been eight portraits over the years, but today she looks remarkably like she did a hundred years ago—your average American housewife, with straight brown hair framing her face and a slight, pleasant smile. Someone you’d ask for the best meatloaf recipe.

Here's her chicken Stroganoff, slightly adapted:

Chicken Stroganoff

¼ cup flour

1 tsp. paprika

½ tsp. each salt and pepper

4 Tbsp. butter (divided)

½ c. chopped onion

½ lb. baby button mushrooms, sliced

About two cups diced, cooked chicken

1-1/4 c. chicken broth

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire 

½ c. white wine   

1 cup sour cream

              Mix together flour, paprika, salt and pepper and set aside. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in 12-inch skillet (or thereabouts) and sauté onion and mushroom until onions are translucent and mushrooms have released their liquid. Add remaining butter to skillet, add chicken, and let it brown slightly. Sprinkle flour mixture over skillet contents and stir to coat thoroughly. Gradually stir in broth, stirring constantly as mixture thickens. Stir in white wine. Simmer until serving time.

              When ready to serve, stir in one cup sour cream. Do not let mixture boil! Serve over egg noodles. We had shredded Brussel sprout with lemon as an accompaniment.