Mock Chop Suey

 

I got this recipe via Jennifer Brockman of A Country Life.  You can view her original recipe here. It sounded really good to me when she was making it in a recent video, and I thought I'd try it out on my family.  I happened to have all the ingredients including the chow mein noodles on hand.  

She mentioned in the video that the recipe was well over 60 years old.  I am pretty sure I've had it before, made as she shared it.  She'd found the recipe in an old collaborative cookbook, one of those sold by churches or women's clubs.

The recipe I'm sharing below is based on the one Jennifer shared but I'm adding in my variations and I'm including one ingredient that I didn't use, but Katie and I both felt it would be a great addition.  The dish definitely needed the added texture.

All in all, this is a good recipe, uses pretty much basic pantry ingredients and isn't cost prohibitive to make.  

Mock Chop Suey

1 pound ground beef

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped mushrooms (I used baby Bellas)

1 cup grated carrot (just something I had already on hand, so no harm in adding it right?)

1.5 cups chopped onion

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 can drained, diced water chestnuts (You really need this crunch in this dish so try to add it.  I didn't have it but next time I make this I will.)

1 cup water

1 tsp. powdered beef broth

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup uncooked white rice

salt and pepper to taste

Chow Mein Noodles

Brown ground beef, then add in the onions, celery, mushrooms, carrot, and garlic.  I considered adding in some shredded broccoli stalks as well.  I'm a big proponent of adding in all the extra vegetables I can to these sorts of dishes.

Once the meat is browned and the vegetables are soft add in the water, broth powder, soy sauce, soups, rice, and basic measures of salt and pepper. I used a little less salt and a good 1/2 tsp of pepper.  Mix well.  Remove from heat.  

Pour into a baking dish.  Jennifer filled a 9 X 13 pan.  I used two 9-inch square pans and divided equally among the two pans. 

Cover pan.  Bake at 350F for 1 hour and 20 minutes.  Remove cover, top with chow mein noodles and bake an additional 10 minutes.

I opted to bake one pan now and put the other pan into the freezer to have as a future entree. I labeled with cooking time and temp for future use.