American Chop Suey?

[pacanis]

I have never had this...

If you can make spaghetti you can make goulash.
Just use elbows or shells (for instance) and add them right to the pot of sauce after they've cooked.
Really, if one were to use chili powder as the spice, it could be called chili. Around here some people use macaroni in their chili in place of beans.

 

[Andy M.]

powerplantop, try this recipe. It's approved by my daughter.


American Chop Suey

1 Lb Ground Beef
1 Ea Onion
1 Ea Green Pepper
2 Cl Garlic
3 Tb Tomato Paste
28 Oz Canned Tomato
½ Lb Elbow Macaroni

Brown the beef in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Remove it from the pan. Pour off all but two tablespoons of fat.

Sauté the onion, pepper and garlic in the remaining fat until softened.

Add the paste and sauté for an additional 3 minutes.

Add the tomato and the meat to the sautéed vegetables. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Prepare the pasta according to package directions.

When the pasta is cooked, drain off the water and mix the pasta with the vegetable and meat mixture. Cook together for 2-3 minutes to allow the flavor of the sauce to cook into the pasta.

Serve with grated cheese.

 

[Andy M.]

American Chop Suey and other dishes like that in my family are called "Glop" because that is the sound it makes when it hits the plate.

Addie, for me Glop is a different dish I learned to make in Boy Scouts.

Glop

1 Lb Ground Beef
1 Onion, diced
2 Garlic, minced
1 C Mushrooms, chopped or 1 sm. can
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
½ C Corn, frozen or 1 sm. can
½ C Peas, frozen or 1 sm. can
1 Can Sliced Potatoes

Sauté the ground beef in a 12” sauté pan until the meat is cooked, draining off any excess fat.

Add the onions, mushrooms and garlic and sauté.

Add the remaining ingredients (canned vegetables must be drained) and cook over low heat until heated through.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

My Dad made amazing Goulash/AMC. It was not bland. It was made with rotelli noodles (that's probably not spelled right, but you know, those corkscrew shaped noodles) fresh onion slices, sweet peppers, herbs, rich tomato sauce, ground beef, and mushrooms. His was the best I've ever eaten. I can't make it as good as he did, and I can't figure out why.

I recently learned, from a Chinese lady on a youtube video of the Ted radio hour, that Chop Suey means left-overs, and was created in New York City by Chinese Immigrants. The Chop Suey I make is patterned from two favorite Chinese restaurants that make the same recipe. One is in El Cajon, California, and the other is located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. I'd give you the recipe, but then I'd have to chop off your hands and remove your tongue to protect these two establishments.

Oh, ok, I'll post it. And I won't even do anything mean to anyone who uses the recipe. Besides, I figured out how to make it. The restaurants didn't give me their recipes. But I'll do it later, as I have to work on one of my cookbooks right now. some people who attended my pressure cooking class last week, asked me if I had written any cookbooks. Just so happens that I have. But they need some updating, as I've learned more about cooking since I wrote them so many years back. So I gotta get to work.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

powerplantop, try this recipe. It's approved by my daughter.


American Chop Suey

1 Lb Ground Beef
1 Ea Onion
1 Ea Green Pepper
2 Cl Garlic
3 Tb Tomato Paste
28 Oz Canned Tomato
½ Lb Elbow Macaroni

Brown the beef in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Remove it from the pan. Pour off all but two tablespoons of fat.

Sauté the onion, pepper and garlic in the remaining fat until softened.

Add the paste and sauté for an additional 3 minutes.

Add the tomato and the meat to the sautéed vegetables. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Prepare the pasta according to package directions.

When the pasta is cooked, drain off the water and mix the pasta with the vegetable and meat mixture. Cook together for 2-3 minutes to allow the flavor of the sauce to cook into the pasta.

Serve with grated cheese.

Andy; your recipe looks just like what my mother made. I so looked forward to supper when she made it. But then again, I love everything she ever made, except her rubbery steaks. For such a great cook, she just couldn't seem to figure out how to make a tender steak.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Dawgluver]

It's funny how foods from school stick with us.

For many where I'm from it is tuna wiggle!

Some of the best food came from our elementary school cafeteria. And I was a very picky eater as a kid. I was particularily fond of their "Eyetalian" Spaghetti, corkscrew pasta and some sort of meat sauce (maybe similar to ACS), and their tuna casserole. My aunt was a lunch lady there, and a fantastic cook.

Chop suey, to me, has Asian ingredients like bean sprouts, and no tomato sauce or pasta. Never heard of ACS until fairly recently.

 

[GotGarlic]

Chop suey, to me, has Asian ingredients like bean sprouts, and no tomato sauce or pasta. Never heard of ACS until fairly recently.

Me, too. My mom would make a pork roast one night and chop suey the next with leftover cubed pork, a can of LaChoy chop suey vegetables, and a sauce of the can liquid, soy sauce and cornstarch, served over rice. Sometimes we had the chow mein noodles on top.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Me, too. My mom would make a pork roast one night and chop suey the next with leftover cubed pork, a can of LaChoy chop suey vegetables, and a sauce of the can liquid, soy sauce and cornstarch, served over rice. Sometimes we had the chow mein noodles on top.

I remember using the LaChoy canned veggies when I was first learning to cook. I remember liking them. I tried some a month or two ago, just to see what they tasted like, because I hadn't had them in about 35 years or so. I found that I would have to be pretty desperate to use them now. I've gotten used to using fresh bean sprouts, and fresh veggies in my chop suey. Except for the bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts I sometimes use, I have a hard time eating most canned veggies, other than beans (including green and waxed beans), beats, and corn. And the canned meat with sauce, well I would serve that to my cat. But that's just my opinion of course. And then again, I eat potted meat, wo who am I to judge?

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[GotGarlic]

I remember using the LaChoy canned veggies when I was first learning to cook. I remember liking them. I tried some a month or two ago, just to see what they tasted like, because I hadn't had them in about 35 years or so. I found that I would have to be pretty desperate to use them now. I've gotten used to using fresh bean sprouts, and fresh veggies in my chop suey. Except for the bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts I sometimes use, I have a hard time eating most canned veggies, other than beans (including green and waxed beans), beats, and corn. And the canned meat with sauce, well I would serve that to my cat. But that's just my opinion of course. And then again, I eat potted meat, wo who am I to judge?

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Same here, Chief. I haven't made LaChoy chop suey in forever, although I make stir-fry regularly

 

[Zhizara]

I guess my frustration is caused by growing up eating the Chinese version of CS (La Choy), and goulash and Beef-A-Roni.

When I decided to make my own chop suey recently, I was shocked to find out that ACS is not like what I had always believed to be chop suey. Oh well! *sigh*

 

[Kayelle]

The LaChoy stuff was exactly what my Mom called American Chop Suey. While most of us ate it over the hard-as-rocks canned chow mein noodles, Dad would have his over mashed potatoes. Talk about a meal with no texture.

In my part of the country macaroni and ground meat was known as Johnny Marzetti. Similar to the New England ACS, but fewer ingredients. Johnny Marzetti was created by an Italian immigrant in 1896. She and her husband opened a restaurant in Columbus and wanted to serve food that was both plentiful and cheap...after all, there was a university just down the street and it was full of hungry students!

CG, thanks for clearing that up for me with that link. I'd never heard of "Johnny Marzetti" before PF mentioned it the other day.Now it makes sense.
Kids had to bring their own sack lunch where I went to school, so no cafeteria American Chop Suey in my memory either. As I've mentioned before, I was raised in a grocery/meat market and my mom wasn't a fan of ground beef. I made lots of dishes with ground beef when my kids were growing up, but I don't remember naming them anything.

 

[powerplantop]

powerplantop, try this recipe. It's approved by my daughter.


American Chop Suey

1 Lb Ground Beef
1 Ea Onion
1 Ea Green Pepper
2 Cl Garlic
3 Tb Tomato Paste
28 Oz Canned Tomato
½ Lb Elbow Macaroni

Brown the beef in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Remove it from the pan. Pour off all but two tablespoons of fat.

Sauté the onion, pepper and garlic in the remaining fat until softened.

Add the paste and sauté for an additional 3 minutes.

Add the tomato and the meat to the sautéed vegetables. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Prepare the pasta according to package directions.

When the pasta is cooked, drain off the water and mix the pasta with the vegetable and meat mixture. Cook together for 2-3 minutes to allow the flavor of the sauce to cook into the pasta.

Serve with grated cheese.

That is what my Grandma call Goulash. This is the first time I have heard it called American Chop Suey

 

[Andy M.]

That is what my Grandma call Goulash. This is the first time I have heard it called American Chop Suey

Same dish, regionally different names. Goulash in some places (often the south) and ACS in other places.

 

[Dawgluver]

Same dish, regionally different names. Goulash in some places (often the south) and ACS in other places.

In North Dakota, this was goulash. Or hot dish.

 

[Andy M.]

How many of you guys make this dish? Am I the only budding cafeteria lady here?

 

[Bookbrat]

I always thought America chop suey was a casserole with hamburger, cream of celery soup and rice. With soy sauce to make it authentic.

At our house it was Goulash. I still make it when we need comfort food. Ours is burger, onions, peppers, corn, tomatoes, oregano, worcestershire sauce and some water with macaroni cooked right in the sauce and topped w/ cheddar cheese.

I remember Chung King Chow Mein. Mom tried to pass it off as a special treat. Probably because it had two cans, lol.

 

[Dawgluver]

Apparently, Andy. I asked DH, who's originally from PA, if he'd heard of ACS. Nope. Then when I described Andy's recipe, he said, "That's goulash."

I don't like elbow macaroni. Otherwise I'd probably make a good cafeteria lady too.

And Bookbrat, we had Chung King with the two cans too! Very exotic!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

The LaChoy stuff was exactly what my Mom called American Chop Suey. While most of us ate it over the hard-as-rocks canned chow mein noodles, Dad would have his over mashed potatoes. Talk about a meal with no texture.

In my part of the country macaroni and ground meat was known as Johnny Marzetti. Similar to the New England ACS, but fewer ingredients. Johnny Marzetti was created by an Italian immigrant in 1896. She and her husband opened a restaurant in Columbus and wanted to serve food that was both plentiful and cheap...after all, there was a university just down the street and it was full of hungry students!

Thanks for that, I got my Johnny Marzetti recipe from the Best Lunch Lady in the world. She was one of my cooking inspirations.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Me, too. My mom would make a pork roast one night and chop suey the next with leftover cubed pork, a can of LaChoy chop suey vegetables, and a sauce of the can liquid, soy sauce and cornstarch, served over rice. Sometimes we had the chow mein noodles on top.

That was our Chop Suey, too. The tomato-meat-pasta dish was goulash.

Hungarian Goulash was the paprika dish...

 

[Andy M.]

Apparently, Andy. I asked DH, who's originally from PA, if he'd heard of ACS. Nope. Then when I described Andy's recipe, he said, "That's goulash."

I don't like elbow macaroni. Otherwise I'd probably make a good cafeteria lady too.

And Bookbrat, we had Chung King with the two cans too! Very exotic!

Maybe ACS is just a New England thing...