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1 Put a large pot of salted water (1 teaspoon salt for every quart of water) on to heat, for the pasta.
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2 Heat a large saute pan on medium high heat.
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Melt 1 teaspoon butter in the pan and swirl it around.
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Sprinkle the bottom of the pan generously with salt.
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Working in batches as not to crowd the meat (crowding it will make it hard to brown), break up the ground beef and add it to the pan.
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Sprinkle the meat with salt.
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Do not stir the meat, as stirring will prevent browning.
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Once the meat is well browned on one side (a couple minutes, depending on how hot the pan), use tongs or a fork or a metal spatula to flip to the other side.
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Once that side is browned as well, use a slotted spoon to remove from the pan and set aside.
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Continue to brown the meat in batches, adding a teaspoon of butter to the pan with each batch if needed, and salting the pan and the meat, until it is all browned.
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Remove meat from pan.
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Drain excess fat from pan.
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3 Lower the heat to medium.
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Add the onions to the pan.
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If you are working with very lean meat, you may not have any residual fat in the pan.
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If this is the case, you'll want to add in a tablespoon of olive oil or butter to the pan.
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Cook the onions, scraping up the meat drippings, until soft, about 5 minutes.
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Remove onions from the pan (add to the meat).
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4 Depending on the cooking times of your particular brand of pasta, this is likely a good time to add the pasta to the (should be now) boiling, salted water.
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5 While the pasta is cooking, add a tablespoon of butter to the pan, increase the heat to medium high.
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Add the sliced mushrooms.
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Saute until nicely browned (about 4 minutes).
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Add the sherry (or dry white wine or water) to the pan to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits.
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Let the sherry reduce by at least a half, then lower the heat to low.
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6 Remove the pan from the heat.
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Mix in the sour cream and paprika until smooth.
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Return the pan to very low heat, and not let the sour cream boil (or it may curdle).
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You may add a few tablespoons of water to the mixture to thin it out a bit at any time.
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Stir in the lemon juice, and about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of salt (taste).
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Stir in the meat and onions.
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Stir in the chopped parsley.
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Add more salt, pepper, and/or paprika to taste.
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7 Keep the stroganoff on warm heat until the noodles are done cooking.
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When the noodles are ready (al dente) drain.
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Serve the stroganoff on top of egg noodles.
