Beef Stroganoff

(06 August 2014)

Kris grew up eating stroganoff that was basically this white sauce (made from a prepackaged packet mixed into sour cream) with a semi-cheap cut of beef, served over egg noodles. I on the other hand, remebered the stroganoff from my childhood as being a very rich orange sauce with large mushrooms and succulent strips of beef, served over wild rice. Needless to say, it didn’t take much convincing on my part to get Kris to try my idea of stroganoff. After making it several times, and tweaking it, we settled on the following recipe. Keep in mind, the quality of the ingredients will dramatically affect the final product. Choose the freshest ingredients you can find, wherever possible. Gourmet cooking in the amount of time it take to make Hamburger Helper.

Kris here: OK, as a kid, I hated mushrooms, so my dad was kind to me and left them out. Or maybe he ground them up in the blender, like he used to do the tomatoes in the chili so my step-brother would eat it. Whatever. This recipe really is much tastier than what I had growing up (thanks primarily to the wine, I think), even if it is over wild rice. I still like it over noodles, too.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 1 12 oz package of fresh mushrooms (baby bellas are best)
• 2 cups wild rice
• 1 lb sirloin
• 1/2 cup flour (preferrably whole wheat pastry flour)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground sea salt
• 1/4 cup red wine (Pinot Noir, preferably)
• 16 oz sour cream

Preparation

• Start the rice cooking. In a rice cooker it takes about 45 - 50 mins.
• Finely chop the onion and garlic.
• Clean the mushrooms.
• Slice the beef into thin, bite sized strips about two inches long, 1/2 inch wide, and 1/4 inch thick.
• Combine the flour and beef into a 1 qt freezer bag and shake until the meat is evenly and completely coated in flour. Set aside.

Instructions

Sautee onion, garlic, and mushrooms in butter until the onion and garlic is soft and translucent (about 5 mins). Pour the entire contents of the flour and meat into the skillet and sautee until the meat is browned, with no pink showing (5 - 10 mins). Add the beef broth, worchestershire sauce, salt, and pepper to the skillet. Simmer at high heat for 10 - 15 mins (I usually go 15 mins – it makes the meat more tender) until the sauce is the consistency of a thick gravy. Add the sour cream and wine, stir well, and cook for an additional 5 minutes; until the mixture just begins to boil. Serve over wild rice.