Beef Stroganoff was first cooked up in Saint Petersburg, Russia by Charles Briére a chef employed by the wealthy and powerful Stroganoff family. Briére entered the recipe for his beef dish named after his employer in a competition, 'L'Art Culinaire' in 1891 and won first prize. Legend has it that his boss Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganoff had lost all his teeth and his chef had designed this recipe to helptheCountenjoy his beef even without his pearly whites. This is my variation on the theme, it brings back fond memoriesformeasitwasthefirstdishImadeforShellybeforeweweremarried,it seemed to do the trick and yes she still has her teeth. Once again feel free to experiment a bit, I have made this with red peppers to compliment the onions and give it more colour and even spiced it up with some sweet chilies in the past.
Ingredients:
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1kg beef fillet, trimmed and cut into thin strips
• 2 brown onions chopped
• 2 cloves of crushed garlic
• 400g of sliced button mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon of HP sauce (A1 Steak Sauce)
• 3 teaspoons corn flour or more if required to thicken
• 1 cup of stock
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup of single cream
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 table spoon of Dijon mustard
• Half a cup of red wine
• Ground salt and pepper to season
2. Drain meat juice off and discard, add stock and simmer for 20 minutes, do not allow themeat the boil dry, top up as required
3. In a separate pan cook the onions until soft (not brown) add the mushrooms and continue to cook until warmed through
4. Add the onion and mushroom mix to the steak and simmer on a low heat 5. Add the Worcestershire sauce , garlic, HP sauce, mustard and tomato paste, stir in ensuring the mix doesn’t catch/burn on the bottom of the pan 6. Let the mix cook on a low heat, stirring every few minutes, gradually add the wine at each stir
7. The longer you leave it to cook the more tender the meat will become (can be made in advance and reheated provided you haven’t added the cream)
8. 10 minutes before serving gradually add the cream and season to taste
9. If your stroganoff is too watery mix the corn flour with a little cold water so it looks like milk. I find a small glass and your fingers are the easiest way and you get rid of all the lumps.
10. Gradually add the corn flour to the stroganoff stirring in slowly, you will see and feel the mixture thicken, stop when you are happyAccompaniments & Garnish
• Spiral a little single cream and sprinkle flaked parsley
• Serve with a few seasonal vegetables or on a bed of rice or pasta
• A nice glass of medium bodied red wine will make it perfect
