Beef Stroganoff

The other night we went out to a Russian restaurant for dinner. While debating whether to order Chicken Kiev, Beef Stroganoff, or Lasagna made with filo dough, the waitress came over and offered, "In my opinion I wouldn't get the beef stroganoff, because it's easy to make at home". Her response settled our debate over dinner, but the next night my sister-in-law had a great idea: let's make beef stroganoff!

She pulled out "Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook" and found the recipe for beef stroganoff. We made a half recipe, enough for the 3 of us plus leftovers.
Ingredients (halved):
1lb  filet mignon, cut into thin strips*
1 1/2 T butter
3/8 c finely chopped onion
1/2 lb fresh white mushrooms, cut in half
2 tsp flour
1/6 c beef stock
1/6 c heavy or whipping cream
1/4 c sour cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh dill
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
salt & pepper to taste

* The author suggests cutting the steak into thin strips and searing in a pan 3-4 mins. Instead, we kept the pieces whole and grilled them. After letting the steak rest, we cut it into thin strips. Make sure you save the liquid from the meat, to add later.

After cooking the meat, melt the butter in a skillet over M heat. Saute the onion until tender/translucent. Increase to M/H heat and add mushrooms. Cook until well done & browned, the book suggests 20 mins.

Lower the heat to M/L, sprinkle in the flour and stir for 1 min.

Next, the directions say to add in the stock, heavy cream, mustard, & meat juices. Make sure the pan is on L & not too hot. When we added our liquids they instantly bubbled away and we had to add more. Simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens--don't boil.

Finally, return the meat to the pan, coat with the sauce, and add in your herbs and spices to taste. We added more dill & parsley than the recipe called for.

Beef stroganoff can be served over pasta, mashed potatoes, or rice. We decided to serve ours over mashed potatoes, which worked out well because it wasn't incredibly saucey like when it's served in restaurants. Next time I'll add more stock and make sure the heat is lower when I add the liquids.