Beef Stroganoff :)

In nostalgia of meals at Mitchell Hall during my time at the academy, I like to make beef stroganoff from time to time. My husband grew up eating it on rice while I went through "college" eating it on egg noodles. Either way is good... although I have to admit the rice soaks up the thick and creamy sauce very, very well.

Here's the recipe... I believe you can substitute ground beef to make poor man's stroganoff; however, keep your eyes open on the weekly grocery ads for sales on chuck roast. We got ours for more than half off, so it came out to be fairly cheap anyways. :)

Ingredients

2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into thin strips (not too long)
salt + pepper as desired
1/3+ cup cooking wine (either white or red, depending on preference or craving)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

some butter (appr. 4oz)
8oz mushrooms
1 small brown onion, diced

1-2 cans condensed beef broth (depending on how thick you want the sauce)
4 tbsp all-purpose flour or cornstarch (or combo of both)

1tsp mustard
1tbsp worcestershire (sp?) sauce

1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup cream cheese

Instructions

STEP 1: Marinate the beef! The original recommendation was to just marinate it in cooking wine. I rubbed it in salt, pepper, and garlic and added a touch of beef broth so everything was covered... and then I let it sit, covered in the fridge for a couple of hours.


STEP 2: Heat a large skillet to medium heat and coat it with butter for cooking... I'm sure cooking oil is fine, too. I then added the mushrooms first, out of habit, since I like to cook mushrooms first when I add them to my food. Once the mushrooms reach a desired level of "cooked-ness," just separate them (away from heat) in another bowl and hold onto them until later.


STEP 3: Now add the diced onion to the pan and let it cook in the juices already there. Some people like to brown the onions slightly, but I like to cook them for awhile (at least 5 minutes)... just a habit I have, too.

STEP 4: NOW add the beef strips to the pan and brown them quickly. Since there are a lot of strips, there's a lot to brown. Just take your time with it. ;)


STEP 5: (You can do this while the beef is browning or even before you start frying) I find this helpful to do if I'm using flour or cornstarch to make a thick sauce from scratch. Basically, set aside a tiny amount of beef broth and pre-mix the flour and/or cornstarch so it's already pretty much liquefied. This way they mix fairly smoothly and flawlessly when you add it to the rest of the broth and food that's cooking. It's difficult to do this in a pot or pan full of other stuff.. it gets gunky and cakes on top of items in the pot/pan.

STEP 6: Pour in the broth/flour mix and the remaining broth into the pan. Bring the food to a boil (stirring constantly) and then lower the heat slightly. Stir in the mustard and the worcestershire sauce.


STEP 7: Cover and let it simmer for 60 minutes (or until the meat is tender).

STEP 8: Five minutes before serving/finishing, stir in the sour cream, cream cheese, and mushrooms. If desired, you can also add a little extra cooking wine for taste... but it shouldn't be necessary since you already marinated the meat in the wine earlier.


Enjoy. :)