Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff
Serves 6
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 help the Count enjoy his beef
even without his pearly whites. This is my variation on the theme, it brings back fond
memories for me as it was the first dish I made for Shelly before we were married, 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

1. In a large frying pan, spray with olive oil, pan fry the steak until bubbling in
their own juices
2. Drain meat juice off and discard, add stock and simmer for 20 minutes, do not
allow the meat 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 happy

Accompaniments & 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