Russian or French....Beef Storganoff

CLASSIC COMPORT FOOD :  BEEF STORGANOFF 

It is not always about a barbeque or the Lotus BBQ Grill, it sometimes boils down to simple classic comfort food for the winter nights.  As I live in Hamburg, Germany and we are in the middle of a cold winter with snow, rain and grey skies – nothing like a mild Hong Kong winter.

Due to the weather, we started a wood fire, yes we are fortunate to have a fireplace in our home and I decided to make the French/Russian take on German Goulash…. aka Beef Stroganoff.

As Stroganoff sounds Russian I decided to google the origins of Beef Stroganoff and this is what I found:

It was invented in France by a Russian aristocrat called Count Stroganoff, who was born in Paris in 1744 and fled to Sweden in 1817.   

According to the cookbook “A taste of Russia” the original beef Stroganoff recipe derived from a basic French mustard for seasoning beef, combined with a dollop of Russian sour cream, which was named after Count Stroganoff.  Hence, the French and the Russians claiming fame for this delicious dish.

Here is the easy recipe which will WOW your guests.

Prep. time:  15 minutes

Cooking time:  1 hour depends on the thickness of the meat

Ingredients:

• 250g fresh white mushrooms, sliced (2 cups)
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tbsps. butter
• ¼ cup flour
• 1kg beef (sliced in thin slices, not chucks like Goulash). I used minute steak, which is normally thinly cut.
• 1 tsp Kalahari Salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard (the French influence must be there)
• 1/3c red wine
• 1 ½ c beef broth
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped finely
• 1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped finely
• 1 c sour cream or crème fraiche

Instructions: 

1. Sauté onion, mushrooms and garlic until soft in 2 tbsps. butter and once sautéed remove from the pan and put aside
2. Cut the steak into strips and melt the remaining 2 tbsp. butter in pan. Toss steak strips in the flour and coat.  Then brown meat in butter until well browned on both sides.  Add salt, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, wine and broth.  Simmer on low, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender (60 to 90 minutes)
3. Add mushrooms, onions and garlic, thyme and parsley and cook approximately 7 mins, until sauce thickens
4. Add sour cream or crème fraiche, stir until smooth and remove from heat.

Serve with noodles or creamy mashed potatoes, cut baguette, a green salad and not forgetting a good glass or two of red wine. 

The fire is crackling, music is playing and you and your friends are enjoying Beef Stroganoff…what a way to spend a cold winters night.