Beef stroganoff

Beef stroganoff is one of those dishes that have over the years been done in many different ways. The first kitchen I was in the chef used to cook it with slices of dill pickle in it. Not unpleasant but as I later learned not what you normally would do with this dish.

I personally like Paprika in my stroganoff but I have been told on a number of actions that you are not supposed to have that in there and it is not a stroganoff but some thing different. But for you now I will do what I like to cook for my self and we can argue about what should go in a stroganoff on another day.

For a good beef stroganoff you need good beef. This goes with out saying with what ever you cook but you always want the best you can afford to get. Now most of the time you will hear that you want to use fillet steak to make a good stroganoff but you can use lesser cuts of meat just as well. All you have to do is make sure that they are well trimmed and free of sinus an all fat.

If you can cut the meat along the grain of the meat as you could if you was going to cut it in to steaks and then cut the steaks into strips. This way when it cooks it will not toughen up to much. If you cut the strips in to long strips along the length of the grain of the meat then the meat if cooked quickly will go very tough.

Now once you have prepared your meat you will need the following ingredients.
For about one pound or half a kilo of meat you will need.
2oz or 50g of butter,
A dash of oil,
One modem onion,
8oz or 220g of mushrooms,
Paprika about two or three good pinches,
Salt and pepper,
Two good shots of brandy,
A glass of white wine,
Some double cream,
And some soured cream, or some lemon juice.

Take half the butter and the onion either diced or sliced as you wish go in to the pan and cook till the onions have softened then add the mushrooms and cook till they start to go soft. Then pour in the wine and the cream and cook till it all starts to reduce and goes rather thick. Then remove the sauce from the heat and place in to a bowel.
Clean your frying pan and replace once more on to the heat and turn up the heat as high as you can. When the pan is as hot as you can get it add the oil. Then get the meat in and cooking as soon as you can.

Take your salt and pepper and season and add the paprika to the cooking meat and then pure in the brandy and flame the alcohol. When things start to settle down take the sauce they you stated to make earlier and return that to the pan and allow all the ingredients to mix together. Finally finish with a little soured cream of a squeeze of lemon juice if you can not get hold of the soured cream.

You can start by cooking the meat first and then making the sauce as well if you wish. But this way you do run the risk of burning the onions.
If your meat is not of a good quality and will not cook very quickly then I suggest that you cook it in the pan with a little stock an make it more of a stew and cook till your meat is tender.