Beef Stroganoff
Russian dish of beef strips in a mustard-soured-cream sauce with mushrooms and onions. Quick to cook, deeply savoury, served over buttered egg noodles or rice. Originally a 19th-century court dish; now international comfort food.
Overview
Strips of fillet or sirloin sear hard in a hot pan and lift out so they don't overcook. Onion and mushrooms cook in the same pan with butter; brandy or wine deglazes; mustard, stock and soured cream make the sauce. The beef returns at the end to warm through, off the heat to keep it pink.
Ingredients
- 600 g beef fillet (or sirloin, cut into 1 cm strips against the grain)
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- salt
- pepper
- 30 g unsalted butter (split)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 onion (finely sliced)
- 300 g chestnut mushrooms (sliced)
- 50 ml brandy (or dry white wine)
- 250 ml beef stock
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 200 ml soured cream
- A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
- Lemon juice, to finish
To serve
- 400 g egg noodles (or 250 g long-grain rice, cooked)
Method
Stage 1 - Sear the beef
- Toss the beef strips with the flour, salt and pepper.
- Heat half the butter and the oil in a wide heavy pan over high heat until smoking.
- Sear the beef in batches for 1 minute, just to brown the outside; lift onto a plate. Don't crowd or it'll steam.
Stage 2 - Onion and mushrooms
- Add the remaining butter to the pan.
- Cook the onion 5 minutes until soft.
- Add the mushrooms; cook 6-7 minutes until any liquid has evaporated and they're golden.
Stage 3 - Sauce
- Pour in the brandy; let it bubble away for 30 seconds (flame off if you wish).
- Add the stock; reduce by half.
- Stir in the mustard.
- Take off the heat; stir in the soured cream.
- Return to gentle heat; warm through without boiling.
Stage 4 - Combine
- Return the beef and any juices on the plate; stir through gently.
- Heat for 30 seconds, just to warm - don't cook the beef further.
- Stir in most of the parsley; squeeze in a little lemon juice.
- Taste; season.
Stage 5 - Serve
- Spoon over buttered noodles or rice.
- Scatter remaining parsley.
Notes
- Slice against the grain: Long strips of fillet stay tender when cut perpendicular to the muscle fibres.
- Don't boil the cream: Soured cream splits on hard heat. Keep gentle.
- Brief beef return: It only needs to warm through. Keep cooking and you turn fillet into shoe leather.
Storage
- Best fresh. Keeps 1 day refrigerated; reheat very gently. Doesn't freeze well (the cream sauce splits).
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