Beef Stroganoff

I love beef stroganoff. Readers might remember an earlier post about the subject. Last night I made the Gourmet Cookbook version. I always serve it over fried potatoes instead of noodles. I got that idea from the 1954 Edition of the Soviet Cookbook. I suppose the planners couldn't get flour for noodles that year or something. They also recommended some Tobasco to spice things up a bit. I serve mine with some hot sauce as well. You want to use really good beef for this recipe because you only cook it for like a minute. If you use some crappy cut of chuck it will be all hard and chewy.

Beef Stroganoff

3 1/2 T butter
1 1/2 T flour
1 cup beef broth
1 pound really good beef like tenderloin, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 T sour cream
1 t Dijon mustard
2 T fresh dill, chopped

Melt 1 1/2 T butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, to make a roux - about 2 minutes. Add the broth in a steady stream, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 3 minutes until it thickens up into a gravy. Remove from heat.

Season beef well with salt and pepper. Melt 1 T butter in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook beef just briefly until it just browns but is still pink in some spots. Remove to a plate.


Add remaining butter and olive oil to the skillet. Saute the shallots for about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute until cooked, about 8 to 10 minutes. Return meat to skillet and stir until combined. Spread the meat mixture over a bed of fried potatoes.

Reheat the sauce over low heat. Stir in sour cream, mustard, dill and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the beef and potatoes.