Beef Stroganoff 

Beef stroganoff is a delicious main course of Russian origin made with beef cut into pieces and cooked together with onion, well wilted, and button mushrooms. The peculiarity of Stroganoff is the addition of sour cream at the end of cooking, which binds the flavors together and combines well with all the ingredients. 

There are two legends around the origin of this dish: some report that it was first prepared by a French chef, personal chef of the Russian count Pavel Stroganoff, who added sour cream to the classic beef fricassee to make it closer to the count's tastes. The dish was successful and was named after the Count, in his honor according to a tradition of the time. Others report that Stroganoff was the name of the doctor who cured Tsarina Maria's herring poisoning with a diet of beef, onions, and sour cream. Beef stroganoff is a full-bodied and flavorful dish that is ideal for a hearty winter meal...

INGREDIENTS

White onions 500 g

Champignon mushrooms 500 g

Butter 50 g

Sour cream 80 g

Extra virgin olive oil to taste

Parsley to chop 2 Tufts

Fine salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Vodka 45 Ml

Tomato puree 50 g

Water to taste

Flour to taste

Beef pulp 1 Kg

PREPARATION

To prepare the beef stroganoff, start by slicing the onion very finely; then clean the mushrooms well and cut them into slices.  Finally, cut the beef meat into strips, about 5 cm long. In a large non-stick saucepan, sauté the onion for 10 minutes with 25 g of butter, taken from the total dose: the onion must become transparent and if it dries out a lot, add a few tablespoons of water. Add the mushrooms to the pan as well along with a couple of tablespoons of parsley and finish cooking for another 10 minutes, then season with salt and pepper. In the meantime, flour the strips of meat and cook them with a drizzle of oil and the remaining 25 gr of butter in another pan over high heat; As soon as they start to brown, blend with vodka and continue to cook. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms and onions to the meat and finally the sour cream and tomato puree. Cook for a few more minutes, stirring the ingredients together with a spoon, until the cream is well blended. Beef stroganoff is ready to be served!

PRESERVATION

Store the beef stroganoff in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 2 days maximum. Freezing is not recommended.

ADVICE

If you like, you can add a couple of tablespoons of mustard at the end of cooking, with the sour cream and tomato puree. You can very well accompany beef stroganoff with rice pilaf. The original recipe calls for the proportions of meat to those of onion and mushrooms to be 2 to 1, but they can be changed at will. This preparation can also be used to cook other meats such as chicken or veal in a tasty way.

Wine experts think this Spanish Rioja Red wine would be a match made in heaven with this dish.

Contino Rioja Gran Reserva 2010

Tasting Notes

It has well covered with color, dense, ripe, spicy, clove, sweet, warm on the palate with great balance and body, fruity and long finish, good acidity black fruit.