Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff would have to be one of the ultimate comfort foods around. Rich and creamy, full of hearty mushrooms and beef it is one of those delightfully comforting dishes. I find that I seem to crave a big bowl of strog when the weather starts to get cold and it will usually make several appearances on the dinner table over the colder months.

I love that it is quite a simple dish to make. To be fair, it isn’t the fastest dish to make but it’s also not a cumbersome or difficult one either. And you can make it in stages if needed, allowing time to feed or bath children along the way, which is what generally happens here. But the end result is so worth it. The combination of the bacon and paprika give a wonderful smokiness to the dish and those few porcini mushrooms give a depth of flavour you just can’t get when only using fresh mushrooms.

It is an easy dish to double the quantities when cooking for a large group and is always a crowd favourite! I can never decide what to serve with my strog either – sometimes I’ll cook a delicious mashed potato, other time pasta or rice. But generally I’ll steam a few green veggies to balance out the richness of the beef stroganoff.

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45 minutes

Ingredients

600g beef strips (I use rump steak)

Olive oil

4 rashers of bacon, diced

1 onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1-2 tablespoons dried porcini mushrooms

600g mixed mushrooms, sliced or chopped

1-2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 C white wine

3/4 C chicken stock

1 lemon, zested

250ml sour cream

Parsley

Pasta, rice or mashed potatoes to serve

Instructions

Heat a frying pan to quite hot. Add a little olive oil then sear half the beef, removing from the pan once browned. Set aside and repeat with the remaining beef. Sprinkle the beef generously with paprika.

Add the bacon to the pan and cook for around 5 minutes until beginning to colour. Add the onion and garlic and cook for another few minutes until soft. While the bacon is cooking, soak the porcini mushrooms in a little of the stock or wine to soften.

Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan and cook for 5-10 minutes. Remove the soaked porcini from the liquid, reserving the liquid, and finely chop. Add them to the mushrooms in the pan along with the tomato paste and cook for about a minute. Deglaze the pan with the wine and porcini liquid, stirring well.

Return the paprika beef to the pan and stir well. Add the stock and simmer until the beef is cooked and the mushrooms are soft. Season with the lemon zest and salt and pepper to taste.

Just before serving, add the sour cream and mix well to combine with the other ingredients. Stir through the chopped parsley and serve with rice, pasta or mashed potatoes and some green vegetables.

Categories: Meat