January Comfort Food

What kind of food do I fix for a cold, rainy January night?  Beef stroganoff of course.   I haven't made this recipe since last winter but my brother called and asked me to send him a recipe for beef stroganoff.  I started to look through the recipe as I was scanning it into the computer and it I remembered how much I liked it.  (Sometimes I forget about seasonal recipes like this one simply because I don't make it all the time.)  This meal was a great dinner to serve on a winter night.


The recipe calls for either steak tips or a blade steak.  I visited several grocery stores in search of this beef without any luck.  I finally went to my meat market and they didn't have either cut of beef so I was forced to choose a substitute.  The butcher recommended that I use boneless short ribs instead of the steak tips.

Beef Stroganoff
1 1/4 pounds steak tips                                             1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons soy sauce                                               2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 pound white mushrooms, quartered                  4 teaspoons flour
2 teaspoons hot water                                               1/3 cup white wine
1 tablespoon dry mustard                                         1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon sugar                                                         1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tablespoon oil                                                         fresh parsley


Place meat in a baking dish and poke each piece of meat 10 times.  Rub both sides of meal the soy sauce.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate between 15 min. and 1 hour.

Place mushrooms in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave 5 minutes.  Drain.

Combine water, mustard, sugar and pepper to form a paste.

Pat steak dry with paper towels and heat oil in skillet.  Add steak and brown on all sides until temperature reaches 125.

Transfer meat to a clean platter.  Add mushrooms, onion and 1/2 t. salt to skillet.  Cook until dark bits form on bottom of the pan.

Add tomato paste and flour and stir to coat mushrooms.

 
Stir in wine, broth and mustard paste.  Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened.  (4-6 min.)  I took this picture before it had reduced.

Slice meat across the grain and add to thickened sauce.

 

Cook until warmed through.  Stir in sour cream and serve with parsley.

We all really liked the stroganoff but I think that I should have used a different kind of beef.  My daughter described the meat as "chewy" but it certainly didn't stop her form eating a big portion.  In hindsight, I should have used a london broil or a sirloin steak instead of the boneless short ribs.  (The ribs needed to cook longer in order to break down their proteins and become more tender.)  Overall, it was a great meal to warm us up on a chilly night.

Bon Appetit!