Photo: jeffreyw / Flickr

Beef stroganoff was created during the 19th century in Russia. Slim strips of beef fillet are cooked in butter and oil very quickly so that the inside is rare and the outside is browned. The strips of meat, which are cut across the grain, are then placed into a mushroom and sour cream sauce. The beef stroganoff can then be spooned over noodles or rice. Allow for 45 minutes of preparation time and 20 minutes of cooking time.

Ingredients

You will need the following ingredients to prepare beef stroganoff for four: 800 grams of fillet of beef, 3 finely sliced medium sized onions, 35 grams of butter, 220 grams of sliced mushrooms, a generous cup of sour cream as well as some salt and pepper to taste.

The fillet should be cut into strips that are approximately the size of a little finger. Use a sharp knife to cut them across the grain. If you don’t have sour cream, mix the juice of half a lemon into a cup of fresh cream.

Method

Melt the butter in a pan and slowly fry the sliced onion until it is golden brown in colour. Place the fried onion in a bowl and fry the mushrooms next. Place the onions back into the pan with the cooked mushrooms.

Turn up the heat and place half of the strips of beef fillet into the hot pan. Fry them quickly for just over three minutes on each side so as to lightly brown the outside and seal in the juices. Turn the meat out into a bowl and fry the remaining strips in the hot pan in the same way.

Place all the beef strips into the pan and season to taste. Add the mushroom and onion mixture and stir for just over one minute. Pour in the sour cream, bring the mixture to a boil and serve as soon as possible.

Alternatives

You could also cook the slices of meat in butter in order to seal them before adding two tablespoons of brandy, lemon juice, sour cream and seasoning. Alternatively, add a tablespoon of tomato paste or brandy to the cream sauce.

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