Beef Stroganoff recipe: easier than you may think

Lately, I've been trying new things in the kitchen: canning, attempting to cook a goat's neck, and making falafel {the last one is one of the benefits of freelancing for Robyn Webb: I get to try new ingredients, recipes, and products}.

Today I'm sharing a recipe for Beef Stroganoff with you: another first for me.

According to my mom, she made beef stroganoff many times when we lived in Moscow, but I have no recollection of that. In fact, I don't think I've ever tried this dish (perhaps my memory is failing me ;)), but what's not to like? Egg noodles, beef, mushrooms and sour cream are the main ingredients!

It turned out I wasn't the only one who had never made beef stroganoff. Somehow, my friend Sylvie and I started talking about the fact that neither one of us had made this dish, and, seizing the moment, we decided to change this sad fact Saturday night with the help of Sylvie's boyfriend, Marshall.

The recipe that we followed came from Epicurious: Tri-Tip Beef Stroganoff with Wild Mushrooms on Sourdough Toasts, but we made it with egg noodles instead of sourdough toasts.

Beef Stroganoff on Egg Noodles (slightly altered from Epicurious)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, divided

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 pound assorted fresh wild mushrooms (such as chanterelle, oyster, crimini, and stemmed shiitake), cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Kosher salt & black pepper

1/4 cup dry white vermouth or dry Sherry

1/4 cup crème fraîche or heavy whipping cream

1.5 pounds tri-tip roast, excess fat trimmed, meat cut against grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices, slices cut crosswise into 3-inch lengths {oops, I realize I forgot to do the second step!}

1 cup thinly sliced shallots (about 4 large)

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika

1/4 cup sour cream

1 package egg noodles
chopped parsley to garnish

Directions
1. Melt one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and saute until the mushrooms release the juices, about 6 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-high and continue to cook another 4 minutes.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and add vermouth {Thank you, Marshall for keeping Sylvie and me safe!}. Return the pan back to the stove and continue to cook the mushrooms until most of the vermouth evaporates.  Stir in creme fraiche, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, cook egg noodles and work on the beef and shallots: melt remaining butter and oil in a separate pan and working in batches brown the meat for about 30 seconds on each side. Season with salt and pepper and remove the meat to a plate.

4. In the same pan add sliced shallots and saute until golden brown, about four minutes. Stir in flour and tomato paste. Add broth and paprika and whisk to blend. Simmer until the sauce has thickened and season with salt and pepper.

5. Add the meat with its juices and mushrooms back into the pan with the shallots and heat through. Stir in sour cream and remove from heat.

6. Serve in bowls over egg noodles, sprinkled with parsley.

In the words of Andy Cohen from Bravo, here's what:
1) Sylvie is very bossy and efficient in the kitchen. She had me and Marshall chop, cook, stir and season. I did not mind this one bit, since she took care of all the cleaning.
2) Although this dish involves 3 different pans/pots, it's really not as involved as I originally thought. Having an extra pair (or two) of hands definitely helped a lot too.
3) This was such a fun impromptu cooking date with one of my favorite couples.
4) The dish came out spectacular. For those of you who are vegetarians, just take out the beef: I really think the mushrooms, shallots and sour cream are the ingredients that make this dish shine.

Now your turn: what's one dish you've wanted to make for a while and finally prepared?