There are lots of cooks out there who actually know what they are doing. I pretty much taught myself to cook, out of necessity. I haven’t a clue most of the time, but I do love to eat. What can you do with a bucket of chanterelles? I don’t like them dried and you can only eat so many omelets. You can freeze or can them, but they are never as good as when they are fresh.
Ah, Stroganov… Stroganov is tasty, and you can use a ton of mushrooms if you have them, or more meat and just a few shrooms if your luck wasn’t so good. This recipe is really flexible – it works with almost any mushroom (I like chanterelles, boletes, or morels best). Any beef will do; better cuts are, well, better, but use what you have or can afford. The proportions and amounts of mushrooms and beef can be altered. Gluttony demands extravagance, but if circumstance requires economy, that works too.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2-pound top round London broil, meat cut into 2x1x1/2 inch strips
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 stick butter
- 1-2 medium red onion or 3-4 chopped shallots
- A metric butt-load of chanterelles or boletes chopped into large bites
- 1 cup beef broth
- 2 tablespoons Cognac (red wine or sherry will work in a pinch)
- 3/4 cup sour cream or whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (less or none at all if you are using sour cream)
- 16 ounces wide egg noodles
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- chopped green onions, chives or parsley for garnish (optional)
PREPARATION
Pat meat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat until very hot. Working in batches, add meat in single layer and cook just until brown on outside, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onions or shallots and sauté until tender, scraping up browned bits, about 2 minutes.
Add mushrooms. Sprinkle with pepper and sauté until liquid evaporates, about 12 minutes.
Add beef broth, then Cognac. Simmer until liquid thickens and just coats mushrooms, about 14 minutes, maybe longer.
Reduce the heat before you stir in the sour cream and Dijon mustard. You can use heavy cream instead of sour cream but you might want to add some dill to give it more flavor. If you are using cast iron you will need to remove the skillet from the heat and let it cool a little, before returning it to a very low burner. Then you can stir in the sour cream. use the real deal, not low fat and let it come to room temperature in advance. These two things will help you complete this step without breaking and curdling the sour cream.
Add meat and any accumulated juices from baking sheet. Simmer over medium-low heat until meat is heated through but still medium-rare, about 2 minutes.
Stir in chopped dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, cook noodles in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain. Transfer to bowl. Add remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle noodles with paprika as you stir in the butter and. season with salt and pepper.
Divide noodles among plates. Top with beef and sauce and garnish with chopped green onions, chives or parsley.
