Delicious Dinner: Beef Stroganoff

There is something to be said about comfort food - the food you gravitate to when you want to feel safe and loved. But there's even more to be said when that comfort food borders on "guest worthy." I take my recipe for Beef Stroganoff up a notch with the inclusion of beef tenderloin as the main ingredient. It's decadent, sure, but the flavor and texture is unmatched.

The first time I made it, I'll be honest in that I had a mini heart attack chopping up a couple of beautiful filet mignon steaks - it just seemed so...wrong. I'm more than used to it now, but if I'm really trying to do it right, I'll pick up a whole tenderloin from the butcher and use the narrowing ends of the roast for this recipe.

Again, I tend to stock most of the recipe ingredients in my pantry, so I'm usually just short the fresh mushrooms. You've probably noticed by now that I like to gather and measure all of my ingredients before I begin. I didn't always do that but I've found it makes cooking way more easier and I run into less problems when I prepare first.

So, with meat cut into small chunks, I mix up a little flour and Montreal seasoning to coat the meat before browning. The idea is to create a sort of natural roux in the pan with the beef drippings and the flour so that the mixture thickens well in the end. It then gets browned in butter in - a large pan- in small batches. The idea is to control the juices that will cook off the meat; too much liquid and the meat boils or braises and that is not what we're going for here. Keep the batches small and the liquid cooks off quickly leaving you with nicely done chunks of tender beef.

As the batches finish, I normally place them in a bowl. They'll keep cooking while they wait and release more juices. All of that deliciousness gets put back in the dish later, so go ahead and keep it in a bowl.

When all of the meat is cooked (and we're going for a fast cook here, tenderloin is better in the medium to medium rare stage), throw the onions and mushrooms

into the pan and brown them too. I usually let them cook down on medium heat until they are very soft and have a nice rich color. They'll smell amazing too, so then there's that!

When they look good, we add beef broth (I prefer stock) and mustard and cook until the mixture starts to thicken. It'll take five to ten minutes. I typically let this get pretty thick because the sour cream finish will thin it out. I always serve my Stroganoff over egg noodles, so I like the thicker sauce so it coats the noodles well.

The sour cream will also change the color of your sauce and I'm just not a fan of whitish or beige foods (call me crazy) - so I often take this time while the sauce is thickening to add my mother's secret weapon - Gravy Master. (Yup, it's not just for gravy!) And if it's taking it's time getting thick, I may also create a quick cornstarch/beef stock slurry and throw that into my bubbling mix. If you've never played with a cornstarch slurry, my advice is to tread lightly. The thickening power of it is bionic and you can easily turn your meal into a lump of sticky glue if you go too hard!

When this gets thick, it's show time! Now, I've been tempted to eat the mix just like that over rice, but it's the final ingredient - the sour cream - that makes this Stroganoff. The mixture is hot at this point, and so you never want to takeyou sour cream right from the fridge and dump it in - you get a curdled mess. Make sure you take you sour cream out before you start and it will get a nice jump on room temperature - which is exactly what you want when you get to this temp. If it's a little cool, that's ok - you just don't want to curdle it.

Now all it needs is a sprinkle of dried parsley leaves and you're good to go! The meat is tender, you'll have plenty of sauce for noodles or mashed potatoes if you prefer, and I guarantee you will love it.

If you try Beef Stroganoff, please let me know in the comments!