Beef Stroganoff

As requested by my older sister like friend H., We once did a dinner swap at work, when the rest of the ward had ordered pizza. I had a box of frozen beef stroganoff that I had made while H., had made a vegetarian dish, it was a steamed veggie curry, literally a curry sauce topped with steamed veggies from a freezer bag.

At the time I didn't know what H., had in exchange cause she didn't remember either. Imagine my surprise when we went to dinner and we swapped meals. I ended up eating the pizza I think haha, and H., ate all my beef stroganoff and half of her steamed veggie curry. She said my beef stroganoff was delicious and she could imagine her boyfriend loving the dish, so she wanted the recipe. She ate every drop of rice and sauce, and scrapped her curry cause she was so full. Apparently that was only thing left in her house though, cause she bought in more of it the next day.

Anyway here is my recipe.

Beef Stroganoff

Uses: winter comfort food, dominating food swaps, making your house smell delicious in a slow cooker

Ingredients:
600g-1kg cheap beef. Anything with sinew/fat running through. I favour chuck casserole steak.
300g-500g of mushrooms. Button, white, swiss, brown. I favour button and white.
3 tablespoons of smoked paprika
2 tablespoons of plain flour
750-1000ml beef stock
1 large onion
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1-4 cloves of diced garlic, I normally use one large one.
Cream/Sour cream to taste.
Oil

Junk you need:
Large pot/saucepan
Patience to cut a billion mushrooms
Tenacity to scrape off burnt bits

Instructions:
1. Slice your beef into thumb sized chunks.

Yes, the expiry date is the 14/07/2012.

2, Move into a large bowl and mix in paprika and flour to coat

Why does this beef look so gross?
It was in the freezer for like a month.

3. Dice up your garlic and onions.

I should stop taking pictures of garlic and onions

4. If you have large mushrooms slice them thinly, if you have a billion small mushrooms, just peel and wash them and throw them in whole when I tell you to. They will shrink and darken in the sauce and look really cute at the end. Slices are just slices though.

I had 300g of 20c sized button mushrooms
It took me 15 minutes to peel and trim them all.

5. Set your pot/pan, to a medium heat. Heat the oil until warm and saute your onions first and then garlic

Onions.

6. Begin browning your beef off in small batches. Don't be afraid of burnt bits, they add character are are delicious

I walk on the wild side and don't heed my own advice

7. Once done browning everything, shove it all back in the pot and throw everything into the pot, barring cream. I suggest stock first, so everything has a soft landing. Don't be afraid if it looks like the stock isn't enough, mushrooms and beef both shrink when cooking.

This guy first

And then it looks like this.

8. Set to simmer for at least 2-4 hours, occasionally scrap the bottom of the pan/pot to prevent sticking.
9. Remove fat and scum as necessary. You're using terrible beef, of course there's going to be lots of oil. That is why its also delicious.

Beautiful

10. I can't season my stroganoff properly without having cream in it, so I pour mine in and that's me done. Alternatively, you could always add cream as needed to the dish. Without cream, it freezes a lot longer. Like a month, compared to three months?

I will finish my post on Lash Cafe one day. I took way too many pictures, I assure you the post is half done. I just have lots of feelings okay ;w;?