Beef Stroganoff

The book I’m reading, Body Kindness by Rebecca Scritchfield, asks readers to make a list of foods they’ve restricted themselves from eating during their years of dieting. Once the list is made, she encourages readers to try eating those foods again. Without shame, without guilt, just let yourself eat. Easier said than done. For me, one of those foods is beef stroganoff. I have such great memories of my mom cooking this for me as a kid and while living at home for grad school, but it was quickly added to my “bad food” list because of the butter, sour cream, and pasta it calls for. In the past I’ve tried “lightening” it up, but it just didn’t taste right. It didn’t bring back the same memories.

So tonight I made beef stroganoff using my mom’s exact recipe. All the butter. All the sour cream. Over pasta. And it was delicious! Biting into it brought back great memories of eating with my mom. And while it’s not something I want to eat every day (because it doesn’t make me feel super energized and nourished), it is a great comfort food that I shouldn’t shame myself for making every once and awhile.

So yet again, let's cue the Italian Cooking Music channel on Pandora and get started with some butter. Oh yea!

Cut the onions like so.

And the mushrooms like so.

Add them into that beautiful butter.

Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender (5-10 minutes).  Remove vegetables and any liquid from the skillet.  Set aside and move onto the beef. I bought this grass fed top sirloin from our local farmer’s market sold by Moon Meadow.

Cut beef across the grain into strips, 1-1/2 x ½ inch. To make it easier to cut beef thinly, my mom suggests partially freezing the meat for about 1 ½ hours. I didn’t take my mom’s advice and these were a little too thick in my opinion. I’ll try it next time mom!

Same pan, new butter.

Add the bouillon and the water in with the butter and mix. Add beef along with some salt and pepper.  Heat to boiling, reduce heat, then cover and simmer until beef is desired doneness (10-15 minutes).

When the beef is done, add the onions and mushrooms into the same pan with the beef.

Don’t forget to cook your pasta! My mom always used egg noodles, but we had some whole wheat penne that needed to be used.

Stir in sour cream and mustard with the beef and onion.  Heat just until hot. My mom advises, “best NOT to boil sour cream mixture.” So I listened to her.

Give it a stir and voila! Beef stroganoff!

I served it over the pasta and it was delish!

Sauteed some snap peas to get some veggies in the mix.

It was so fun to cook one of my mom’s recipes and be flooded with awesome and yummy memories. I’m glad this food is no longer “forbidden” to me.

Ingredients

1  Pound (+) boneless grass fed beef sirloin or top loin steak, sliced ½” thick

2  Tablespoons butter

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (free free to go heavy)

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced or finely chopped

½ cup water

1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon (“Better than Bouillon” – in a jar)

1 cup sour cream

½ teaspoon prepared mustard

salt and pepper

Pasta of your choice (my mom always used egg noodles. I used whole wheat pasta this time)

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in 10-inch skillet until melted.  Add mushrooms, onions and garlic.  Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender (5-10 minutes).  Remove vegetables and any liquid from the skillet.  Set aside.

Cut beef across the grain into strips, 1-1/2 x ½ inch. To make it easier to cut beef thinly, my mom suggests partially freezing the meat for about 1 ½ hours. Cook and stir 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat until brown, about 10 minutes.  Add water, bouillon, beef, salt and pepper.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer until beef is desired doneness (10-15 minutes).

Cook your desired pasta of choice. Add the vegetable mixture to the beef.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Stir in sour cream and mustard.  Heat just until hot (best NOT to boil sour cream mixture). Serve with noodles.   

Meat

After watching Food Inc and reading Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan I’m more picky about the meat I eat. Whenever possible (aka when I’m buying the meat myself) I try to find meat from animals that haven’t been treated with antibiotics and for beef, I really try to only buy grass fed beef. Our local farmers market carries beef from Moon Meadow and it is SO good!