Dinner Tonight: Beef Stroganoff

Tonight we had beef stroganoff, mostly based on this recipe from my buddy Rachael Ray.  I think I veered enough away from her recipe this time that I will go ahead and post my version instead of just recapping the changes I made.

My camera battery died so I had to take this picture with my cell phone.  I promise that it didn't really look that green in real life.  Actually, this meal is very yummy and comforting, kind of reminiscent of my beef and noodles from a few weeks ago but with a more interesting sauce.  My friend says her mom used to make something called "Poor Man's Stroganoff" which used ground beef in place of the tenderloin.  I used sirloin, so I guess mine is more of a "Middle Class Stroganoff". 

Seriously, who takes a tenderloin and serves it drenched in sauce?  I don't get it.  That's just not necessary to do to a ridiculously expensive piece of beef that can stand on its own.

Beef Stroganoff

1 lb sirloin, sliced thin and cut into bite-sized pieces

Salt, pepper & garlic powder

1/2 small onion, sliced thin

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp flour

1.5-2 cups beef stock

1 heaping tsp dijon mustard

1/4 cup sour cream

1 Tbsp red currant jelly (serves the same sweet/sour purpose as RR's cornichons, but with less weird bits of pickle)

1/2 lb egg noodles

Boil water for noodles (I forgot to do this at first so I just used really hot water to shorten the process).  Rachael Ray thinks you should make the sauce first and set it aside while you make the meat.  I don't believe in dirtying that many pans, especially if you have a nifty & pricey Rachael Ray pan like this.

Add olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter to large, deep skillet or saute pan.  Season meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder (because when don't I do this?), add to pan with onion.  Brown meat and remove from pan.  Check your water - is it boiling yet?  If so, add noodles and cook according to package directions.

Add remaining tablespoon of butter to skillet, make sure it is melted then add flour.  Whisk well and cook for about one minute.  Add 1.5 cups beef stock, whisk vigorously to eliminate lumps.  Bring to a boil and simmer until desired thickness is reached.  Add mustard, sour cream and jelly.  Again, whisk well to incorporate (the sour cream can look a little curdled, just keep whisking).  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.  You can also add more beef stock, but mine ended up being a little thin with 2 cups of stock so I had to thicken it with some corn starch.  Add meat back into pan and coat with sauce.  Drain pasta, serve with sauce mixture.  Rachael Ray suggests adding some parsley for garnish, which isn't a terrible idea but I refused to pay $.80 for a bunch of parsley just to use a couple of tablespoons.  She also suggests pumpernickel bread, which I suppose could be traditional but we went with a nice crusty sourdough loaf (now that was worth the $.80 Target charged me for it).

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Estimated cost of meal

Beef: $2

Butter: $.10

Olive oil: $.10

Onion: $.10

Spices: $.05

Flour: $.05

Stock: $1

Mustard: $.05

Sour cream: $.15

Jelly: $.10

Noodles: $.50

Bread: $.80

Total: $5.00

Former life total: Dinner @ Mimi's: $34

Leaner Life Savings: $29 or 85%!!