Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

• 600 g sirloin or fillet, sliced into thin strips
• 300 g chestnut mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 50 g butter
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 3 tbsp brandy
• 200 ml beef stock
• 200 g soured cream
• a handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. Slice thin and dry

   Cut the beef across the grain into strips no thicker than a pencil, and pat them dry. This is a fast-cooked dish, not a braise — thick pieces will still be tough when the sauce is ready.

2. Sear in batches

   Get the pan very hot, add half the butter, and sear the beef in two or three batches for barely a minute, then lift it out. It should still be pink inside; it goes back in at the end.

   4 min

3. Brown the mushrooms

   In the same pan, fry the mushrooms hard until they have released their water and started to colour. Added to the sauce raw, they water it down to a grey soup.

   8 min

4. Onions and paprika

   Add the rest of the butter with the onion and cook until soft, then the garlic and paprika for a minute.

   8 min

5. Deglaze

   Pour in the brandy and let it bubble away, scraping the base, then the stock and mustard, and reduce until it lightly coats a spoon.

   5 min

6. Cream off the heat

   Take the pan off the heat before stirring in the soured cream, then return the beef and any juices just to warm through. Boiled after the soured cream goes in, the sauce splits into curds and grease — this is the one thing that ruins stroganoff.