Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff has always been one of my favorite dishes. The popular Russian «Boeuf à la Stroganov» recipe originally involved lightly floured beef cubes sautéed, the sauce prepared with mustard and broth, and finished with a small amount of sour cream: no onions, no mushrooms, and no alcohol.

I didn't keep with the original recipe and served my variation with onions, mushrooms, a pickled cornichon, and some red bell peppers.

Ingredients | Serves 4

750 g	beef tenderloin
6	large brown button mushrooms
1	onion
1 half	red bell pepper
1-2	pickled cornichon
2 dl	beef stock
2 Tbsp	creme fraiche
1 Tbsp	mustard
	white flour to dust the meat
	salt and pepper for seasoning
	butter and rapeseed oil

Preparation

Cut the beef into pieces of about 4 x 4 cm. Dust the pieces lightly all over with flour and set aside.
Finely dice the onion and garlic clove. Cut the heads of the mushrooms and the half red bell pepper into slices. The cornichons slice lengthwise and cut the slices into strips.
Fry the beef cubes in some butter on high heat very quickly until nicely browned. It's essential that the meat is still bloody inside. Take the meat out of the saucepan, cover with aluminum foil and set aside.
Sauté the onion and garlic until soft but not browned, add the beef stock and the mustard and let the liquid reduce a little. Use an immersion blender and blend to a homogenous sauce.
In a separate pan sauté the red pepper, mushrooms, and cornichon in a little oil. Start with the red pepper and sauté for 3 minutes then add the mushrooms and last the cornichon.
Add the juices from the resting meat cubes to the sauce and add the creme fraiche too. Reheat the sauce but do not bring it to the boil. Lastly, add the meat to the sauce to rewarm the meat – do not cook. Otherwise, the meat will go tough.

Serve | Place the meat onto the plates, top with the mushrooms, red peppers, and cornichons and spoon more sauce overall. Serve with boiled potatoes and decorate with some fresh greens.