Beef Stroganoff

I was watching a Food Network episode of "Guy's Grocery Games" the other night, a repeat of moms on Mother's Day and one of them made beef stroganoff.  It made me want to make it, so I bought the ingredients.  Round steak was the only thing on sale, so I decided to make this in my enamel cast iron dutch oven.  I have never used or bought round steak before but I knew for sure that it was tough.  I followed this recipe here with a couple of edits.  I used some fresh thyme (4 sprigs tied together with twine), Dijon mustard (about a tablespoon), 2 bay leaves and flour (3 tablespoons) which were the major changes.  I used one cup of wine and two cups of broth reversing what the recipe says.  Because I used flour is why I reversed the liquids, I wanted to cook out the wine and then thicken the broth after.

I preheated my oven to 300°F.  I chopped the onions and mushrooms and minced the garlic.

I then cut the beef.  The recipe called for a julienne cut.  I hemmed and hawed about it over just cutting regular sized strips, but finally decided to julienne it for the fact I thought it may be easier than having to flip each piece while browning it.  Also, it was tough while slicing it so I thought a skinnier cut might help make it more tender too.

I browned it in butter, in batches (3) so it didn't steam (it still did) and tried to do an even layer.

Once in the pan, I seasoned it with paprika (Hungarian sweet), fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt.  When browned, I moved it to a plate.

Then onions, garlic and mushrooms went in next.  I added another pat of butter , more paprika, S&P and stirred until soft.  I added in the wine next and stirred until it was cooked out.  Then I added in the flour.  I stirred this for a couple of minutes and then put in the beef, thyme, bay leaves and broth.  A note about the broth.  I am a huge fan of "Better than Bouillion Reduced Sodium" base.  I get this at Costco and it truly is better than a cube or some broths in the tetra packs, for that matter.  Check it out.  I keep one of beef and one of chicken in my fridge.  Highly recommended!

I brought this to a boil, checked the seasoning, which was good at this point.  Into the oven it went for an hour and a half.  Thirty minutes out, I made the noodles and chopped some parsley.  I like these German noodles.

I certainly didn't need the whole bag for dinner though - I used half and that will make two lunches tomorrow too.  When ready, I tossed them with some butter and parsley.  I took the stroganoff out of the oven and added sour cream and stirred.  I forgot the horseradish which was the reason I picked this recipe in the first place!  Oh well, next time.  I served over the noodles and garnished with more parsley.

Thank goodness the beef was tender!!!  The flavor was rich and deep.  This was a really tasty dish.  The hardest work was slicing the beef, in that it took the longest time.  This was a nice weekend meal before getting ready for Easter turkey.