Beef Stronganoff

I am Swedish. 1/4 Swedish, to be exact, from my Dad's Mom. Generally speaking, my Gram's Swedish recipes were a little over my head, but I loved what I can remember of them - although my Dad will tell you his Mom cooked with too much sour cream [stereotypical for Swedish recipes]. One of my favorites was always Beef Stroganoff. So, I attempted it...and it turned out well! My Gram passed away in 1994, when I was only in 4th grade, so I never got the chance to "learn the ways" with her but I think she'd be proud of this dish. After posting a few pictures on Facebook, I was flooded with messages asking for the recipe. Well, here you go!

Rachel's Beef Stroganoff
[I can call it that because I tweaked it and added my own touch]

*6 cloves garlic; 4 roughly chopped, 2 [keep them separate]
*Kosher/sea salt and black pepper
*EVOO
*1 T Rosemary
*1 T Thyme
*1 t oregano
*1 t basil
*1-1 1/2 lbs skirt steak
*1 pkg mushrooms, sliced
*1/2 c shallots
*1/4 c cognac or cooking sherry
*2 c heavy whipping cream [hey, I never said this was low-fat!]
*1 T dijon mustard
*1/2 c sour cream [Just for you Gram!]
*1 12oz bag of egg noodles
*4 T butter
*Parmesan cheese, to taste
*2 T green onions, garnish, optional

FIRST: Place the chopped garlic, salt and pepper into a bowl. Add enough EVOO to create a "paste" to cover the meat. Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil and stir well. [I also added a few shakes of red pepper flake.] Coat skirt steak with the mixture and bake at 300* F until cooked through. [We like our meat very tender so after it was cooked through, we chopped ours and placed it in some boiling beef broth until the rest of the meal was ready. Drain before eating.]

ONCE the meat is done/in the beef broth: Heat a large saute pan over high heat and add apprx. a 3-4 count of EVOO. Add mushrooms and cook until brown. Add shallots and minced garlic and combine. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until garlic and shallots become fragrant. Remove pan from the heat and deglaze with cognac/sherry. Return to heat and slowly add the cream, while whisking. Reduce the heat and simmer until reduced by about half, whisking occasionally. Turn off the heat and stir in dijon mustard and sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook egg noodles according to package. Drain when done [cooked fully, NOT al dente] and toss with butter.



Serving is up to you. You can mix the drained beef into the sauce and then mix it into the noodles, or you can place the noodles on your plate, then top with sauce, then top with beef. Either way, sprinkle Parmesan on top just before serving...and enjoy!