Beef stroganoff

I got this recipe from Jeff (via Gourmet?) years ago. Since we were dust-clearing in the kitchen already I decided to rescue this little guy from the bottom of the recipe box. I am seriously out of practice and flubbed a couple of things that affected the texture, but luckily not the flavor, of this yummy dish. Photos by guest photographer Jeff H.



You will need: A pound of cow (I used crazy expensive Whole Foods tenderloin), 1/2 to 3/4 pounds of mushrooms, shallots, creme fraiche, cognac, beef broth, egg noodles and dill.

Chopped up meat seasoned with salt and pepper thrown in the pan with some vegetable oil. Basically stir-fried. F! Next time I'll cut the hunks of meat into 1/2 inch thick slabs, sear the slabs one at a time on both sides and then cube after they've rested. The meat should be inedibly rare at this stage.

Meat goes out to rest. Butter and shallots go in. Saute until nice and soft.

Add in mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook until all the mushroom juices cook off.

Add in a several glugs of cognac and about half a cup of beef broth. Cook until liquid is almost gone. This was the second thing I didn't do well, so beware: Too much of this remaining liquid will make the sauce much too thin. You're going to dump the juices from the meat back in later and that also thins the sauce.

A whole bunch of creme fraische ... maybe 3/4 cup or so. If things are looking too thin this is your last chance to fix it.

Meat and meat juices go back in. Season with dill, paprika and more salt and pepper if needed. Cook slowly until meat is medium-rare.

Serve on top and egg noodles. Dinner!