Beef stroganoff - My favourite winter warmer

Beef stroganoff is probably of Russian origin, a dish of seared beef strips in a creamy sauce best served with steamed rice and a dollop of French butter.

On cold winter evenings, the rich and thick creamy sauce of this dish is perfect when accompanied by steaming hot rice which will melt the cube of Lescure salted butter on top. I also like this dish simply because it is absolutely delicious when I am famished after a tough work out in the gym.

So here it is, my own recipe for home made beef stroganoff - happy cooking!

Ingredients:

2 pieces of 250 – 300gms scotch fillet

2 large brown onions

200gms button / Portobello mushrooms

2 large red and / or green capsicum

3-4 cups pasatta or 4 tablespoons of tomato paste

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 – 2 cups of cream

2 cups of dry white wine

3 tablespoons of oyster sauce

1 cup olive oil

3 cups long grain white rice

2 cubes Lescure salted butter

Method:

Scotch fillet

1. Marinate the scotch fillets with the oyster sauce for 2 hours.

2. Sear scotch fillets with a little olive oil on very hot pan or BBQ grill until fillets are boldly charred outside and still raw inside.

3. Resist turning fillets as it should be nicely charred on one side before turning over only once. This is to ensure the meat remains tender and raw inside. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Stroganoff Sauce

1. Sautee thinly sliced brown onions with olive oil, 2 knobs of butter and juices from the meat in the same sauce pan until fragrant and slightly soft.

2. Add julienne capsicum and stir well to wilt capsicum.

3. Add white wine to reduce, then stir in tomato sauce / pasatta, French mustard, sliced mushrooms and gently simmer in low heat.

4. When vegetables are wilted, turn down heat to very low, let cool a little and gently stir cream (careful to avoid cream from curdling)

5. Add seared rare meat to vegetables and mix well.

Serving

1. Cup cooked white rice and spoon stroganoff sauce onto serving plate.

2. Top rice with a knob of French butter.

3. Garnish with finely chopped chives or continental parsley and serve hot.

Wine suggestion

2002 Bowen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon