Stroganoff

Ingredients

• 1lb cheap but not awful beef
• 1/2 a large yellow onion or a whole small one
• 1/3 - 1/2 package of egg noodles
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp butter or rendered fat such as bacon or duck
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 package dried shitake mushrooms*
• 1 cube beef bouillon
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme or 1.5tbsp fresh, to taste
• A dash of tarragon (optional)
• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
• 1-2tbsp vegetable oil or rendered fat (divided)

Instructions

1. Boil the egg noodles according ot package directions, drain, and reserve in a large pot

2. Dissolve the beef bouillon cube in 1 cup of boiling water

3. Soak the dried mushrooms in the beef broth to re-hydrate them

4. Slide the meat into thin strips and douse with Worcestershire sauce.

5. While the mushrooms soak heat a frying pan on medium high

6. Reduce heat to medium and add a small amount of cooking oil, heat until shimmering

7. Add meat either all at once or in batches depending on how big the pan is

8. Sear the outside of the meat but don't worry about cooking it through. It will cook more later. We just want the sear.

9. Drain the meat juices and left over oil, reserve the meat for later. Don't wash the pan, just drain it.

10. Add a little more oil to the pan and fry the onions until translucent.

11. Salt the onions to help them release moisture and brown more easily. You can caramelize them but honestly it's not worth the time it takes.

12. While the onion sautés, remove the mushrooms from the broth and chop the now re-hydrated mushrooms into the smallest bits you can.

13. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook off the liquid that they've absorbed, reserving the broth.

14. Add 2tbsp butter and melt it with the onions and mushrooms

15. Sprinkle 2 tbsp flour over the onions and mushrooms and cook until the flour is golden. It will stick a bit and that's fine.

16. Reduce heat to low and add the milk slowly doing your best to keep it from getting lumpy

17. Add the sour cream to keep building the roux

18. Very slowly add the beef broth making sure not to add it all at once or too quickly because it will break the roux

19. Add more milk to loosen the sauce or build the qunatity you need but not more than 1 cup extra

20. Add thyme, a splash of worcestershire sauce, black pepper (lots) and taragon if using

21. Bring the roux back to a low boil

22. Immediately reduce the heat and add the beef including any juices that have collected on the plate while it sat

23. Stir into the reserved pasta and serve.

24. Can be topped with carraway seeds for an interesting garnish