Beef Stroganoff

I've never attempted beef stroganoff, but I got a good deal on steak and wanted to try something different for the family.  I found a fantastic recipe from America's Test Kitchen that I knew would be delicious, so here we go.  I'm serving it over egg noodles, but it could be served over many different pastas or even rice.  This is a "day off dish" but totally worth it.

Ingredients
2 1/2 - 3 lbs of steak, cubed
2 tsp soy sauce
1 lb white mushrooms
2 tsp hot water
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt
2 tsp tomato paste
4 tsp flour
2 c beef broth
2 tbsp sour cream
Egg noodles or other pasta

Directions

Trim excess fat from the steak and cut into cubes. Toss the cubes in flour and brown in olive oil and soy sauce in your skillet.  You may need to do it in 2 batches so the meat doesn't steam.  Set the steak aside in a bowl.   The recipe said to marinate the beef in the soy sauce for an hour, but I skipped this step.  It's still delicious. You will be using this skillet again, so set it aside with the yummy browned beef bits in it.

Wash the mushrooms and quarter them.  Some of mine were especially large, and I cut them into 8 pieces.  Sauté in olive oil and salt under tender and browned in a different skillet.  Discard any liquid, and set aside.

Combine 2 teaspoons of hot water, 1 tablespoon dry mustard, and 1 teaspoon sugar in a small bowl.  Mix into a smooth paste, and set aside.

Start boiling your pasta so you finish up roughly the same time.  I threw in a beef bouillon cube to pump up the beef flavor.

Return the mushrooms to your original skillet and sprinkle with flour.  Cook for one minute to coat the mushrooms and add your tomato paste, beef broth, and mustard paste.  The recipe called for 1/3 cup of white wine, but I didn't have any so I skipped it too.  Add it if you want, but reduce the beef broth to 1 1/2 cups.  Use a spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom and bring the sauce to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium.  Cook for 5 minutes to reduce and slightly thicken the sauce.

Stir in the meat and the accumulated juices into the sauce.  Cook for 5 minutes to warm the beef, then remove the skillet from the burner and let cool until it is no longer bubbling.  Add sour cream and stir to a uniform color.

Serve over warm egg noodles.  Delicious!