Beef Stroganoff

Fillet steak, mushrooms and a silky sour cream sauce | A family recipe passed down from Nana, preserved on Hestia

This Beef Stroganoff serves as a reliable center point for your kitchen. Moving beyond a routine evening meal, this dish celebrates the tactile process of high-heat searing and the intentional folding of mushrooms into a velvety, cream-based sauce. 

Method

1. Cut the fillet steak into slices approximately 1/4 of an inch thick, and then into strips roughly 2 inches long and 1/4 of an inch wide.

2. Season the steak strips generously with salt and pepper, then toss them in the flour until evenly coated.

3. Heat 30g of the butter in a heavy frying pan and fry the onions, finely sliced into rings, for about 10 minutes until they are just coloured. Use a slotted spoon to remove the onions and set them aside on a plate.

4. Add the mushrooms to the pan and fry for a few minutes until they have softened. Remove them from the pan and add them to the plate with the onions.

5. Add the remaining 30g of butter to the pan and increase to a high heat. Fry the beef strips for 3–4 minutes, shaking the pan or stirring constantly to keep the meat moving.

6. Return the onions and mushrooms to the pan and stir over a medium heat for 1 minute to ensure everything is heated through.

7. Season the mixture again with salt and pepper, then stir in the tomato paste and the sour cream. Cook for approximately 5 minutes longer, stirring gently to combine the ingredients into a velvety sauce.

8. Serve immediately as a main meal with vegetables, mashed potato, or rice. To keep the dish warm before serving, you may transfer the mixture to a saucepan and stand it in a pan of hot water with a lid on for 10 minutes.

Ritual of Presence

• The Intentional Cut: As you slice the fillet steak into uniform strips, focus on the resistance of the meat and the precision required to maintain a consistent width. Notice the cool, tactile sensation as you toss the seasoned strips in flour, acknowledging that this initial preparation is the foundation for the meal’s eventual texture.

• The Scent of Softening: While the onion rings fry for their ten-minute duration, intentionally breathe in the scent as they shift from sharp and crisp to soft and translucent. Let this decade of minutes serve as a quiet interval in your kitchen, allowing the rhythmic sound of the sizzle to anchor you in the present space.

• The Art of the Sizzle: When you increase the heat to fry the beef, pay close attention to the sensory shift in the pan. Listen to the sudden, energetic crackle of the butter and meat on high heat, and notice the physical motion of "shaking the pan" to keep the strips moving. This active, 4-minute phase requires your full attention, turning a cooking task into a focused exercise in presence.

• The Velvety Fold: As you stir in the tomato paste and sour cream, watch the sauce transform into a smooth, indulgent finish. Notice how the individual elements of meat, mushrooms, and onions are brought together into a single, cohesive meal, representing the "savoury abundance" of the hearth.

• The Shared Anchor: Whether you serve the Stroganoff immediately or allow it a final ten-minute rest in a warm water bath, use this final moment to acknowledge the care required to create a meal of such savoury comfort. Recognize the dish as a vital coordinate for your family, ready to be shared as a reliable point of connection at the table.