Beef Stroganoff

Cooking time: 1 hour

Serves: 2

Ingredients

- 2 Sirloin Steaks/Beef Strips

- 1 Onion (sliced)

- 300g Mushrooms sliced (what ever variety you have available to you, and what ever you like the most)

- 3 Garlic Cloves (thinly sliced)

- 2 Sprigs of Thyme

- 50ml Cognac

- 1 small bunch of Parsley (finely sliced)

- 1 small bunch of Chives (finely sliced)

- 1tsp Paprika

- 1 heaped tsp Dijon Mustard

- 100g Sour Cream

- 300ml Beef Stock

- Salt & Pepper to taste

- 1 tbsp Cooking Oil

Method

- Season your beef with salt & pepper. Place a deep frying pan on a medium heat, add the cooking oil and any fat trim from your beef. Render this for 5 minutes then remove the beef trim.

- In the same pan, fry your beef strips until narly and deep brown, remove from the pan and pour in your onions, thyme & garlic. Cook these with a pinch of salt & pepper. Once they have started to caramelise, add the mushrooms and continue to caramelise until fully cooked and deep brown.

- Now pour in the cognac and flambé for 30 seconds, until the flames are gone. (If you're not comfortable flambéing, thats totally fine! You can simply cook out the cognac over time. The trick is to smell the pan, as soon as the harsh boozy smell is gone, you're ready for the next step).

- Now pour in the beef stock and turn the heat up to medium high.

- Add in the paprika, mustard and sour cream, before reducing to a deep, rich, velvety sauce.

- Pour the beef (and all their juice) back into the sauce, add the chopped herbs and stir well. Check you are happy with the seasoning.

- I would recommend serving this with plain rice, butter mash, tagliatelle, or even some crispy chips if you're feeling naughty! ... ENJOY!