Stroganoff

Stroganoff has been a family favorite all my life. It's a mix of sour cream, mushrooms and beef that is heavenly. My mother developed this recipe as a way to stretch the sauce to feed our family of eaters. I will include a method to make this gluten free but alas it's full of dairy (you can use say alternatives but it's not really the same).

Boil a bag of egg noodles. A pound should feed 4 people but don't count on it.

Ingredients:
1 pound beef steak (any cut desired, cubed
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, chopped (optional)
16 oz sour cream
1/2 stick butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
2-4 cups milk
au jus seasoning
oil or more butter for browning beef
Brown beef in a deep skillet or in saucepan that has a fine layer of oil. Make sure not to crowd the beef or it won't brown. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to do this in shifts. Remove the beef to a bowl. Saute onions and mushrooms, add to bowl of beef. Melt butter in pan (be careful not to burn your drippings). Add flour and mix with whisk until all the flour is wet. Pour in 1/2-1 cup milk and whisk until the milk has turned into a paste. Repeat until you have a thick gravy. Add au jus seasoning (if you bought it in a packet, add about half and taste. In a container, add about 1-2 TB and taste). The gravy should be slightly overseasoned at this point. When the gravy is slightly more thick then you would like it, remove from heat. Add sour cream (this will thin the gravy some). Add beef and veggies.
Serve over hot and buttered egg noodles.

For a Gluten Free variety - Mix 1 TB corn starch for every 1 cup cold milk (1 cup milk equals about 1 serving). When they are well combined add to hot butter in pan. Add au jus seasoning and sour cream. Add meat and veggies. Tip: do not taste the gravy and then return the utensil to the gravy. Saliva breaks down corn starch. Always taste a cornstarch gravy with a clean utensil (or finger).

I rarely measure anything when I am making this recipe. I find a nice inexpensive steak and use the entire thing. I use about 1/2 stick of butter and enough flour to make a wet paste. If there is too much flour I add a little more butter. I pour the milk in gradually until I get a gravy that is thick and not pasty. Over the years we added onion because my son loves sauteed onions and any opportunity to add them is great. I have made this without beef and I have made it with hamburger (even without mushrooms) so it's a nice fall back recipe. Feel free to serve it over other things - rice, potatoes, toast.