One of my favorite dishes is beef stroganoff. To me, it’s one of the comfort dishes of life. I know most people serve it with egg noodles, but I have always preferred it over rice. But the other day I saw a recipe on line that made me crave it with noodles. I also noticed that her recipe called for tomato paste. It reminded me of my friend Val. Way back when…….waaaaaay back, when we were roomies, I would make beef stroganoff and she would always try to sneak in some tomato paste. I would get so mad and I couldn’t leave the stove because the second I would walk away, there she was adding tomato paste. Hahaha. I just didn’t think it belonged in a beef stroganoff. Well, I decided to try it. The recipe I saw, called for 2 Tablespoons. But I only used 1 Tablespoon in my recipe. I have to be honest…..I don’t know that it really made a difference. Whether you use it or not, I think you will love this recipe. It’s rich and creamy and it’s even better the next day.

This recipe takes about an hour and a half to cook, but it’s worth the wait. You’ll want your beef to get good and tender so I wouldn’t recommend cutting the cooking time short.

I did enjoy it with egg noodles. I mean I realllllllly enjoyed it. But I think I still prefer it with rice. But that’s just me.

Best Beef Stroganoff

approx. 2 lb sirloin or stew meat, sliced thin
1 Tblsp Worcestershire sauce
½ lb mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tblsp oil
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup water
1 cup beer ***
2 tsp bouillon beef base,
1 package egg noodles

*** if you don’t want to use beer, replace with additional cup of water, but the beer helps tenderize the beef and gives a real depth of flavor.

1 ½ cup sour cream
3 tbsp flour
1 ½ Tblsp tomato paste

In a large pot, heat the oil. Add half the beef and allow to brown. Remove beef onto a plate and add the second half. Once browned, remove onto plate.

To the pot, add the sliced onions and garlic. Stir until starting to soften. Add the beef back in the pot along with the beer, water, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon, salt and pepper.

Allow to come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cover pot. Allow to simmer on low for 1 1/2hours.

While beef is cooking, cook the egg noodles. When noodles are done cooking, drain water and toss the noodles with 2 Tblsp butter.

In a small bowl, mix together the sour cream, flour and tomato paste. Add it to the beef mixture. It will look curdled, but keep stirring until your mixture is smooth. Serve it over the cooked egg noodles, or mix the noodles right into the beef mixture.