Beef Stroganoff

We are well into January now, and all of those New Year's resolutions to subsist on green smoothies and sorghum grain bowls may be looking more aspirational then realistic at this point. Enter Beef Stroganoff, a rich and sumptuous cold weather hit packed with umami meatiness, the tang of sour cream, and the piquant brightness of white wine and mustard. Beef Stroganoff is the perfect old-school counter to the self-flagellation that too often accompanies the new year, and beats the joy out eating. This New Year resolve to eat food you love! The recipe was inspired by Cooks Illustrated.

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds sirloin steak
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 pound white button mushrooms, quartered
• 3 medium onions, diced
• 1 ½ tablespoons flour
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
• ½ cup white wine
• 2 cups low sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ cup sour cream

Steps:

1. Marinate the steak in soy sauce for 1 hour prior to starting cooking. This time can be reduced if you're in a crunch.
2. In a large, heavy bottom pot, heat oil on high until it is just beginning to smoke. Add the marinated beef and brown well on each side for a total of 6-8 minutes, flipping only once during this time to allow maximum browning. Note that this may be a smoky process, that's ok.
3. Remove meat from the pot, and allow it to rest. You are looking for a medium rare cook on your meat. Drain off and discard any leftover oil from the pan.
4. Add the butter to the hot pan, and add mushrooms, continuing to cook on high to remove the moisture the brown the mushrooms, this will take 10-12 minutes. Note that you will cook the mushrooms until they have released all their liquid and they are dry in the pan and browning deeply. Remove the mushrooms and set aside.
5. To the same pan, add the onions, reduce heat to medium, and cook until well caramelized, making sure to scrape the browned bits off the bottom (the browned bits are crucial for flavoring the sauce).
6. Once the onions are well browned, add 1 ½ tablespoons of flour, cook stirring the whole time for 30 seconds for the flour to coat the onions.
7. Add the tomatoes, white wine, broth, mustard, sugar, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. As the liquid comes up to temperature, scrape the bottom of the pan to make sure you get all the good stuff off the bottom of the pan and into your sauce. Once the sauce is at a simmer, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered.
8. After simmering for 20 minutes, return the beef (thinly sliced) and mushrooms to the pot.
9. Add the sour cream and remove the dish from the heat.
10. Stir to ensure the sour cream is thoroughly dissolved in your sauce. You do not want to boil your sauce after this point as it will both make your meat tougher and could cause the sour cream in your sauce to curdle. 
11. Serve over egg noodles, garnish with fresh chives or dill.