Dairy Free Beef Stroganoff

 This coming week I will be doing the hostessing for Presto Pasta Nights, (#185) a first for me, hosting anything that is. If you've never participated, this will be a great opportunity to share and broaden your noodle horizons.  Pretty simple - fix something with pasta, take a photo, post about your dish, and send your post link to me, claudiariley (at) yahoo (dot) com and a cc to - ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com. by Thursday, October 14.  Ruth of  Once Upon a Feast, is our founder and organizing genius for the past several years.  The round-up should be posted by Friday, late.

My contribution, as you may have guessed, is this Beef Stroganoff, a favorite at our house for a good many years, and possibly one of yours too.  Though, last night's reincarnation was meant to be a departure from the tried and true, into the area of low to no dairy.  Instead of the usual sour cream, it was reduced almond milk, based upon an assumption that reduction would intensify the flavor.

To tell you the absolute truth, I prefer cream.  Everything we do does not result in a standing ovation.  It's not all a gigantic success story.  Though, I'm not saying  the meal was not delicious.  Just that cream tastes better.  My opinion. 

It actually started with a mistake of a different sort.  In the market I grabbed a packet of beef, thinking it was stew meat.  Sunday, starting early, to allow for a few hours of slow cooking, I took everything out, doing my mise en place.  And, only then noticed the label.  Chopped Steak.  Okay, that called for an entirely different set of plans.  We try to be flexible here.  I put stuff away and went back to my novel.  Stroganoff is pretty darn fast.

Beef Stroganoff

4 servings

1 1/2 lb. beef fillet, sliced thinly
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red sweet pepper, sliced (optional, but nice for the color and taste)
3 tablespoons butter, or olive oil
3/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced (I used Crimini, which sounds nicer than saying common or button)
salt and pepper to taste, and a grating of nutmeg
3 sprigs of thyme
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup thick cream or sour cream, or reduced almond milk
1/2 package egg noodles

Get your water to a rapid boil for the noodles.  Meanwhile, do your slicing and chopping.  Then saute the mushrooms, in half the butter, and set aside.  Melt remaining butter (or you could use olive oil, if you want to be more dairy free) and cook the onion for a few minutes, then add in the beef, thyme and red pepper, and cook for another 5 minutes.  Return the mushrooms to the pot and add seasonings, stirring briefly.  Add the wine and bring to a simmer, then add your cream and heat.  Do another taste test, as it may need a bit more salt and pepper.  Serve on the drained egg noodles. You see what I mean about fast.

Kealani, my charming little sous chef,  made us a nice tangy salad of grated radish and carrot with mizuna to go on the side.  The Grass fed beef was tender, awesome really, and we all enjoyed the slightly different take with almond milk.  But, be sure to use a good cut of beef, because this dish relies upon that little issue.