In this weekly culinary column, I will be focusing on one dish – giving the reader a quick history of the dish, the classical preparation of it, and of course, my own spin on the classic.

This week I have chosen to cover beef stroganoff – a dish that originated in Russia in the mid 19th Century. Stroganoff is a dish consisting of sauteed beef and is commonly served with sour cream or in a sauce made of sour cream. The first mention of this dish comes in 1861 from a cookbook “A Gift to Young Housewives.” The name of the dish is believed to be derived from either the Stroganov or Stroganoff families, each of which had influence in the area at the time.

Classic Beef Stroganoff

1 lb​Beef tenderloin, sliced into strips
1 whole​Onion, diced
8 oz​Butter
4 oz​Button mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp​AP flour
½ cup​Beef stock
½ cup​Sour cream
to taste​Sea salt, freshly cracked pepper

Season meat with salt and pepper. Warm a large cast iron pan on medium-high heat. Add 4 oz butter and sear your meat, roughly 2 minutes per side. Remove the beef and add the remaining butter. Add your onions and sautee until the onion starts to become translucent. Add your mushrooms and cook for roughly 2-3 more minutes before adding your flour. Stir and cook until flour is cooked, roughly 2 minutes. Add your beef and stock to the pan and mix. Simmer over low-medium heat for roughly 15 minutes. Remove from heat and serve over pan-fried potatoes or egg noodles with a side of sour cream.

Jonathan’s Beef Stroganoff

1 lb​Beef tenderloin, sliced into strips
1 cup​Red wine
2 sprigs​Thyme
2 sprigs​Rosemary
2 cloves​Garlic, crushed
1 whole​Onion, diced
8 oz​Butter
8 oz​Trumpet royal mushrooms, sliced
½ cup​Beef stock
½ cup​Mushroom stock
½ cup​Heavy cream
½ cup​Sour cream
to taste​Sea salt, freshly cracked pepper

Marinate meat in red wine, rosemary, garlic, thyme and onion overnight. Drain meat from marinade and reserve the wine. Pat the meat dry and season with salt and pepper. Warm a large cast iron pan on medium-high heat. Add 4 oz butter and sear your meat, roughly 2 minutes per side. Remove the beef and add the remaining butter. Add your mushrooms and sautee until mushrooms begin to brown. Add your wine and beef to the pan. Simmer over low-medium heat until wine is reduced by 50%. Add your stocks to the pan and bring to a simmer – until the stocks have reduced by 50% again. Add your heavy cream and reduce the sauce by 50%. Add the sour cream to the pan and stir to combine sauce. Season with salt and pepper and serve over potato pancakes.

Whether you choose to prepare the classic, my twist or your own interpretation, remember that food is about bringing people together and that the act of cooking is about caring and as long as your heart is in the dish you prepare, the people you are cooking for will appreciate it (and you).

If you have any questions for me or would like to see me cover any particular dish in this column, feel free to write me, care of this publication. From my kitchen to yours, it is my pleasure to give you a peek into the mind of a chef. Thank You

Jonathan Jolicoeur is a chef at A Tavola – an Italian restaurant on Church Street in Winchester – which focuses on “farm to table” style of cooking. Jonathan was born in Somerville, lives in Woburn and has a degree from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts.