Beef Stroganoff, with its deeply rooted Russian heritage dating back to the mid-19th century, has long been revered as a staple comfort food. The dish owes its creation to Count Pavel Stroganov's French chef, who masterly fused French and Russian culinary arts into a gastronomic wonder. Interestingly, early versions of the recipe did not include mushrooms and egg noodles that have become customary components of the dish today.

In the post-World War II era, Beef Stroganoff experienced a resurgence as an upscale dish, fulfilling the cravings for the meat, which had earlier been rationed. The dish's popularity escalated further when canned cream of mushroom soup became ubiquitous, transforming the extravagant dinner-party dish into a simple, reliable option for a weeknight meal.

The version deliberated here represents the traditional American avatar of the dish, featuring a creamy sauce, mushrooms, and egg noodles which collaboratively create the mouth-watering bite. Flouring the beef adequately before cooking is key-this ensures the meat browns nicely while also amassing thick gravy later on. The particular recipe employs hanger steak, known for its marbling and tenderness, from the short loin section.

The sauce creation begins with red wine in a pan, followed by the addition of various ingredients like butter, onion, garlic, seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, sour cream, and herbs. The complete list of ingredients is as follows:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
10 ounces white mushrooms
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound hanger steak, cut 1-inch thick against the grain
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small onion, sliced thinly
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Buttered fettuccine or egg noodles, for serving

Here's the concoction process:

Commence by heating olive oil and adding mushrooms to a hot skillet. Stir and season with salt and pepper before transferring to a bowl. Season the steak with salt and pepper and coat it evenly with flour. With the remaining olive oil, cook steak slices until they turn brown-after which, you can join them with the mushrooms.

De-glaze your skillet with red wine, ensuring to scrape up the browned bits, which add a complexity of flavour to the dish. Blend the wine with mushrooms and steak before melting butter in the skillet to cook onions and garlic.

Now, return the steak and mushrooms to the skillet and add chicken stock and Worcestershire sauce. After the juices coalesce and thicken, turn off the heat and finally introduce sour cream, thyme, and parsley. After seasoning the Stroganoff, the masterpiece is ready to serve over your choice of buttered fettuccine or egg noodles.