Beef stroganoff

Ingredients

1 kg blade steak

1 onion, cut into thin wedges

2 cloves garlic, crushed

200 g Swiss brown or button mushrooms, thickly sliced

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 cups beef stock

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tbps Dijon mustard

2 tsp cornflour

fresh dill

pasta or noodles to serve

Preheat oven to 180°C. Cut the steaks across the grain into strips (about 1.5cm wide). Season with salt and pepper. Add a little oil to the beef strips, mix well.
Heat a wok or frypan, ensure it is hot. Stir-fry the beef in 3 batches, remove each batch and place it in a casserole dish. Add a little oil to pan, and then add the onion, garlic and mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes or until mushrooms soften. Add the tomato paste and stock, stir until the mixture boils. Pour over the beef in the casserole dish and stir to combine.
Cover the casserole dish, place in oven, cook for 30-40 minutes or until beef is tender. In the last 10 minutes of cooking time stir in the combined sour cream, mustard and cornflour. Serve with pasta or noodles and sprinkle with chopped dill leaves.

Brown the meat in small batches as you do a stir-fry. Ensure the pan is hot when you add the meat, it should sizzle when it goes in.
Make sure the casserole simmers as it cooks it must not be allowed to boil or the result will be tough, chewy meat.
To cook in a Slow Cooker: Cut the beef into 2.5cm-3cm cubes. Season with salt and pepper, add about 2 tablespoons of oil and mix well. Heat a large frypan over a medium-high heat. Brown the beef in 2 or 3 batches. Remove each batch and place in the slow cooker. Add the onion, garlic, mushrooms, tomato paste and stock. Stir to combine. You may need to add a little beef stock or water if it appears that the liquid does not cover the beef.
Cover the slow cooker with its lid, cook on Low Setting for 8-10 hours or the High Setting for 4-5 hours. Stir in the combined sour cream and mustard in the last 40 minutes of the cooking time. Garnish with dill and serve with pasta.