Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

I posted my first Beef Stroganoff recipe on this blog in September of 2011. That recipe, from Cooks Illustrated, has always been a favorite of mine. That recipe called for using beef tenderloin. But that's a stovetop recipe that comes together quickly. This is a slow cooker recipe. My thinking has evolved over the last few years. In the past, if I was adding beef to a slow cooker, I would typically choose a chuck or arm roast. These days, if I'm tossing beef in a slow cooker, it has to be brisket.

If you are a carnivore, brisket is the second greatest gift from the beef gods (steak, of course, is the first). Brisket cooked low and slow is a transformational experience. It has the perfect amount of fat to create extraordinary flavor. And eight hours in a slow cooker essentially converts beef brisket to something akin to meringue...it literally melts right on your tongue.

So opting for brisket is not the only change-up I'm making. My old recipe called for spooning the stroganoff over the egg noodles like a sauce. But I have seen the light. In this recipe you take the cooked egg noodles and stir them right into the stroganoff before serving. The benefit of this is that every square inch of pasta becomes coated with this incredible stroganoff gravy. The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom :-)


Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds beef brisket, cut across the grain in 2-inch strips
Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
8 ounces petite mushroom caps, sliced in half
1 medium onion, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 cups beef broth, divided
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons corn starch
12 ounces egg noodles, prepared according to package
1 cup sour cream


Directions

1. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large pan. Season the beef with salt and pepper on all sides. Add half of the beef to the pan in a single layer. Brown for 3-4 minutes on each side. 
2. Add the meat to the slow cooker. Repeat the browning process with the other half of the beef.
3. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes or until browned.
4. Add the onion, mushrooms and garlic to the slow cooker.
5. Pour 1-1/2 cups beef broth and Worcestershire sauce into the slow cooker and stir to combine.
6. Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 8 hours.
7. One half hour before serving, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup beef broth with the corn starch. Pour the mixture into the crock pot and stir. Cook covered on HIGH for 20 minutes or until sauce has thickened.
8. Uncover the crock pot and add the sour cream, stirring until a smooth sauce forms. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Turn off slow cooker. Add the cooked egg noodles into the slow cooker and stir until they are fully coated in the sauce. Serve.

Wine pairing: Cabernet Sauvignon

Grogs and Goldie, 1956