In the middle of August we had a wedding in Victoria. I was barely off of crutches and not shooting at the time (we’ve got a few incredible people who we hire to be me!) – so I did what any reasonable person would do: I booked our stay at a beautiful boutique hotel downtown (the Magnolia) and arranged for a spa appointment.

Once my toes were pretty and I had been sufficiently toured around downtown by a nice boy named Shaun on a bicycle rickshaw, I picked up a bottle of wine, had a bath, and considered what I would order for dinner.

I settled on beef stroganoff and didn’t think much of it. Until it arrived.

There are few meals in my life that stand out as absolutely exceptional – and this was one of them. There I sat, pretty painted toes in a bathrobe on the bed in the hotel waiting for Reilly to finish shooting his wedding, eating one of the most incredible meals I’ve ever tasted. Somehow, what this chef did with a relatively simple recipe was… wow. I don’t even know how to describe it, other than to say that it was way beyond any rendition of stroganoff that I’d ever tasted. The flavours were incredible.

Since then, I’ve dreamt of the stroganoff on numerous occasions. I used what I knew about the ingredients to search for recipes, discovering that I could find different recipes with each known ingredient but never one recipe with all or even most of them.

Today I finally sat down with about 7 different recipes that had some piece that fit, I scrawled out my own rough instruction and ingredient list taking a little from here and a little from there, and I gave it a go improvising as I went.

Was it the elusive Victoria stroganoff? I don’t think anything could ever compare to that dish, eaten with pretty red toes in a bathrobe on the bed. It is however pretty darn close, and after enjoying it tonight with Reilly I can say this dish will be a permanent addition to our recipe box.

As Julia Child would say, Bon Appétit!

• Mushrooms, sliced – about a pound
• 1 pound good quality steak (look for flank or tenderloin), trimmed, sliced, and cut into short strips across the grain (important! so it doesn’t get tough)
• Green peppercorns – about 1 heaping tbsp, smooshed. These come in a tin. (don’t skip these!)
• Salt
• Black pepper – fresh ground
• 1 medium onion
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup sour cream
• Parsley – medium handful, chopped
• Prepared horseradish 1 tbsp
• Beef broth 1 cup
• Pappardelle noodles 1 package
• Dill  – 1tbsp fresh, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup flour (to coat beef)
• Oregano – 2 tbsp
• 1 Leek – top removed, thinly sliced
• Brandy – 1/2 cup
• Gherkins – 3-4 thinly sliced, for garnish (don’t skip these!)
• Red wine  – 1/2 cup
• Butter
• Olive oil
• Paprika
• Shaved parmesan

1. Saute butter, garlic, and onion until translucent. Add mushrooms with a splash of beef stock, cooking for 5 minutes. Add leeks and cook until moisture evaporates, about 5-10 minutes.
2. Prepare and coat beef in a flour, liberal salt & fresh ground pepper, and oregano mixture. Brown pieces 3 min per side in 1 tbsp butter with a splash of olive oil. Transfer to a plate, may need to do 2 or 3 batches – do not crowd it or it won’t brown properly. When finished, deglaze pan with wine setting aside for addition to mushroom mixture.
3. Add beef to mushroom pan once moisture has evaporated and vegetables are cooked. Medium heat. Add scrapings from deglazing, horseradish, and green peppercorns. Salt to taste. Add beef stock & brandy. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 min
4. Before serving add parsley, dill, and sour cream. Heat through but do not boil (it will curdle)
5. Serve over pappardelle noodles cooked al dente (about 8 minutes depending on the noodle, do not overcook!)
6. Garnish with sliced gherkins (really, do not skip these), pinch of parsley, fresh shaved parmesan, and a dash of paprika

Enjoy with a glass of the red wine!

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