Beef Stroganoff: My Favorite Dinner

When I was young, I used to love the nights when my mom made beef stroganoff for dinner-- granted it came from The Packet (with or without MSG), but it was still good. I remember there was one time that I helped Chef make stroganoff from scratch. All I remember was that we were throwing in ketchup and mustard... and when I was making it, I was thinking I wonder if that will taste good... and it did!! As an ode to that batch that I made with my uncle, I was searching for a similar type recipe (his recipes are in his head--sometimes I think they're secret...).

In the end, I found two recipes that I liked and combined them. (refer to Simply Recipes website and Cooks.com--for links, see below.)

Beef Stroganoff  

1/4 cup flour
1/2 Tsp salt
1/8 Tsp pepper
6 Tbsp butter
1 to 1.5 pounds of flank steak or top sirloin, cut thinly
1/3 cup chopped shallots or onions
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
7 to 10 oz. beef broth or consomme (I tried this combo from one of the recipes: 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup wine... I used a red--see pictures for reference.)
3 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp Worcestershire
Tsp dijon mustard
1 cup sour cream or less

Instructions:
1. In plastic bag combine flour, salt, and pepper. Add beef and shake to coat.
2. Melt 3 Tbsp of butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Increase the heat to high/med-high and add the strips of beef. Cook the beef quickly, only browning it on each side, so the temp needs to be high enough to brown the beef, but not so high as to burn the butter. You may need to work in batches (but I didn't have to--I used a big pot.) While cooking the beef, sprinkle some salt and pepper. When both sides are brown, remove the beef to a bowl and set aside.
3. In the same pan, reduce the heat to medium and add the onions. Cook the onions for a couple of minutes, allowing them to soakup any meat drippings. Remove the onions to the same bowl as the meat and set aside.
4. In the same pan, melt the last 3 Tbsp of butter. Increase heat to med-high and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes. (#Optional seasoning: 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp dry tarragon or 2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon) While cooking, sprinkle the nutmeg and the tarragon on the mushrooms.
5. Return the meat and onions to the pan (or I guess this is why I used a pot). Add broth, some water, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and wine. Cover and simmer about 45 minutes or until tender. 6. Stir in sour cream. Mix thoroughly. Do not let it come to a boil because the sour cream will curdle. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately over egg noodles or rice. (The recipe even suggests fettuccine or even potatoes--I've never heard of that before!)

References:
http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001976beef_stroganoff.php
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1727,159188-237206,00.html