30 days of winter…day 11…Herbal Beef Strog

Cooking with Herbs – Herbal Beef Strog

We’re at day 10 already! Weather getting cooler and calling for a more hearty warming diet!

This is my herbal version of a classic Russian dish. Herbal beef Strog switches out cream for yoghurt, and by adding some Chinese herbs and vegetable chowder to the dish is still rich and hearty but more healthier than it’s original.

Purpose in Chinese Medicine:

Tonfiy Blood and Yin

It’s got some warming herbs (pepper) as well as blood building dang gui, beef and

Yoghurt can moisturize and help Yin…as well as Huang Qi which is great if you get a bit of dry skin in winter.

Perfect Season: WINTER

Chinese Herbs Used:

Huang Qi – Astragalus

  Dang Gui – Angelica Root

These 2 herbs are super easy to get in Asian grocery stores. You will need to grind the Huang Qi into a powder in a coffee grinder yourself. If you can’t grind it up, you can use it in the same way as the Dang Gui and take out before serving, but you might need to add more cornflower at the thickening end of the recipies.

You have two options with cooking, both methods start out using the frypan.

• cook in a fry pain – 30 mins cooking time
• cook in slow cooker – 5-6hrs cooking time. – this is better if you have the time, the meat will be more tender, easier to digest. A much better cooking method for a depleted person. (Spleen Qi, Blood or Yang deficient person)

INGREDIENTS:

1 Onion – red or brown

4 pieces of garlic

9-12 button /normal mushrooms

½ cup Greek Yoghurt

2 beef steaks (about 600-800g beef)

olive oil or butter

400ml Chicken stock

3 tblsp cornflower

250ml thick vegetable chowder stock (home made – see recipe)

3 pieces Dang Gui

3 teaspoons powdered huang Qi

3 tablespoons Woostershire Sauce

Black pepper, ground (about 10 grinds)

10 sprig of parsley

1. Dice onion and garlic. Sauté in Fry pan until browed    
2. Cut beef into strips and add beef strips to onion and garlic mix. Cook until beef is browned. Remove from pan and set aside. 
3. Wash and slice mushrooms. In fry pan, add a small amount of butter or oil and add sliced mushrooms, stirring until mushrooms are slightly browned.
   1. Use butter (if you have no dampness) or oil (have some dampness)

OPTION A: FRY PAN METHOD (Quicker)

1. In mushroom pan, add woostershire sauce, stir through mushrooms.
2. Add beef mixture
3. Add vegetable chowder (can be added from frozen and defrost in pan as you go), chicken stock, about 10 grinds of black pepper, 8 sprigs of chopped parsley (use the other 2 for garnish) and Dang Gui pieces. Stir thoroughly on medium heat.

1. Mix through your powdered Huang Qi which will thicken the mixture slightly.
2. Cover frypan with lid, and let mixture simmer on medium heat for around 20 minutes, stirring as needed (do not let stick to bottom).
3. While this is cooking you can prepare and cook vegetables or pasta part of the stroganoff dish.
4. After 20 minutes the meat will start to become tender, and your sauce will be full of flavour. Before the last step, you will need to stir the dish and remove the 4 pieces of dang gui. They will look much more soggy than before. If you can’t remove them, it is ok to eat the herb, but it will taste rather woody, so best to remove it before serving to your guests!
5. The last part of the dish will be to thicken the mixture. Add 1 teaspoon at a time of heaped teaspoon cornflower and stir immediately. Around 3-4 teaspoons will be needed to thicken the mixture.

1. Turn off stove and add around ½ cup of Greek yoghurt, this will thicken the mixture and turn it the classic stroganoff creamy colour.

OPTION B: Slow cooker option:

4. Place mushroom mix and beef strips mix to your slow cooker.
5. Turn slow cooker onto low heat
6. Add woostershire sauce, vegetable chowder (can be added from frozen and defrost in pan as you go), chicken stock, about 10 grinds of black pepper, 8 sprigs of chopped parsley (use the other 2 for garnish) and Dang Gui pieces. Stir thoroughly.
7. Mix through your powdered Huang Qi which will thicken the mixture slightly.
8. Cover with lid and let simmer on low heat for 5-6 hours.
9. After 5-6hrs, give the slow cooker mix a stir and and remove the 4 pieces of dang gui. They will look much more soggy than before. If you can’t find them to remove them, it is ok to eat the herb, but it will taste rather woody, so best to remove it before serving to your guests!
10. The last part of the dish will be to thicken the mixture. How thick you want your stroganoff to be and how thick it already is will depend on how much cornflower you need to add. Add 1 teaspoon at a time of heaped teaspoon cornflower and stir immediately. Around 3-4 teaspoons will be needed to thicken the mixture.
11. Turn off the slow cooker, and add around ½ cup of Greek yoghurt, this will thicken the mixture and turn it the classic stroganoff creamy colour.

Beef Stroganoff can be served in a number of ways. It is generally to rich to eat by itself, but can be served as a pasta sauce, with rice or with steamed vegetables or vegetable past (made from zucchini, squash and carrot etc)