Simple Beef Stroganoff for a 5:2 Feast

Beef Stroganoff – a Treat after my 5:2 Fast.

I make this dish and variations on the same theme whenever I want something that tastes a little luxurious.  It is stunningly simple and depends on good quality ingredients and careful preparation to make a delicious meal.  This evening I’ve made the beef version, mostly because I had 50 grams of fillet steak left over from last night’s meal.  But, on occasions I’ve made much the same dish with chicken breast, with venison, with pork fillet and even just with a mixture of mushrooms and no meat at all.

This time I did try quite hard to be careful about the amount of butter I used and I also used half fat creme fraiche.  I still felt as if I was having my own little feast, although when I added up the calories it could have been part of a 5:2 fast day.

Simple Beef Stroganoff

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Serves	1
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	10 minutes
Total time	15 minutes
Allergy	Milk
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish
Misc	Serve Hot
Region	Russian

A simple and delicious beef stroganoff recipe

Ingredients

• 50g Fillet Steak (Sliced)
• 20g Unsalted Butter
• 5 Chestnut Mushrooms (Sliced )
• 1-2 Banana Shallot (Finely Sliced)
• 1 tablespoon Half Fat Creme Fraiche

Optional

• 1 tablespoon Flat Leaved Parley (Chopped )

Directions

Step 1	Pre heat the oven to 140c
Step 2	Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the shallots gently for 8-10 minutes till caramelised around the edges and soft.
Step 3	Remove from the frying pan with a slotted spoon and put in a heatproof dish in the warm oven
Step 4	Cook the mushrooms the same way, till soft and just caramelised at the edges. Then remove from the pan and add to the shallots
Step 5	Turn up the heat and sear the steak strips briefly, turning them over once.
Step 6	Add the shallots and mushrooms to the meat and then stir through the creme fraiche and warm gently
Step 7	Season with salt and pepper to taste
Step 8	Serve on boiled rice or noodles garnished with parsley, or if you prefer with sweet paprika

I don’t think this recipe is in any way authentic – and I know when I make it for other people, I use more butter and flambe the meat with a tablespoon of brandy before adding back the mushrooms and shallot mixture.  And, I use cream, soured with half a lemon rather than creme fraiche.  But, this way the dish is something I can enjoy every day.  And, suprisingly it isn’t that high in calories

Calories

50g beef fillet – 50 cals

4 mushrooms -28 cals

1 shallot – 10 cals

1 tablespoon creme fraiche 50 cals

20g butter – 143 cals

So, in terms of 5:2 diet, this recipe could scrape in if you were careful with the amount of creme fraiche and butter with a total of 281 calories for the quantities I’ve used (and perhaps another 150 calories for a small portion of rice).  But, somehow a dish with larger quantities of green vegetables  works better for me in terms of making me feel full if I haven’t eaten much else during the day.  And because it uses up most of the 500 calorie allowance it’s something I wouldn’t recommend using on the 5:2 diet fast day unless you really wanted to fast for the rest of the day.