Shout-Out: Beef Stroganoff

This is actually last week's shout-out.  I wasn't really finding much to shout out about, last week.  Then, Friday night's dinner smacked me in the face.  Comfort food! One of my ultimate comfort foods, the one I was indulging in that very night, is beef stroganoff.

I LOVE beef stroganoff.  Everything about it is delicious and comforting.  It just tastes like a big ol' hug.

My favorite ever beef stroganoff comes from Christopher's Restaurant & Catering.  (Sorry, Mom; yours comes in a close second.)

At Christopher's they use the perfect curly noodles (except Friday night, for some reason, they used fettucine, instead); the perfect balance of sour cream in the sauce; perfectly bite-sized, beautiful, tender, tasty pieces of beef, and the loveliest little slivers of mushroom.  You can also get it with chicken, portobello mushrooms, all three, or none of the above -- just the noodles and sauce (although I think that version may still have the little slivers of mushroom in it).  Four delicious, warm, comforting variations on Mmmm.

So, in thinking about writing this, I developed some curiosity.  That curiosity led me to do a little research.  According to BeefStroganoff.net (yes, I cracked up, too), FoodHistory.org, and Wikipedia (the latter two of which cite additional sources, though limited), beef stroganoff officially dates back to 19th century Russia, though there is speculation that it may go back into the 18th century.  There was a very similar recipe printed in Elena Molokhovets' cookbook in 1861.  It did not bear the same name, however, and there seems to be some debate as to whether it is the first printing of the recipe.  The recipe was first submitted under the name beef stroganoff by a chef Charles Briere out of St. Petersburg for publication in L'Art Culinaire in 1891.  It did not appear in English cookbooks until 1932, and did not gain popularity in the United states until the 1940's or 50's.  Once it did gain popularity here, however, it apparently took off and became somewhat of a staple.

And I'm SO glad it did!

What are your favorite comfort foods?