Decadently Creamy Mushrooms, Onions & Beef Sauté

Here's  a recipe that doesn't have a back story, except that I defrosted sirloin strip steaks instead of  round steak which I was going to use to make a quick stir-fry. Yes, I could have made a stir fry with this cut too, but I was craving something creamy and just a tad decadent. This recipe has some of my favorite ingredients; sirloin, mushrooms and onions in a thick cream sauce that has a hint of thyme and a touch of butter.
You don't have to use strip steak to make this recipe, certainly you can use thinly sliced skirt steak or another cut of beef*. But if you have the opportunity to splurge, this recipe will do the splurge justice.

Serves 2 - 4

1 pound of sirloin, cut in bite size pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large sweet onion
8oz mushrooms, thick sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt & pepper
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 cup low lowfat milk
1/3 cup half & half
1/2 to 1 teaspoon corn starch

• Salt & pepper your sliced beef. Set aside.  
• Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add oil, onions and mushrooms. Sprinkle lightly with 2 pinches of salt. Lower heat to medium  and saute 5-8 minutes. 
• Sprinkle with thyme, stir  to distribute evenly. Add in butter, stir, lower heat to medium low and allow to saute an additional 3-5 minutes until onions and mushrooms are a light golden brown.
• Remove onion and mushroom mixture from pan, set aside.
• Raise heat o medium high, and brown beef in small batches, till all the beef is browned.
• Add onion and mushroom mixture and all the beef back to skillet, stir to incorporate.
• Pour in white wine, lower heat to medium, allow to reduce by half.
• Add milk and half & half, bring to a low simmer.
• Using a small colander, add half a teaspoon of corn starch and lightly sift over simmering sauce. Stir immediately to incorporate. 
• Add 2 -3 pinches of salt and a generous grind of black pepper.
• Simmer an additional 2 minutes
• For a thicker sauce add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch in the same manner.

Serve over white fluffy rice, or egg noodles and a glass of red wine. Enjoy!

*Recipe Notes: 

Since the first time I made this recipe I have used different cuts of beef to experiment and while the strip steak is by far the best, here are a few more economical cuts you can consider using and work just fine:

Flank, top round, round tip, round sirloin tip center and round sirloin tip side.

You may also want to consider tenderizing the thin strips of  cheaper, less tender cuts of beef by using baking soda.  Here is a link to my post on how properly use and when to use baking soda to tenderize proteins: Baking Soda as a Tenderizer.