Stroganoff

I have made many versions of Stroganoff and they all seem to be crowd pleasers. If making this with chicken then use  chicken stock and reduce the cooking time by half. There are many variations of this recipe throughout the world including some where the meat is sausage. The 15th century Russian Stroganov family became successful merchants and where engaged in farming, hunting, saltworks, fishing, and mining

The Japanese version of this dish includes non-traditional seasonings including soy sauce and invariable it is served over jasmine rice.

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons sweet butter

1 Pound rump roast or chuck roast or sirloin sliced thin or use chicken thigh meat

½ Cup Marasala wine or Madeira wine or cream sherry

1 Cup strong beef stock or chicken stock

1 Tablespoon of demi-glace (optional, veal when cooking beef or vegetable or chicken demi-glace for chicken Stroganoff)

All purpose flour

Pinch of ground sage⁵

1 Small clove of minced garlic

Pinch of thyme

1 Cups of sour cream (or Naturally Yours¹ non-fat Sour Cream)

1 Pound of cremini (brown) mushrooms², sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

16 Ounces wide egg noodle. cooked al dente

Pound both sides of thin slices of roast with a mallet to tenderize the beef. Alternatively, used sliced chicken thigh meat. Flour well then slice into 1-inch strips. The meat is thin so it cooks quicly and remains tender. (You may choose to add salt and pepper to the flour before hand as a seasoned flour. Keep in mind, if the stock has salt in it and it reduces tremendously, the salt level become more concentrated so I always correct the seasoning last.)

Heat pan to 350 F and then add oil and butter. (Excessive oil can be drained off later.) Add slices of beef in one layer. Brown the meat strips on each side and remove, set aside and proceed until all strips are browned. Scrape out and retain extra brown bits from the bottom of the pan if these are in risk of turning excessively brown. Once all the meat is browned and removed from pan, then drain off excessive oil, reserving all the browned bits in bottom of pan. Add wine and, with wooden spoon, loosen bits on the bottom of the pan. Add back the meat then add stock to meat. Add garlic, spices and demi-glace.

Place a pot of lightly salted water with a cover to boil.

Cover the stroganoff partially and simmer until meat is tender, approximately ½ Hour. Check while cooking that liquid level has not reduced too much. Add additional stock as required. Scrap the bottom with a turner a few times to insure nothing is sticking.

Cook the egg noodles in boiling salted water until al dente.

Add sliced mushrooms and cook stroganoff now completely covered with a tight lid another 10 minutes.⁴ When the mushrooms are done, turn heat to low while stirring in the sour cream. Remove pan from heat but leave on lid to retain heat.

Drain the egg noodles in a colander.

Add some of the sauce from the pan to the noodles and stir it in. Then serve Stroganoff over egg noodles. Garnish with finely chopped parsley, or finely chopped chives or a sprig of thyme.

Notes:

 1.  The Morningstar Group is the producer of Naturally Yours fat-free sour cream. Naturally Yours contains 67% less calories than full fat sour cream while delivering similar taste and texture characteristics. It is the only reduced fat sour cream that still delivers a reasonable mouthful.

2.   Dried sliced mushrooms work here but go in sooner and require a touch more liquid. The affordable sliced dried shiitake mushrooms found in Asian markets work well, also add a few dried porcini mushrooms for more flavor. Cooking fresh mushrooms separately in butter gives a better result – see note 4.

3.   Mom’s recipe sautés onions, has 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 3 tablespoons brandy and 1 tablespoon tomato paste. She also uses top sirloin for the meat. Kae suggests serving over rice (as in UK and Australia) instead of noodles. In the 1938 Larousse Gastronomique (an encyclopedia of gastronomy), the recipe includes onions, with either mustard or tomato paste optional.

4.   You can also saute fresh mushrooms in butter over high heat, then add them last.

5. Adding rosemary to the recipe will give this dish an Italian taste.