Beef Stroganov

I had some friends in town and decided to make this recipe, which I'd been saving for a while.  It was a lot of fun to make, because it involved some of my favorite things - fire, large hunks of meat, steam, and cast iron.  Taken out of context, this might mean I'm either ready to wage war or check myself into a ward, but at least in the kitchen this makes sense.

I did a bit (translated: 4 seconds on Wikipedia) of research on this dish, and discovered first that it should probably be called Stroganov, and not Stroganoff, because it's most likely named after the Russian family of that name, and therefore giving it the French spelling with the 'ff' is pretty much a slap in the face to this family, and might kick off another Cold War.  The dish is typically a meat stew, either beef or chicken, served commonly in a creamy, dairy-based sauce, and either over rice or pasta.  Somehow the recipe has been embraced by Iran, England, Japan, China, Sweden, Portugal, and a few others, though of course it's different in each country.

Though the dish in America typically calls for sour cream, it turns out that the Russians use their own, more epic soured cream called smetana, which is apparently richer and won't curdle, which can't be said for my light sour cream.  But alas, I was not able to find this in the grocery store, nor did I actually look for it.  The flavor and mouthfeel came out just fine, in my ignorant taste buds' opinion.

If you look up the original recipe I stole (which you shouldn't, it's more boring), it doesn't call for actually lighting the onions on fire.  But my version ended up receiving much fanfare, and produced amazing smells from sauteed onions that I had to resist eating right out of the pan.  So if you are bold, I recommend a bit of flambe when you make this.

Nothing says cooking like the imminent threat of destroying your home.

Beef Stroganov

mostly liberated from Tyler Florence, with adjustments

• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 (5 to 6-ounce) London broil, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 3 tbsp cognac or brandy
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 pound fresh shiitakes, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 pound white mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
• ¼ cup sour cream, plus more for garnish
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish
• 1 package egg noodles

Pat the beef dry and season it with salt and pepper.  Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large heavy bottomed skillet over high heat.  Fry the meat in batches so that it is browned on all sides, placing on a plate if using a regular pot, or transferring to the pressure cooker if you are using it.  Lower the heat to medium and, if not using a pressure cooker, return all the meat to the pot.  Add the onions and cook until they are soft, about 5 minutes.

We've been through the discussion about not crowding the pan before, but again, this is all you want in there at at one time, to encourage browning rather than 'steaming' your meat.  This cut was labeled "London Broil", which in fact is not a cut but a style, and which was in fact a very lean cut of top round requiring extended braising to coax out any tenderness and impart the flavors we wanted.

Look - nicely browned due to the Maillard reaction, good flavor bits on that meat, and not totally cooked through until you put it in the pressure cooker.  Without this step, the meat will taste much more bland.

Now carefully, pour in the cognac and flame until alcohol cooks off.  You may consider turning off the stovetop before you do this, at the risk of screwing up and losing your arm hair, although if you are a woman maybe this isn't such a bad thing (though you didn't hear it from me).  You can either tilt the pan to expose the vapors to the stovetop flame, or better yet, use a long fireplace starter to ignite remotely.  Cook, shaking if you wish, until the flames die out.  If the flames reach your ceiling, please contact the distributor of your alcohol for a full refund on the price of your home.  A good safety guideline is to have a tight-fitting lid for the pan at the ready, to smother the fire if it gets out of control.

Adding the brandy, seconds before the action shot above.  Disregard my complete unpreparedness - no lid, no fire extinguisher, just a spectator with a camera and a beer in his other hand.  I think I hear the Allstate guy.

Once the onions are properly flamed, add the beef stock and red wine, or transfer to the pressure cooker and add everything to that.  Cook, partially covered, over a very low flame for 1.5 - 2 hours, or in a pressure cooker for 45 minutes.  Towards the end, start boiling a large pot of water for the noodles.

Fully browned meat, hanging out in a trench of red wine before its timely demise in the grip of my pressure cooker

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter in the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Add the mushrooms, garlic, and remaining 3 thyme sprigs and cook until the mushrooms are browned and cooked through.  Remove from heat and set aside.

For a bit of variety and some more interesting flavor, don't skip on the shiitake mushrooms.

As you cook these, they will soak up the fat in the pan and then eventually let it go if you cook them long enough.  Keep stirring over medium-high heat, and they will eventually brown and become delicious.  They shouldn't 'squeak' when you're done.

Boil egg noodles according to package directions.  Drain and have ready to plate.

When the meat is done, remove it from the heat and fold in the mushrooms, sour cream, mustard, and parsley.  Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.  Serve stroganov with buttered noodles and a green vegetable of your choice.

The final setup

Add the mushrooms, sour cream, parsley, and mustard off the heat

The finished dish, served with asparagus over egg noodles.  High marks from all.