Recipe: Beef Stroganoff

Twice in my life, I have tried to go vegetarian. The first time was for a project in my high school AP Environmental Science class taught by Mr. McCullough. Our Earth week project was on the ecological benefits of vegetarianism. We not only would do research and present our findings, but, my partners (Darren, Logan, and I) would go vegetarian for 3-months and journal about the experience. Darren lasted a week. Logan lasted a month. I made it through the entire 3 months, but I was so glad to quit vegetarianism that our final picture in our presentation was the three of us at In-And-Out eating 4 by 4’s.

Our conclusion: vegetarianism has numerous ecological benefits (reducing the run off from slaughter houses, reducing the amount of methane created from cows, solving the inefficiency of feeding cows’ grain that could be used to feed people, etc.), but, that it was unrealistic for America, which loves its beef as well as other animal proteins, to go vegetarian. Instead, our suggestion was a dramatic decrease in the amount of animal proteins we consume. We suggested only having meat 3 days a week. This is closer to what I currently do.

The second time I went vegetarian was over the summer between my sophomore and junior year of college. I, again, lasted about three months. It was going well, though. I wasn’t hating vegetarianism the way I was in high school. Perhaps because this was more of a life choice than a project. But… one day… I came home from my job and I smelled it. The entire house smelled of it. My mother’s beef stroganoff. It has been simmering for hours and the aroma had attached itself to everything. Even when I shut the door in my room, I could still smell it. And thus… my vegetarian streak ended. I think most people who don’t make it as vegetarians have a dish that did them in. Mine is Stroganoff.

Beef Stroganoff, I believe, is one of the great umami bombs in the world. Asian cuisine often has the most umami centered dishes, but, this one is up there as well. It all comes down to the caramelization. You must have great caramelization. That is what gives the sauce it’s delicious richness and color. This is one of my favorite recipes.

This recipe happens to be gluten free because the thickener is cornstarch, but, you could of course use a roux to thicken the sauce instead.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. of Stew Meat (this can be cheap! We’re going to be cooking it for a long while)

• 1 lb. of egg noodles

• 1 bunch of green onions

• 1 large onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary (you can totally use fresh and I often do, although this time I didn’t. If you are, up the amount to a tablespoon and chop it thoroughly)

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 2 pints of mushrooms (ideally cremini but button will do in a pinch)

• 2 bay leaves

• 4 cups of beef stock (I always make my own chicken stock, but I do buy beef stock at the store. If you are, make sure, you get unsalted)

• White pepper to taste

• Black pepper to taste

• Salt to taste

• 1 cup (at least) sour cream

• Peanut oil

• Bacon fat

• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon of dry white wine

• 1 tablespoon corn starch

• ½ cup Parmesan cheese (freshly grated)

Begin by unwrapping the stew meat and patting it dry with a paper towel. After it is dry place it in a bowl. If any of the pieces are larger than bitesize, cut in half before you place them in the bowl. You could at this point also flour the meat to help it brown. Because this is a gluten free recipe, I am not including that step. Add a couple shakes of white pepper, a couple of cracks of fresh ground black pepper, and a big sprinkle of salt to the meat. Toss together, evenly coating each piece, and set aside.

Take the mushrooms and wipe with a paper towel to remove any dirt. Do not wash. I know that Alton Brown did his scientific experiment to prove that washing mushrooms doesn’t do anything, but… every time I have, they have steamed rather than caramelized in the pan. Don’t wash them.

Then take a pairing knife and cut the mushroom into quarters. I prefer doing this to slices as I want a meaty mushroom in the sauce. I don’t want them to disappear into the sauce. Set aside.

Then dice the onion into a fine dice as well as slice the white part of the green onions into rings. Set aside the green tops of the green onions, in the refrigerator, as they will be used the next day or at the end of cooking. Smash the two cloves of garlic, peel and discard the peel, and then mince. Set aside as well.

In a large Dutch oven, heat either 2 tablespoons of bacon fat or 2 tablespoons of peanut oil. Wait for the oil to get really hot. Add the beef to Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot, one piece at a time, so that they are not crowded in the pan. If you put too many in at once, they will steam rather than brown. Turn the meat when it is really caramelized, but not burnt, and caramelize the other side. When they are brown all over, remove to another bowl and allow to rest. Add in more of the raw stew meat to the pan and continue to brown until they are all brown. Repeat until you have browned all of the stew meat.

Once the meat is down, add the mushrooms to the Dutch oven. Mushrooms are like sponges. They are going to absorb the fat in the bottom of the pan. That’s good. But, we don’t want a dry pan. If there is no fat left after the mushrooms have been added, add in a little peanut oil and stir again. Do not overcrowd (you do not need to put them in one by one, but keep the mushrooms to one layer so none are on top of each other). Also, do not SALT… yet. Each step needs salt, but salt causes vegetables and meat to release their stored water. If you do this, the mushrooms will steam instead of brown. We want a deep brown on the mushrooms. Cook the first batch until the mushrooms are brown on every side. When they are done, sprinkle with salt. Then, remove them from the pan and add the rest of the mushrooms. Continuing to stir and possibly adding a drizzle more of peanut oil, if needed.

Once the mushrooms are cooked, turn the heat down to a medium and add in the onion and the whites of the green onions. Immediately salt and pepper (you don’t want the onions to caramelize, so now we are salting) and stir to pick up the fond off the bottom (Fond is the remnants of the meat and mushrooms stuck to the bottom of the pan. This is delicious flavoring for the sauce). Continue cooking on medium heat stirring until the onions are soft and translucent. They will be brown from the fond, but not caramelized. Then, add in the garlic and stir for a minute or two.

At this point, you are ready to add the dried or fresh herbs. If you are using dried herbs (except the bay leaf!!!!! Keep them whole), I like to take them and place in a spice grinder (or coffee grinder reserved for grinding spices. You also could you a mortar and pestle) to grind them. There’s nothing I hate more than getting a big piece of dried rosemary in my sauce. Add the herbs and bay leaf and stir. At this point, turn the heat back up and add the mushrooms back to the pan. Then, deglaze with the white wine. Scrap the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, to release any last fond on the bottom. Reduce to a simmer and let simmer until the wine is reduced by half.

Add the beef broth / stock to the pan and return the browned beef to the pot as well. Add the onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper, salt, and black pepper to taste. Then stir the pot and turn the heat back up to bring the mixture to a boil. Once it is at a boil, turn down the heat to a simmer and cover. Let cook, stirring occasionally for 3-4 hours.

Ideally at this point, I like to let it cool and then place in the refrigerator. The flavors will marry overnight and become even better. Then when you are ready to serve, place the sauce and meat back into a large pot and bring to a boil. If you choose not to do that, merely turn the heat down and proceed to cooking the noodles.

Bring another large pot with at 2 quarts of water to a boil. Salt, so that it tastes like the ocean. Once boiling, add the egg noodles and cook for 6-7 minutes. The package will say 10-12, egg noodles do not need to be cooked that long.

While the noodles are cooking, turn off the heat on the boiling sauce. At this point, stir in the cup of sour cream. Also take the tablespoon of wine and cornstarch and mix in a separate bowl. Drizzle into the sauce, whisking heavily to distribute. Stir until it thickens.

Drain the pasta and add that drained pasta to the sauce. Let it continue to cook in the sauce for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Once the noodles have had time to absorb some of the sauce, remove entirely from the heat. Add the cup of Parmesan cheese. Take the green onion green tops out of the fridge and slice into thin strips. Add to them to the pasta as well. Stir.  

Plate and then top with a little more green onions. If you want, you could also top with a tiny pinch of truffle salt and/or truffle oil. Be extremely!!!!!!!!! Judicious in using truffle oil or salt. Too much will ruin a dish.

Serve!