Beef Stroganoff

Home | Recipe Indexes | Dinner Party Menus | Food History | Diet - Health - Beauty

This delicious Beef Stroganoff recipe was shared with my by Karen Calanchini, Food Stylist and Photographer, of Redding, CA. The original recipe was by E. of San Francisco and appeared on Gail's Swap.

Beef Stroganoff is a classic Russian dish that consists of strips of lean beef sautéed and served in a sour cream sauce over egg noodles.

History:The recipe did not appear in English cookbooks until 1932, and it was not until the 1950s, after World War II, that beef stroganoff became popular for elegant dinner parties in America. There is more than one story on who first created this elegant dish:

Beef Stroganoff was created in the 1890s by chef Charles Briere for Count Paul Stroganoff, a 19th century Russian diplomat, who was in a friendly competition with the chefs of other families in St. Petersburg, the cultural center of Russian society. The Stroganoff's chef won the prize with his recipe.

Another version is that Count Pavel Stroganov, a celebrity in turn-of-the-century St. Petersburg, was a noted gourmet as well as a friend of Alexander III. He is frequently credited with creating Beef Stroganoff or having a chef who did so.

The name of this dish comes from Russian Count Grigory Stroganove (1770-1857) who was one of the richest noblemen and held the highest diplomatic posts. Great gourmet, he loved delicious dishes and always had the best cooks. One of them invented an original dish from scraped meat and it was on the Count's taste. The dish took the name Stroganoff, but, as to the cook, his name was unfairly forgotten but some people told ("bitter tongues") that the dish was made especially for the Count when he, being old, lost all his teeth and couldn't chew a simple beef stake.

Check out more delicious Beef Recipes (using various cuts of beef) and more delicious Pasta Recipes.

Beef Stroganoff Recipe

Recipe Type: Beef, Beef Stock, Pasta
Yields: 8 to 10 servings
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min

Ingredients:

16 ounces uncooked dry egg noodles (optional)*
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 shallots, finely diced
2 pounds beef tenderloin (all visible fat removed), cut into bite-size pieces
Coarse salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups of homemade Beef Stock*
1 cup crème fraiche
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

* Check out Karen's recipe for easy-to-make homemade Beef Stock. If you don't have homemade beef stock, you may substitute a good-quality store-bought broth.

Preparation:

Cook egg noodles according to package directions; drain and return to pan to keep warm.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter; add the shallots and sauté until translucent.

Increase the heat, being careful to just heat the butter and not burn the shallots. Add the beef tenderloin pieces, season with salt and pepper, and sauté, stirring constantly, until the meat is medium-rare (just pink in the center). Transfer onto a warm platter; cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Increase the heat to high, add the beef stock and deglaze the pan (using a spoon or spatula, stirring constantly, deglaze the pan by stirring in all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan). Continue stirring to reduce the stock by about half.

Add the crème fraiche and let simmer, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened slightly. Lower the heat to a very low simmer and whisk in the sour cream and Dijon mustard. Return the meat and all accumulated juices to the pan. Keeping the heat very low, let simmer just until meat is warmed through. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.

Remove from heat and serve over cooked noodles, if desired.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.