March 15, 2012 Beef Stroganoff

Photo courtesy of Dr. Kathryn Lee

Sundays are time with our families and most weeks that includes Sunday suppers. In the summertime most meals are from the grill and winter meals revolve around comfort foods.I  often  turn to Thomas Keller’s cookbooks for inspiration.The “Stellar Keller” as he was referred to on the CBS Morning show video I watched is one of the most re known chefs in the country. His restaurants, French Laundry and Bouchon in northern California and Per Se in New York are some of the toughest reservations to get, trust me, I know. So I do the next best thing, I like to reproduce some of Keller’s signature dishes at home. His book, Ad Hoc At Home is a collection of “delicious approachable food, recipes that are doable at home.”

The slightly stained pages of this coffee table sized volume bookmark two of our favorites, whole roasted chicken on a bed of root vegetables and crispy braised chicken thighs with olives, lemon and fennel. This week I chose his beef stroganoff recipe.

Beef stroganoff is a dish that originated in the 19th century, named for a Russian count, Paul Stroganov. It typically includes thin slices of tender beef, onions and mushrooms finished with a sour cream sauce.  Sunday is typically a very busy day so I liked the fact that I could complete many of the steps of this complex recipe a day ahead. I had beef stock from a previous cooking session in the freezer so step one was done. Pricy short ribs are the beef of choice in this dish although he says that  beef sirloin tips could be substituted. A red wine reduction is simmered to a glaze and the browned  meat is nestled in the pan, protected by cheesecloth, not allowing bits of vegetable to stick to the meat. A parchment lid rests on top of the meat during the braise which takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. After cooking, the meat and the strained braising liquid can be stored for up to three days, a real time saver. I also prepared the mushrooms and the cream sauce ahead, cutting down the time for cooking the day of serving. Mr. Keller suggests that the stroganoff be served with homemade pappardelle, but since my resident pasta maker was otherwise occupied I used Wegmans store bought. It was a reasonable substitution and I don’t think it affected the dish negatively.  We served the Stroganoff with roasted asparagus, green beans and a salad.

Beef Stroganoff

From Ad Hoc At Home by Thomas Keller

Serves four, I doubled the recipe

Cream Sauce

  • 1 lb cremini mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped
  • 1 T unsalted butter
  • 2/3 c chopped onion
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 3 cups heavy cream
  • Sachet of 1 bay leaf, 3 thyme sprigs and 10 black peppercorns wrapped in cheesecloth
  • 1/3 c creme fraiche

Mushrooms

  • 4T unsalted butter
  • 2T canola oil
  • 1 lb medium cremini mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

 

  • 2 1/2 lb Braised beef short ribs, chilled
  • Pappardelle
  • 2 T unsalted butter at room temperature
  • Coarsely chopped Italian parsley
  • Sea salt or grey salt
  1. Chop the mushrooms for the sauce in a food processor and transfer to a bowl
  2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Add chopped mushrooms, increase heat to medium high and cook until all the liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes or so.
  3. Pour in the cream and add the sachet, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer  for about 30 minutes, reducing the cream by 1/3 and infused with the flavor of the mushrooms.
  4. When the sauce is ready, discard the sachet, pour sauce in a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the sauce back into a saucepan. Reheat the sauce and add the creme fraiche.
  5. Line a baking tray with paper towels and place a cooling rack over the tray. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the butter and oil. When the butter melts add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook until brown on one side, then flip and brown mushrooms on other side. Transfer cooked mushrooms to baking tray to drain. Reserve 1/4 of the sauteed mushrooms and add the rest to the sauce. Keep sauce over low heat
  6. Cut the chilled beef short ribs into 2 inch square pieces. Heat some oil in a oven proof frying pan over medium high heat. Add meat, presentation side down and brown for 2-3 minutes. Transfer meat to the oven and heat through, about 10 minutes.
  7. Cook pappardelle according to package directions. Drain pasta and toss with butter.
  8. Toss the pasta with the cream sauce. Add half of the sauteed mushrooms to the noodles and arrange on a platter. Arrange the short ribs and top with the remaining mushrooms. Sprinkle with sea salt and garnish with parsley.