Friday, November 12, 2010

Beef Stroganoff - Rich and Comforting for Cool Weather

Cook’s Illustrated always comes through with the best recipes. From the March/April 2010 issue – Beef Stroganoff. Something I have looked forward to trying but waited until the weather was cooler.



The Coppola wine was acceptable...and drinkable........but the dish could have been paired with a different wine. It was OK.

Ingredients........

6 Tbsp butter
1 pound of top sirloin or tenderloin, cut thin into 1-inch wide by 2 1/2-inch long strips
1/3 cup chopped shallots (can substitute onions)
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of dry tarragon or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh tarragon
1 cup of sour cream at room temperature

1 Melt 3 Tbsp of butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Increase the heat to high/med-high and add the strips of beef. You want to cook the beef quickly, browning on each side, so the temp needs to be high enough to brown the beef, but not so high as to burn the butter. You may need to work in batches. While cooking the beef, sprinkle with some salt and pepper. When both sides are browned, remove the beef to a bowl and set aside.

2 In the same pan, reduce the heat to medium and add the shallots. Cook the shallots for a minute or two, allowing them to soak up any meat drippings. Remove the shallots to the same bowl as the meat and set aside.

3 Same pan again, melt another 3 Tbsp of butter. Increase heat to medium high and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes. While cooking, sprinkle the nutmeg and the tarragon on the mushrooms.

4 Reduce the heat to low and add the sour cream to the mushrooms. You may want to add a tablespoon or two of water to thin the sauce (or not). Mix in the sour cream thoroughly. Do not let it come to a simmer or boil or the sour cream will curdle. Stir in the beef and shallots. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately over egg noodles, fettucine, potatoes, or rice. (Potatoes, rice, and gluten-free pasta are gluten-free options.)

It doesn't look as appealing as it tasted, believe me.



I will be sending this to CreamPuffs in Venice for her roundup of Magazine Monday. Surf over to visit the Creampuff and see what else is shaping up in her neck of the woods :-)

Also this fits the bill for Presto Pasta Nights...........click HERE to see other pasta dishes AND check out Rachel @ The Crispy Cook who is the host this week for PPN!




35 comments:

  1. I love beef stroganoff. I made it only once but now that I looked yours I think I will be doing it again real soon.

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  2. that's the thing with a good stroganoff, I have yet to see one that looks better than it taste... although yours does look a lot better than mine -(mine, kinda looks more like goulash) - I like this version...

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  3. Oh wow, the beef stroganoff looks awesome. You are right, this is perfect for cooler weather. I need to prpeare this recipe too. Thanks for sharing.

    btw, as soon as I saw the wine I thought nice bottle. Sorry to hear that it did not pair well. I have to remember that too.

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  4. It has been a long time since I've had stroganoff, which is one of my favorite winter dishes. This looks so good!

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  5. I just found a stack of Cook's Illustrated hiding among my cookbooks - what a treasure it was looking through them! I bet this recipe was everything you wanted it to be. It looks delicious with the mushrooms and sour cream - perfect for a chilly night.

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  6. Ah - this is one of the things I love about this old bloggy world - I love Beef Stroganoff (one of the few "meaty" kind of dishes I really enjoy), and my partner does too, but never would I have thought of adding tarragon - that is brilliant. As it turns out I have a lovely bunch of fresh tarragon right now that one of my students brought me - some of it is going into a chicken dish tonight, but thanks to you beef stroganoff (with tarrago) is now going on the list for next week's menu plan, which is going to make the man around the house very happy :-)

    Thanks so much for the inspiration.

    Sue :-)

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  7. Your stroganoff looks delicious! Love Cook's Illustrated magazine and their cookbooks also.

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  8. I love stroganof but I've only ever made it with fillet steak OR mushrooms ... Mmmmm!! Looks delicious T!
    Mrs L x

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  9. Katerina - Let me kow how you like it. Is it cold there? We are having some cooler weather.


    Drick - I can't believ yours isn't as good! You have some mighty good recipes. We will be trying your green beans and artichoke recipe this week. I will link up.

    Velva - The wine wasn't bad, just a wrong pairing with stroganoff. We may try it with something else...later :-)

    Fresh and Local Best - Thank you so much!

    Kim - I probably used more sour cream than ought to but...life can be short so what the hell! Glad you found a bunch of those magazines.

    Sue - That's great, let me know how yours turns out! We have cool weather now but you are in the midst of Spring, aren't you?

    Pam - I recently scored a Cooks Illustrated cookbook from a thift shop for $5...can't go wrong with C.I.

    Mrs. L - Saved you bowl....come get it!

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  10. We love Beef Stroganoff; I made it a little while ago but there was to much,so I froze some and it came out just perfect. True comfort food.

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  11. Mmmm this is my kind of dish, rich and elegant! You used such elegant, beautiful ingredients to make this classic and it sounds and looks so special. I must try this.

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  12. Jamie - thank you and thank you for being such a gracious Magazine Monday host! Appreciate being included :-)

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  13. All I can say is... I'm drooling! Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

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  14. TYhank you Ruth - it's the perfect weather for a bowl of stew!

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  15. Looks delicious and I love your wine selection

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  16. I like that you added tarragon in there. One of my favorite dishes, but since I just bought a tarragon plant, it's the perfect place to try it.

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  17. Thanks Food Hunter!

    Claudia - Good luck with the taragon plant. That will be a handy thing to have around for cooking!

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