Beef Stroganoff classic
Beef Stroganoff classic
Ingredients
Beef (fillet) – 400 g
Milk – 0.5 cups
Chicken broth – 0.5 cups
Sour cream – 0.5 cups
Butter – 1 tbsp.
Pepper, h.m. - taste
- 158 kcal
- 40 min.
- 40 min.
Photo of the finished dish
Step-by-step recipe with photos
Beef Stroganoff is a dish that is popular not only in Russia, but throughout the world. There are an indescribably huge number of its varieties. The most common of them is classic, without onions, mushrooms, etc., the sauce contains only butter, flour, milk, broth, sour cream and mustard. Clearly, this was not the most delicious version of Stroganoff-style meat, and the chefs of the favorite restaurants at that time realized this. This is how options were born with onions and snow-white mushrooms, chanterelles or even champignons, with the addition of tomato puree, pickles, etc.
Beef stroganoff is prepared from beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and there are also versions made from the heart. Lamb, of course, is not suitable for this dish, because it contains rapidly solidifying fat that does not mix with sour cream sauce.
To make the most common - traditional - version of Stroganoff-style meat, we will need the products from the list. Let’s take beef, popularly known as fillet, in other words, the most tender and soft part of the carcass, then preparing classic beef stroganoff will be very quick and simple.
The meat must be thoroughly dried with a cardboard towel and cut into 0.5-1 cm pieces.
Mix 1 tbsp. flour with a pinch of small salt. Transfer the meat and flour to a plastic bag. Close or tie the bag.
Give it a good pat so that all pieces of meat are moderately coated with flour.
Place the meat in a sieve or colander and toss it a couple of times to get rid of excess flour.
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan, quickly fry the pieces of meat on all sides until golden brown, sealing the juices inside. The ideal frying time is 2-3 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate and clean the pan.
Add butter, fry 1 tsp in it. flour, pour in milk. Stir well so that there are no lumps. Add meat. Bring to a boil. If you take another part of the carcass to make traditional beef stroganoff, cut it thinly into strips up to 0.5 cm and simmer in milk-flour sauce until cooked - 25-30 minutes, adding broth from time to time.
Mix sour cream with mild mustard, add cool broth, stir until kefir forms, add to meat. Now heat the sauce well, but make sure that it does not boil (when boiling, the sour cream breaks down into enzymes, and the appearance of the sauce will not be appetizing). Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
The best way to serve classic beef stroganoff is with mashed potatoes, boiled rice or pasta.
How to cook beef stroganoff
Beef Stroganoff: secrets of production
The recipe for beef stroganoff was created by a French chef who cooked for Count Stroganov. Translated into Russian, the name of the newest dish sounded like “beef Stroganoff.” The tender culinary masterpiece was quickly appreciated and served to the count’s table more than once. Nowadays, this dish continues to be popular for its relative ease of preparation and consistently delicious result. Let's talk about how to cook the right beef stroganoff, so that the juicy meat melts in your mouth, as it was originally intended.
Delicious beef stroganoff at home: preparing the meat
The best choice for beef stroganoff is cut beef; in the latter case, you can take the thick edge, sirloin or kidney part. Brisket, shoulder, neck, thigh and rump are absolutely not suitable for this dish. There is no need to beat the slices, but other types of meat can be lightly beaten, after which you should cut it into pieces 2-3 cm wide across the grain. At this stage of production, the chefs' ideas are spreading. Some believe that meat should be cut coarsely, since the larger the pieces, the juicier the meat. Other chefs prefer small strips so that the meat noodles are perfectly fried - usually the classic beef stroganoff of Russian times was prepared using this technology.
Flour coating for frying
Pieces of meat are sprinkled with salt, pepper and flour, and then thoroughly mixed. You can simply roll the meat in flour on a cutting board. If you are preparing a holiday version of the dish, try to slightly complicate the breading process - dry the meat with a towel, place it in a plastic bag, add a couple of tablespoons of flour and a pinch of salt, and then stir with rubbing movements. Next, experienced cooks transfer the pieces of beef into a colander and shake them slightly to remove excess flour. There are different ideas about when it is better to salt and pepper meat - you can do this at the breading stage, or you can do it during the frying process - simply use an experimental method to determine which production method will take root in your kitchen. After all, any housewife has the right to her secrets!
We fry beef stroganoff according to the rules
There are several subtleties of frying meat Stroganoff style. A frying pan with oil (melted or vegetable) must be very hot. Place the pieces of meat in a frying pan and fry them on both sides until brown. Some cooks fry beef stroganoff together with chopped onions, while others fry the onions separately. The most important thing is that the meat does not give away its juice - the surface of the pieces should look as if covered with varnish. All the juice remains inside, which makes the beef stroganoff very tender and juicy, but if the meat is stewed in its juice, it will turn out dry and tough. When the meat is fried, you can add grated tomatoes from which the skin has been removed to the frying pan; after this, the beef stroganoff is immediately transferred to a saucepan and mixed with the sauce.
The sauce is everything!
The beef stroganoff sauce is the culminating part of making the dish. A bad sauce can ruin the taste of the meat, but a good one will help the dish out, even if the beef is a little dry. Usually, for gravy, sour cream is mixed with tomato paste - this is the most common option. There is also the most difficult recipe: broth and milk are added to flour fried in butter, then sour cream and mustard are added, the meat is poured with sauce, brought to a boil and cooked for a couple of minutes.
Different beef stroganoff recipes offer different sauces - with cream, mayonnaise, garlic, thyme, soy sauce or teriyaki, with mushrooms, onions, fortified wine and beef jelly. Beef Stroganoff is usually served with potatoes, rice, pasta, fresh vegetables, salads and tomatoes. Experiment with different sauces and side dishes to vary your home diet, although classic beef stroganoff, prepared according to the serious canons of Russian-French cuisine, sometimes becomes boring.
Beef Stroganoff is also prepared with pork, chicken and turkey, but it is better not to use lamb for these purposes - it is very fatty meat. A properly prepared dish always comes out soft and melts in the mouth, so children eat it with pleasure. Treat your loved ones to traditional beef stroganoff with a special sauce, and they will probably ask you for more!
Cooking beef stroganoff
Wash 500 g of meat (loin part), remove tendons, cut into small slices, beat them with a hoe or rolling pin, then finely chop into strips. Peeled and washed onions - 2 medium heads - chop and fry in oil. When the onion is fried, add the chopped meat, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring with a fork. Then sprinkle the meat with 1 tbsp. l. flour, stir and fry again for 2-3 minutes. After this, add 1 glass of sour cream, stir and boil for 2-3 minutes, season with salt to taste and simmer over low heat for 10-12 minutes.
Beef Stroganoff - traditional recipes with sour cream, cream, pickles
Classic beef stroganoff is made from beef, which is why it has the prefix “boeuf,” which means “beef” in French. This dish combines French and Russian traditions of meat production. But, as in almost all versions, we owe the origin of the recipe to chance. The old Count Stroganov, who had lost his teeth, could not chew solid food. His French chef figured out how to cook beef so soft and tender that it melts in your mouth. The food was to the taste, and was often offered not only to the owner, but also to the nobleman’s guests. Usually, the name of the cook is forgotten, and the whole world recognizes the dish under the title “meat Stroganoff style.”
In the good old days, beef stroganoff, along with goulash , was the “ruler” of Russian canteens. I tried to cook it at home a couple of times. But, not knowing the secrets, she received only a pitiful semblance of a dish. A distinctive feature of Stroganoff-style production is the narrow cutting of the flesh. Then it is stewed in sour cream, previously coated with flour - this is a classic. Since the recipe has gained worldwide fame, there are several options for making the dish. I will introduce you to the more popular ones.
Beef stroganoff in a frying pan with sour cream - a classic recipe
The recipe is taken from an old cookbook, published in 1909. Creator – P.P. Alexandrova-Ignatieva.
- Beef, sliced – 350-500 gr.
- Medium sized onion.
- Flour – 2 huge spoons.
- Sour cream – 3 huge heaped spoons.
- Sunflower oil – 2 tablespoons.
- Tomato paste – 1-2 huge spoons (optional).
- Chicken broth - a glass.
- Mustard - a small spoon.
- Salt pepper.
Rinse the cut piece and dry it with a cardboard towel. Divide into centimeter-wide steaks. If you feel that the cutting is not very young, be sure to beat it with a hammer. Beef Stroganoff has a special cut that allows the beef to quickly cook and become tender. Cut the steaks into strips, approximately 1.5 by 4 centimeters.
Place in a bowl, add salt and pepper. Cover and leave for a quarter of an hour so that the pieces are saturated with seasonings.
During this period of time, chop the onion into a very small cube.
Pour flour into the pickled pulp, stir thoroughly, distributing it among the pieces.
Heat oil in a frying pan. First, lay out the onion tenderloin. Fry lightly until nicely golden. Don't forget to stir.
Add meat. Continue to fry over high heat. Soon the pieces will release a lot of juice. Turn down the heat a little. Fry until the juice has completely evaporated. I don’t recommend putting a lot of meat into the frying pan at once; cook in small batches if you are making a huge portion of beef stroganoff. Place the finished pieces into a saucepan.
Add another drop of oil to the vacated frying pan. Add tomato paste. Fry for a few minutes, then dilute it with broth. Instead of broth, you can take water, and it is permissible to replace the tomato with hot sauce (100 ml), this is exactly what they did in Russian canteens.
Throw a spoonful of prepared hot mustard into the sauce and stir.
Add sour cream, add salt to the sauce, and stir the contents thoroughly. Let it boil, cook for almost a minute.
Pour the sauce into the pan with the beef. Or do the opposite and return the meat to the pan. Wait for the sauce to boil. Cook for approximately 15 minutes until pieces are completely tender. If the pieces are large or the beef is not very young, add more cooking time.
Serve beef stroganoff with mashed potatoes, garnished with herbs.
Beef Stroganoff with pickles
I understand that they even cook it with pickled cucumbers. If you love experiments, take risks. In taste and production technology, beef stroganoff is reminiscent of the Mongolian basics. The recipe is suitable for making pork dishes , which I have already introduced you to - I invite you if you are interested.
- Beef – 600 gr.
- Pickled cucumbers – 100 gr.
- Onion.
- Tomato paste - small spoon.
- Cream or sour cream – 300 ml.
- Mustard, spicy - a tablespoon.
- Sunflower oil – 2 tablespoons.
- Flour – 1.5 tablespoons.
- Dill, salt, pepper.
- Cut the onion into half rings.
- Heat a spoonful of oil in a frying pan and add the onion. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until translucent and soft.
- Cut the cucumbers into narrow strips lengthwise. Add to the onion. Continue cooking together for another 5 minutes, stirring the contents frequently.
- Cut the beef into thin strips (necessarily across the grain), sprinkle with flour, roll well with your hands.
- Fry over high heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Combine both roasts, add tomato, mustard, spices.
- Fill with cream (sour cream).
- After boiling, simmer the beef stroganoff over low heat until the gravy thickens. Approximate production time is 20-25 minutes.
How to cook beef stroganoff with cream
Beef Stroganoff has the most tender and very juicy meat that melts in your mouth. Cream is a kind of departure from the classics and gives the gravy a French charm. Do not limit yourself in seasonings; it is permissible to add others not indicated in the recipe. But don’t overdo it, so as not to overwhelm the taste of the beef.
- Beef pulp – 500 gr.
- Cream – 300 ml.
- Flour – 3 tablespoons.
- Onion - head.
- Laurel - a pair of leaves.
- Vegetable oil – 3 tablespoons.
- Pepper, salt, cumin.
- Cut the slices into thin, long pieces suitable for beef Stroganoff.
- Salt, sprinkle with pepper, bread with flour.
- Fry on all sides in hot oil in a frying pan.
- Chop the onion head into a small cube. Transfer to the pan. Fry until the onion is nicely browned.
- Meanwhile, heat the cream in a small saucepan. Pour into meat, bring to a boil.
- Discard the bay leaf and other spices from the list. Simmer the beef stroganoff, covering with a lid until the pieces are soft.
Recipe for beef stroganoff with mushrooms and sour cream
Another exciting recipe will complement the line of options for making your favorite beef stroganoff.
- Beef – 400 gr.
- Mushrooms (champignons) – 400 gr.
- Sour cream – 150 ml.
- Flour – 2 tablespoons.
- Butter – 40 gr.
- Table mustard - a large spoon.
- Pepper, salt.
- Cut the prepared slices into plates, then divide into cubes.
- Roll in flour.
- Rinse the champignons, chop as desired, but not very coarsely.
- Dissolve half the butter in a saucepan and fry the mushroom tenderloin in it. If a lot of juice comes out, scoop it into a separate bowl.
- Add sour cream, mustard to this juice, season with spices. Stir.
- Pour into the pan with the mushrooms. Simmer gently for 3-4 minutes.
- On a separate burner, quickly sear the beef tenderloin. To do this, melt the remaining butter. Cook, stirring vigorously, over high heat.
- Pour in the sour cream sauce with mushrooms and let the sauce boil. Reduce the power, simmer the beef stroganoff with a quiet “gurgling” sound for about 10 minutes.
Video recipe for beef stroganoff
It's always a pleasure to learn from culinary masters. Ilya Lazerson, a universally recognized guru, willingly shares aspects of making soft beef meat in the famous beef stroganoff. Bon appetit!
How to cook beef stroganoff
Beef Stroganoff has been prepared in Russia for a very long time - since the 19th century, but the dish became especially popular in Russian times. They are prepared, first of all, from beef, although neatly cut pieces of meat are now made from chicken fillet, pork, bunny and even seafood. Sauces also suit any taste, but more often - sour cream and sour cream-tomato with or without broth.
Beef Stroganoff bases
Russian dish with a French name
For the first time, Lena Molokhovets published a recipe for beef with hot sour cream sauce. According to legend, the meat dish was invented for the old Count Stroganov, and its authorship is attributed to a French cook who served the Count.
Now it is already difficult to establish who invented “beef Stroganoff”, but the French influence is inevitable, because in classical Russian cuisine sauces are actually not used, and in France not a single cook can do without them.
Beef stroganoff gained extraordinary popularity during the times of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also the Soviet Union - a state that existed from 1922 to 1991 in Europe and Asia) , almost entirely thanks to the passionate culinary expert William Pokhlebkin. The meat dish was often served in canteens, and its recipe was published in the famous “Book of Savory and Healthy Food.”
The secret of popularity
Cooking beef stroganoff is not difficult, and the necessary ingredients are easy to find in any kitchen. The truly stewed meat of the stew turns out to be very tender, it is easy to chew, and both adults and children eat this dish with pleasure.
Beef Stroganoff is universally suitable as a side dish - it goes perfectly with fried potatoes and mashed potatoes, peas and pasta, rice and boiled vegetables, stewed cabbage and the freshest salads.
If there is a lot of meat, it is divided into portions, put in the freezer and consumed within a week. Comfortable.
How to cook meat?
Beef is ideal for this dish. In fact, “beof” means beef. But now beef stroganoff is made from pork, turkey and chicken. Lamb is usually not consumed because it is very fatty.
A stunning option is beef cuts. Little more terrible is the kidney part of the carcass, meat from the rump or thick edge.
If slicing is involved, it is not beaten; other meat needs to be beaten. To do this, use a modern tenderizer or an ordinary kitchen hammer. If the hammer starts to move, cover the meat with a piece of cling film before beating. Simply beat chicken and tender meat by hitting it with a rolling pin or the flat side of a knife.
After beating, the meat is cut across the grain. Anyone can choose the width of the pieces according to their own taste. Some people are sure that with a large cut, the meat comes out the juiciest. Others love the thin bars that turn into fried meat “noodles.” Just like in canteens in Russian times.
What is flour for?
In a traditional recipe, beef stroganoff is certainly prepared with flour or starch. It is needed for breading beef. Thanks to flour, the meat is fried faster and acquires a light crust. For 1 kg of beef use 4-5 tbsp. l. flour.
Housewives' ideas vary as to what time to add flour. Some people love to bread the meat before frying. They dredge the cut pieces directly on the cutting board, and remove excess flour by shaking the meat in a colander.
Others like to pour flour into a frying pan with fried meat, and add it after it has browned over the fire. Another option is flour as part of a separately prepared gravy sauce. There are no serious limits to the recipe for making beef stroganoff, so anyone is free to cook at home at their own discretion!
Personality of frying
Experienced cooks know several secrets of frying, which make the meat very tasty.
- No need to use regular butter. When heated strongly, it becomes carcinogenic, so butter is replaced with ghee or vegetable oil. Or they fry the meat using the consistency of these two oils.
- The frying pan is heated well and the pieces of meat are quickly fried, preventing it from releasing juice. This is not difficult to create if you lay out the pieces in one layer, leave them alone for a few minutes and turn on high heat. Then the meat will turn out juicy and tender in taste.
- The beef is fried on both sides until a light brown crust appears. It will be unsurpassed if the pieces look as if they were “varnished”.
- Meat differs from meat! It happens that at the very beginning of heating a lot of juice is released from it. This liquid interferes with normal frying, so the meat juice is collected with a spoon from the frying pan into a saucer or other container. But they don’t pour it out! It is added to beef stroganoff later, at the final stage of stewing.
How to make beef stroganoff sauce?
Almost all housewives love to create the most complex dressing for fried meat. Milk and meat broth are poured into the flour heated in butter. Sour cream, tomato paste and mustard are also put there. The contents are mixed with a whisk and brought to a boil. Later, the hot sauce is poured over the fried meat and allowed to simmer for 2-3 minutes (see the recipe for beef with gravy a little lower).
If you want less sour taste, replace sour cream with cream. In addition, fragrant wine, jelly, fresh garlic, thyme, mushrooms, coconut milk, soy sauce and fermented soybean paste are added to meat sauces.
Beef Stroganoff prepared according to the traditional recipe is so good that it gets boring occasionally. But fans of kitchen tests can change the sauces to suit their own tastes and time after time amaze their family with new combinations of flavors for a hearty meat dish.
Beef Stroganoff Recipes
Frisky classic beef stroganoff
Despite long-standing traditions, even the classic version of the dish is prepared in different ways. Some people love to fry onions not separately, but together with meat. The rest bread the beef with flour not before cooking, but during the frying process. Tomato paste can be replaced with tomato sauce, ketchup or grated tomatoes without skin. The taste of new tomatoes will be stronger if you add 1 tbsp. l. sweet sand and 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar. A quick and very successful recipe, without broth.
Meat ingredients
- 0.5 kg beef slices
- one large or two medium onions
- 2 tbsp. l. flour
- salt
- dark ground pepper
- 3 tbsp. l. vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp. l. ghee
Sauce ingredients
- 1-1.5 cups thick sour cream
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp. l. tomato paste
We wash the meat, remove the tendons, cut it into slices and beat it well. Cut into strips 2-3 cm wide.
Cut the onions into thin half rings and fry in vegetable oil. The finished onion becomes translucent, soft and acquires a golden color.
Fry the meat and onions in a frying pan on all sides for 5 minutes, then add salt, pepper, sprinkle with flour and, stirring, fry for a few more minutes.
Add sour cream, bay leaves and tomato paste to the pan and mix everything thoroughly. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan with a lid and let the meat simmer for another 10 minutes. At the very last moment, chop up some finely chopped parsley, and the meat dish can be served!
Beef Stroganoff with gravy
Beef stroganoff is prepared with sour cream and tomato soup in broth. How much broth is the same as the thickness of the sauce: from very watery to very thick – adjust at your discretion. The highlight of the recipe is that the sauce is prepared separately, and great attention is paid to it specifically.