Beef Stroganoff with Straw Potatoes
Nadia Kim Demo- Makes
- 2 servings
- Active
- 26 min
- Total
- 1 h
You’ll Need Small saucepan (2 quart (2 litre)), Large skillet (30 cm (12 inch)), Deep saucepan for frying (4 quart (4 litre)), Deep-fry thermometer, Mandoline or sharp knife
Method
Mustard Sour Cream Sauce
-
Melt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in and and cook, stirring, for .
the paste bubbles and smells toasty, without browning -
Whisk in a little at a time, bring to a boil and cook until thick, about .
the sauce coats the back of a spoon -
Take the pan off the heat, stir in and set aside.
Safe to pause here
Beef
-
Melt in a 30 cm (11 ¾ in) skillet over medium heat and cook for about .
soft and lightly golden -
Turn the heat to high, add and toss for about , just until it loses its raw red colour.
the strips are browned in places and still pink inside -
Turn the heat to low, stir in the sauce and season with and . Cover to keep warm while you fry the potatoes; do not let it boil.
Straw Potatoes
-
Pour into a deep saucepan to a depth of about 4 cm (1 ½ in) and heat over medium to 185 °C.
185 °C -
Pat completely dry. Fry them in small batches until golden and crisp, about per batch.
185 °Cthe bubbling quietens and the sticks rattle when stirred -
Lift out onto paper towels and season with while still hot.
-
Spoon the stroganoff onto a platter, heap the straw potatoes loosely over the top and scatter with . Serve at once.
From Nadia Kim
Before the noodles, mushrooms and canned soup, stroganoff was a quick, elegant dish of tender beef in a velvety sauce sharpened with mustard and soured with smetana. This version keeps it that way: the sauce is made first, the beef is seared for barely three minutes so it stays pink and soft, and the straw potatoes, fried crisp and salted, are piled on top just as Russian cooks have served it for more than a century.
Notes
- The beef: tenderloin is traditional because it needs almost no cooking. Slice it across the grain into strips about 8 cm long, 2.5 cm wide and 3 mm thick; it is easier if the meat is half frozen.
- Do not boil the sauce once the sour cream is in, or it can split. Keep everything on low heat at the end.
- Straw potatoes: cut them on a mandoline. Rinse and dry them very well before frying so they crisp instead of steaming. Fry in small batches to keep the oil hot.
- If you prefer, serve with buttered rice or mashed potatoes, but the crunchy straw potatoes are the classic garnish.
Storage
Best eaten straight away. Leftover stroganoff keeps 2 days in the fridge; reheat gently without boiling. The straw potatoes go soft once stored.
When to Start
Plan backwards from a time
Filed under Main · Eastern Europe › Russia · Beef · Frying · Beef Stroganoff. Tags: #classic, #quick.