Beef Stroganoff (fancy Hamburger Helper)

***RECIPE, SERVES 4-6***

2 lb (907g) beef tenderloin, trimmed of fat and silver skin and cut in bite-size chunks
2-3 shallots, peels and minced
1 lb (474g) white button mushrooms, trimmed and cut in half (I skipped this, FYI)
1/2 cup (118gmL) cognac or other brown liquor (optional)
2 cups (473mL) stock
8 oz (236mL) sour cream (you might not need all of it)
1 tablespoon cornstarch (you might not need all of it)
mustard
salt
pepper
sweet paprika
any other spices you want (I used garlic powder)
fresh herbs for garnish (I used thyme)
12 oz (340g) dry egg noodles
oil
butter

Either before you cook the meat or while you're cooking the meat, boil the egg noodles in salted water and cook them a minute or two less than what the package recommends. Drain, then melt in a little butter to keep them from sticking to each other. Cover and they'll hold until you're ready to eat.

Season the beef chunks heavily with salt and pepper and coat in oil. Fry the meat in a very hot pan in 2-3 batches, getting the pieces as a brown as possible without fully cooking them. Dump them out to a plate.

If you're doing the mushrooms, put some more oil in the pan and fry the mushrooms until brown and they've shrunk by about a third. Dump them out to a plate.

Put some more oil in the pan and fry the shallots for a couple minutes until soft. Deglaze the pan with the liquor (or stock), then pour in the stock.

Disperse the cornstarch in a small amount of cool water or stock until smooth, then slowly drizzle some of it into the stock while stirring aggressively. Boil to gelatinize the starch and keep adding slurry until the sauce is a little thicker than you want it in the end (the sour cream will thin the sauce out a bit).

Stir in as much sour cream as you want — it'll need to melt before you can stir it in smooth.

Flavor the sauce to taste with mustard, salt & pepper, paprika and other spices. Stir in the beef (along with any resting juices) and mushrooms, and let simmer for a couple minutes until the meat is hot and cooked through. Stir in fresh herbs at the last second. Serve over egg noodles.

[bajuszmarczi]

I don't think it's traditional but here in central Europe we often stir in quartered dill pickles near the end, it helps with the color a bit and depending on the pickles it provides some crunch and *heterogeneity*

[btxopeh]

In Russia it is a stew usually. In soviet union there were dairy cow breed, grass fed, and meat was pretty tough. Besides, standarts of butchering are different and you got random cut from the butt or shoulder. Tenderloin was extremely hard to find. So if you wanted your beef edible, you cut it into small chunks, browned it and cooked with some water until softened, and only then added sour cream and everything . It is stretchible for a crowd, and it is one of the comfort food options for cheap. Win-win

[TalesFigueiredo]

Beef, as well as chicken (I believe it is a local creation) Stroganoff is one of the most popular dishes in Brazil. It’s on every Brazilian family table throughout the whole year. Here in Brazil, it is usually prepared with heavy cream, instead of sour cream. Usually, it is served with rice and shredded potato chips, also a very famous local garnish/side dish.
A little bit of tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce along with the mustard definitely goes a long way.
Definitely a great, and quick recipe for any day, be it a simple weekday dinner or Sunday lunch.
Great video, Adam.

[Invisiblehand]

The Stroganoff that I know from the Soviet times uses beef, dill pickles, tomato paste and sour cream (smetana style) as the main ingredients. In fact the sour cream, tomato and pickle give the dish so much of its character it is almost impossible to imagine it without it. It is supposed to taste a little tangy.

[karlfeiden]

I don't know whose day I will ruin by sharing this but here in Brazil we put stroganoff in Pizza. It's not even a niche thing either, seems to be everyone's favorite (I don't like it tho)

[Anon-ytbq]

She seen me stroganoff so now we got beef

[MrDfreshcia]

Hi Adam, Chef here. This along with salisbury steak are the two old school dishes turned poor folks food that I've been hoping get a modern revival. Growing up dirt poor we had more than our fair share of Hamburger Helper and frozen salisbury steak dinners and even those were pretty tasty. I'm hoping I start seeing some nice freshly prepared versions on the menus of hip restaurants soon.

[deshfox]

It's also a very popular dish here in Brazil! Tho it's generally made with chicken and mushrooms. Most times served with rice and or little potato sticks! One of the best dishes we got, and we got many! But it differs quite a bit from the russian version, tho it takes the same name for reasons im yet to understand.

[tehwaffles]

I've been watching you for about a year and a half and I gotta say; you've really helped me when it comes to experimenting in the kitchen gonna try out your pot roast today (with my own spin). Thank you Adam for your food science

[heliosdrachenys]

Its amazing how different this recipe is for each country, here in Brazil it can be made with Beef or Chicken, we tend to add a bit of onion and mushrooms and the sauce is a mix of tomato extract, mustard and cream ( some ppl also use conhac to flambe the meat before adding in the sauce), usually served with rice and shoestring potatoes

[jrk]

chicken stroganoff is impossibly popular here in Brazil

[Pressity]

One of the favorites in my house is something we call “pseudo stroganoff.” 2 pounds of 88/12 ground beef seasoned with a bit of Montreal steak seasoning and then ever so slightly burnt for a bit of a “seared” flavor, either fresh minced onion or onion powder depending on how quickly I’m trying to make it, dash of garlic powder, two cans of cream of Campbell’s mushroom soup (off brands have proven to be pretty icky for this recipe), two cans of milk, and occasionally some cut up fresh mushrooms and/or sour cream if we have them to use. I make my own egg noodles from 2 parts white whole wheat flour and 1 part all purpose flour, and it makes the pseudo stroganoff absolutely delicious!

[k.ebartlett]

We often make stroganoff with pork because it's cheaper, and modify the seasonings of the sauce with fresh dill and red chili flakes.

[AlexsMemeDump]

My family has its own depression-era recipe like this - we use ground beef, campbell's golden mushroom soup, sour cream, and ketchup for the sauce, all served over rice instead of noodles. Amazing comfort food. nice to see your take on it.

[NorthJoestar]

She strogan me off till I beef! She beefin’ on my stroganoff!

[bizichyld]

Most seamless ad transition ever.

My mom always made a quick easy version with ground beef which I now make with ground Turkey. It’s just meat, garlic, cream of mushroom, and sour cream. I also add sautéed mushrooms. Last time I brought it into work somebody commented “that smells amazing!”

[zachb]

I like the way you explain what everything is doing, rather than just what to do. It's a unique style you don't usually see with cooking shows/videos

[tazo]

Eagerly waiting for the episode on how Brazilian cuisine adapts everything to its kitchen. Strogonoff down here is a dang classic; make it Chicken Strogonoff and you have the quintessential weekend family lunch

[victoriaferrari]

Strogonoff became a very common food here jn Brazil. We use beef, chicken or shrimp as the protein source. It’s pretty much one of the most famous weekend meals!

[GrayholeP]

beef stroganoff is one of the traditional school dishes in Russia. but in a school it's obviously made not from tenderloin, but from any cheap cut. yes it will be chewy as hell but still edible, and even tasty sometimes because of sauce