Russian Beef Stroganoff

In 1990 I found a cooking show that spoke to my interests in multiple cuisines. It was the Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors. I soon either bought or was gifted the cookbook that coincided with the series. In June 2015, I finally came back to this cookbook. During the early to mid 1990’s, I made the Russian beef Stroganoff. I cannot for the life of me remember what I served it on, either kasha or rice.

According to the cookbook traditionally it is not served with noodles but kasha, a buckwheat groat. I discovered when making this again recently that the second most traditional starch to serve it with was rice. I cannot remember if I found kasha in the 90’s. I made this on June 22, 2015. That time I did not feel like wasting gas, time, money and energy trying to find the ingredient. I used what I had on hand, rice.

Russian Beef Stroganoff

This did not come out as tender as I had hoped. I could not afford the beef tenderloin it called for, which is an expensive cut of meat. This was only the second month of cooking from scratch again, so there was a definite learning curve. This recipe was simpler than I thought it would be. It is only meat, onions, sour cream, mushrooms, olive oil, the starch, and parsley or dill for garnish.

It was very tasty. The richness of the beef was countered with the earthiness of the mushrooms. There was sweetness from the onions; I used sweet onions, as is my tendency. The sourness and creaminess from the sour cream did well with the other flavors.

Russian Beef Stroganoff with Kasha Pilaf

July 25, 2016 I made this again. I used a cheaper cut of meat. I braised it in broth for hours. I also made kasha pilaf. I accidentally used too much sour cream and cooked it way down. The kasha, buckwheat groats, was funky and had a great flavor. My mom was not a fan. I loved it and definitely would do this again.

Since July of 2016 I have made various versions of hamburger Stroganoff. Yes, I know that is no tradition. It started at work. I was tasked to make it from scratch with cream of mushroom soup. It did just that and of course I used beef broth and sour cream. I made it again at home but elevated. I used Imagine Foods’ Portobello Mushroom soup instead of cream of mushroom. Onions, sour cream, beef broth, and fresh mushrooms were obvious choices. I did not use a recipe it was all by taste. I have made it this way at work too. I prefer using rice to noodles. That is not just because of it being more traditional, it is due to my issues with wheat. Overall this ia tasty variation.