The Collector's computer died as I arrived home after a long day - it seems that there will be an unavoidable break in collecting. After half-hearted troubleshooting we realized it was late and neither of us had eaten. He was worried about that greying sirloin, so I thought I'd have a go at stroganoff.
Materials
- Butter
- Sirloin
- Onion
- Mushrooms
- Salt
- Garlic
- Vermouth
- Pepper
- Stock
- Pasta
- Sour Cream
- Fresh Dill
- Dried Dill
I started with about a pound of sirloin, the thin cut they try to frame as more steaks for less money. It's not (if you make a steak out of anything thinner than about an inch and a quarter you're gonna have a bad time), but it is fantastic for the thin strips I like in my stroganoff. I cut half-inch strips against the grain; I like them bite-sized so about anything over two inches gets halved. A bread knife makes this easy.
I usually do a little prep, get all excited, start cooking, and then have to scramble to finish the prep. The Collector stepped in to help out and taught me how Gordon Ramsay treats people who help in the kitchen. Not really my style.
If, however, you are not blessed with a helpful kitchen assistant, you should probably do the following:
Dice half a large onion or so.
Wash and thickly cut a couple of handfuls of mushrooms.
Dice or mince garlic. This is a taste thing; I use 7-8 cloves.
Harvest a handful or so of fresh dill leaves.
Heat a large saute pan on medium heat. Let the pan come up to heat first, then melt half a stick or so of butter; it helps to section it into tablespoons so it'll melt faster. Once the butter's foamed a bit, add the sirloin (if your pan is of sufficient size, you can do a pound in one go) and let it sit. You want to get a good browning here; the caramelization is rather important for the final product.
Wait until the liquid has cooked off a bit and get a good crust going on a few more sides of the meat. Once the meat is browned (brown brown, with a crust) on a few sides (all of them if you've the patience), pull it from the pan and set it aside in a bowl. Add the onions and saute them until translucent. Move them around while you do this (a wooden spoon is best); it should take about three minutes. While the liquid cooks out of the onions, deglaze the pan - that is, use the liquid to help release the fond (the wonderfully flavorful roasty bits) from the pan.
Drop the heat to medium low (3ish on most stoves) and add the mushrooms. Salt them a bit; it'll help pull out the liquid faster. Move the mushrooms, enough to get them coated in the oil from the pan. Let most of the liquid cook out of the mushrooms; this'll take 10-15 minutes and you'll see the mushrooms shrink. Move them around when you get bored, provided that's not too often.
When most of the liquid's cooked out of the mushrooms, you'll notice that they're starting to pick up a nice caramelized crust. Once you see this, add your garlic and move things around for a minute or so. At this temp, you don't have to worry too much about burning the garlic, but make sure you've got your vermouth on hand.
I like to have a heavy hand with the vermouth - try to use fresh vermouth (if you have a hard time going through a bottle of vermouth in a month, drink more martinis). I poured in about three shots - free pour, that's about nine seconds. I like to add some pepper and some salt here; not too much of the latter. I also like to let the mushrooms soak up the vermouth for a few minutes before I add in the stock. Tonight, that was beef. When you add it, it should double the liquid in the pan.
At this point, take a frying pan, put some pasta in it, fill it with enough cold water to cover the pasta, and stick it on a burner on high heat. This is the fastest way to cook pasta that I've found, and if you start with cold water, the pasta won't stick to the pan. It should finish very close to when the stroganoff does. I like to use a couple of different pasta types (rotini & conchiglie tonight) because you'll get different textures in the pasta as different types cook to different levels. Once the slower cooking pasta (thicker, in this case the rotini) just hits al dente, strain the pasta. Don't rinse it!
Dial the heat up a smidge (4ish on most stoves) and let the liquid cook down quite a bit. You should be able to leave tracks on the bottom of the pan; it'll be a thick, clingy sauce when it's ready. This will take a while. You don't need to mother it but you do need to move things around every few minutes.
Once the liquid's mostly evaporated, drop the heat back down and add about a cup of sour cream. Stir it around until it's well incorporated, and then keep stirring it. You can add dijon mustard here (I recommend it but spaced it tonight) and you should salt and pepper it to taste at this point. If you really like dill (you should), add dried dill at this point too. Once you've got the barest of simmers going, reintroduce the sirloin and whatever drippings have collected in the bowl. Stir well to combine, and wait for that shimmery simmer to mix in the fresh dill.
Put some pasta in a plate or a bowl. Spoon some stroganoff over it. Have a martini - you've already got the vermouth out.
No comments:
Post a Comment