The Best Beef Stroganoff
I have followed dozens of recipes for this dish and have combined the things I like from some and left out some stuff from others to perfect this dish.
I have followed dozens of recipes for this dish and have combined the things I like from some and left out some stuff from others to perfect this dish.
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- flour for dredging
- 4 slices bacon fried drained and chopped
- 1 pound round or sirloin steak sliced thin
- 1 cup onions slice
- 1 cube beef builion
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 8 oz fresh mushrooms
- 1 bag wide egg noodles cooked per directions on package
- Carbohydrate 76.62467075 g
- Cholesterol 178.5169 mg
- Fat 31.105639 g
- Fiber 4.46839247530401 g
- Protein 46.4137335 g
- Saturated Fat 12.5422775 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (628g)
- Sodium 1004.540975 mg
- Sugar 72.156278274696 g
- Trans Fat 3.380204575 g
- Calories 775 calories
Step-by-step
- Fry bacon and move to paper towel.
- Dredge meat in flour (fry in bacon grease to brown). Saute onion for 2 minutes, add garlic and saute 1 more minute.
- Add water, bring to boil. add builion cube, worcestershire sauce, nutmeg, pepper & seasoned salt.
- Stir and return to boil. Simmer till fork tender about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, adding water as needed.
- Add mushrooms, heat until they shrink a little.
- Fold in sour cream, heat thru but do not return to boil.
- Sprinkle bacon over top and server over wide egg noodles.
Ingredient quantities reveal little about how proteins break down during extended heat. Slicing round or sirloin steak thin maximizes surface area for flour adhesion, while rendering bacon fat provides the high smoke point needed to brown the meat without burning the fond. Simmering the beef for up to two hours converts tough collagen into gelatin, thickening the braising liquid naturally before any dairy is introduced. Water combined with a bouillon cube acts as a blank saline base, allowing the umami compounds in the Worcestershire sauce and mushrooms to dominate the palate. Nutmeg adds a subtle volatile warmth that cuts through the rich profile of sour cream. When adding the sour cream, maintain heat just below a simmer; boiling causes dairy proteins to coagulate and break the emulsion into an unappealing graininess. Fresh mushrooms release moisture rapidly upon contact with heat, whereas preserved or canned alternatives lack the cellular structure required to shrink and concentrate savory mushroom juices during the final stages of cooking.
