Beef Stroganoff

Growing up in a Filipino family, I didn't really associate Beef Stroganoff as comfort food. For comfort food I would probably think more along the lines of Kare Kare. I think the only times we had Beef Stroganoff in my childhood was from a combination of a mix and condensed cream of mushroom.  While it was tasty, there wasn't really much preparation that went into it nor was there anything gourmet about that preparation.

One Saturday night, I wanted to try another recipe from my Ad Hoc at Home cookbook so I told Brian to pick one out. He chose Beef Stroganoff. Thomas Keller put a great spin on the classic recipe by using braised short ribs. This tasted nothing like the Beef Stroganoff I had as a kid. The flavors were just a little more complex and the mushrooms really shined through. 

Beef Stroganoff

adapted from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home

Serves 4

Cream Sauce

1 lb cremini mushrooms, trimmed and cut in 3/4 inch pieces

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

3/4 cup chopped onion

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 cups heavy cream

1/3 creme fraiche

1 sachet - bay leaf, 3 thyme sprigs, 10 black peppercorns wrapped up in cheese cloth and tied with kitchen

   twine

Mushrooms

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Pappardelle

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temp

coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Place mushrooms in food processor for cream sauce and finely chop. Place in a bowl.

Cook onion in melted butter over medium heat for 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Add chopped mushrooms and increase heat to medium high. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until the liquid has evaporated and stir occasionally.

Add in cream and sachet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 35 minutes. Cream should reduce to about 1/3 of its original volume.

Meanwhile, add 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add half of the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes. Turn the mushrooms over and cook for another minute or two until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined baking sheet and do the same with the remaining batch of mushrooms.

When sauce is ready, discard the sachet, pour the sauce into a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the sauce into a medium saucepan, set over medium-low heat, and stir in creme fraiche. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the sauteed mushrooms. Add remaining mushrooms into the saucepan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook pasta according to package instructions.

Heat oil in an oven proof frying pan over medium high heat.  When the oil is hot, place meat presentation side down and brown for 2 to 3 minutes, until richly caramelized. Turn meat over and transfer to oven for 10 minutes.

Drain pasta when it is cooked and reserve about 1 cup of pasta water. Transfer noodles to a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of butter.

Toss noodles with cream sauce.  If sauce seems too thick, add a bit of reserved pasta water to thin. Add half of sauteed mushrooms to the noodles and place on a platter. Arrange the short ribs and remaining mushrooms on the top. Garnish with parsley.