3-day Beef Stroganoff (Adapted from ad hoc)

With Dan out Adventure Racing the world in “NorCal”, and me plowing through my Green Chile Stock pile at home I was on a mission for some culinary inspiration… I tried tapping my sister, Sheila, Executive chef at Jax Fish House. Unfortunately, the chef was busy so I ventured into cookbook land. I remembered reading an LA times article reviewing Thomas Keller’s new cookbook, so I cruised on over to Chaucer’s Bookstore (my local stand-in for the Tattered Cover) and threw down. The book is super dope, and in pretty plain language serves up serious doses of humble-pie. It took me 3 days to execute the Braised Beef Stroganoff. A day convincing my butcher to cut me some boneless beef chuck (as recommended by T. Keller) and in the end I bought the bone-in short ribs, another day braising my beef and forgetting to start culturing my Creme Fraiche, and another day cutting parchment paper lids and cheesecloth sachets. A sense of satisfaction flowed over me as we enjoyed this meal, but I still feel like I have a lot to learn.

Braising Sauce:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 yellow onion (sliced)
• 1 Bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon (Twin Fin Cab for like 7 bucks)
• Handful of baby carrots sliced
• 1 Large Leek (only use the white and the partially green)
• 4 shallots sliced thin
• White mushrooms ~1/2 lb (wiped and sliced)
• 3 Thyme sprigs (fresh)
• 6 Parsley sprigs (fresh)
• 2-3 Bay leaves
• Black pepper
• 3 large cloves of Garlic

Combine all of these ingredients in a pot and reduce the wine to a glimmer~20min.

The Beef Braise:

You basically need to double the volume of your braising sauce, so here goes:

• the other 1/2 of the yellow onion (sliced)
• your other handful of baby carrots (sliced)
• 1 Large Leek (still only using the white and partially green portions)
• 2-3 Garlic cloves smashed (you can leave the skin on)
• 3 Thyme Sprigs
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 5-6 cups of RF Beef Stock (I used RF Lamb Stock a bit milder in flavor…Next time I’ll use RFBS)
• Cheese Cloth (cut to fit easily over your pot)
• Parchment paper for -you guessed it- a parchment paper lid (I can’t say I am a true believer yet, but it is meant to strike a balance between a full lid locking in moisture and a lid-off drying the shit out of your meat)
• Flour, enough to generously cover the meat
• 3-4 lbs of Beef Short ribs
• Canola Oil
• S & P

Heat up the oil and brown the beef, 3-5 min per side. You don’t need to “cook” the beef at this step, it is going to see some heat later on. Add the vegis to your wine reduction and toss. Dampen and ring-out the cheese cloth and lay it over the vegi base to make a bed for the beef (this is totally not necessary, but I dig executing these over-the-top-methods) to keep the vegis from sticking to the beef. Add your RF Beef Stock such that the beef is just covered by the liquid. Put on your partchment lid and stick the whole thing in the oven at 325 deg. for ~2 hours.

After the two hours are up, the meet needs to cool with the braising sauce. Remove the beef, and strain the sauce to get rid of the vegis. Pour the strained sauce back over the meat and let everything cool off before sticking it in the fridge for the next day.

Creme Fraiche

Start your creme now or at least a day before you want to make the sauce.

• 1 Tbl Cultured Buttermilk
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 bowl
• 1 room at 70 deg F
• 12-18 hours

Combine buttermilk and heavy milk in a bowl. Place bowl in warm room to let the culture grow. Grow for 12-18 hours. Or if you forget to prepare your Creme Fraiche the day before you need it, run on over to TJ’s and pick some up, here is what to look for.

The Big Day: Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 lb Crimini Mushrooms (Finely process 1 lb and keep the other for the finishing touches below)
• 2 Tbl Butter
• 1/2 Yellow onion (sliced)
• 3 Cups Heavy Cream
• 1 Sachet
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 thyme sprigs
  • 10 black pepper corns
  • 1 garlic clove smashed and peeled
• 1 Cup Creme Fraiche

Process the boomers. Melt butter and saute onions until they are translucent ~10 min. Add processed boomers and cook until the liquid is gone ~15 min. Pour in the heavy cream and throw in the sachet. Simmer for 20-30 min.Discard the sachet. Purey the sauce in a blender and return the mixture into the pan. Pour in the creme fraiche and stir. The suace will be thick. You can set aside on low heat while you boil the pasta, saute another pound of boomers, chop some parsley and finish off the meat.

Finishing touches + the meat

Cook up your favorite pasta to your desired texture. Keep a cup of the cooked pasta water in case you want to thin the sauce a little. Slice up the other pound of boomers. Heat up some canola oil and butter. Brown the boomers each side for ~5 min. Set aside. Pull the meat out of the fridge. I chose to liberate the meat from the bone and save the bones for another reduction/braising. I think it would also be cool to serve the dish with the bones, but it is your call. heat up some more butter and add a little of the braising sauce, then caramelize the beef chunks. Toss the beef chunks in the oven ~250 deg. for ~10min to warm them throuh. Chop up some fresh parsley for garnishing and plate it up. I hope you enjoy!