March 5, 2017

Shredded Beef Stroganoff

Slowly braised to fork tender perfection, this Shredded Beef Stroganoff is a delicious union between blade roast and the amazing classic Beef Stroganoff

I’ve been making this dish, or variations of it, ever since I can remember. Slowly braised to fork tender perfection, what I like to call my Shredded Beef Stroganoff is a delicious union between blade roast and the amazing classic that is Beef Stroganoff.

Although under my current reality and lifestyle, I would consider it to be a bit on the indulgent side, seeing as it uses a rather fatty cut of meat and calls for the inclusion of full fat sour cream and a little bit of booze, I still think that it’s a fairly healthy choice, much better than most prepared foods you could ever get out there.

Especially if you go and use well source ingredients, of course!

This much holds particularly true if you happen to be paleo, or following the Keto diet – although if that were your case, then you would definitely want to hold off on the pasta and serve this dish on a bed of zoodles, baked spaghetti squash or even spiralized rutabaga, instead.

One of the keys to success in making this dish is to brown the meat really nice and good, so it adorns a beautiful golden crust on both sides. That’s called the Maillard reaction, and that’s flavor galore for you, right there.

To achieve that perfect golden crust, one needs a very hot pan to start with. Then, they must let the heat from that pan do its thing and resist the urge to move the meat with all their might once it has touched said pan, until they feel that a sufficient amount of crusting has taken place, which usually takes around 5 minutes.

Oh, this process usually generates a lot of smoke, so I highly suggest running the hood fan at full capacity and maybe even unplug the smoke detector for a little bit. Just don’t forget to plug it back in when all is said and done!

So your first course of action should be to preheat 2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil or fat of your choice (make sure you choose one with a high smoke point) in a large heavy skillet set over high heat.

While your pan is heating up, trim off any and all big pieces of visible fat and sprinkle your piece of meat very generously with salt and pepper on both sides.
Once your pan is sizzling hot, carefully drop the roast in the pan; remember: you are not to even touch that piece of meat until it has formed a nice golden crust, which should take about 5 minutes.

When you feel that the steak is kind of getting there, you can carefully lift a corner with a pair of kitchen tongs, just to assess the situation, but don’t overdo it. Breaking the contact between the pan and the meat will interrupt the Maillard reaction and it may be hard to get it going again, especially if it was interrupted too early in the game.

Look at the edges of the meat, they’re a pretty good indication of what’s actually taking place under it.

Once you’ve got a good crust on one side, flip your piece of meat and repeat the exact same process with the other side until it too, forms a nice golden crust, about 5 minutes more.

Once both sides of the roast harbor beautiful, thick, tasty crusts, transfer your meat to a 7 quart Dutch oven and return your skillet to the heat source.

Add the mushrooms to the pan, lower the heat to medium, and cook them for 2-3 minutes, until nice and golden all around. Theoretically, your slab of meat should have rendered enough fat that you won’t need to add more to the skillet, but if you got overzealous and removed all of it, you might have to add another tablespoon or so of oil to your pan at this point.

No need to add more salt or pepper, though, as the meat will have left plenty of that behind, along with tons of flavor. Let the mushrooms soak some of that right in!

When the mushrooms are nice and golden, throw in the onions and garlic and cook until softened, slightly colored and fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Now time to deglaze that pan!

Add the bone broth, vermouth or dry white wine and Dijon mustard to the skillet…

If you’d rather keep this booze free, you could very well replace that alcohol with more bone broth, only you might want to add an extra tablespoon of Dijon mustard to make up for the loss of flavor.

Stir well, making sure to scrape the bottom thoroughly to get every last flavorful bits and pieces to detach from the pan.

You wouldn’t want to be missing on any of this!

Pour that in the Dutch oven, over the meat, and throw in a couple of bay leaves.

Notice how clean that skillet is in the background? There will be no scrubbing necessary!

Put the lid on and place your dish in the oven at 375°F for 3 to 3½ hours, or until the meat detaches very easily when pulled with a fork. You will want to check on your meat and add a cup of water every hour or so, starting at the 90 minute mark. So basically you’ll be adding a cup of water after an hour and a half, then again after 2½ hours, and again, if needed, after 3 to 3½ hours.

Be careful not to add too much liquid, though; it’s not soup we’re making. In the end, you’ll want your meat to soak in a rich, thick and creamy sauce.

When the meat is fully cooked, shred it with the help of 2 forks.

Then, mix the sour cream and ½ cup of vermouth together with a whisk until fully incorporated. Add that to the shredded meat, along with the fresh parsley.

Again, if you’d rather keep this booze free, you could replace the alcohol with water.

Toss delicately until well combined.

Serve piping hot over cooked pasta or egg noodles.

Of course, if you’re paleo or doing keto, you’ll want to leave the pasta out… I’m thinking that zucchini ribbons would make for a fantastic replacement!

Slowly braised to fork tender perfection, this Shredded Beef Stroganoff is a delicious union between blade roast and the amazing classic Beef Stroganoff

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