Stroganoff

When I was in Brazil last year visiting Su and Vivi over carnival, a certain dish etched a lasting memory: the stroganoff served at the popular and ubiquitous by-the-weight buffet restaurants of Rio. Unlike the conclusion you may be drawing, these by-the-weight restaurants are not places of last-resort and they don’t look anything like the buffets of Orlando that you may be envisioning. Rather, they are desired, and not necessarily cheap, eateries that serve really good food. For better or for worse, my most memorably delicious meals in Rio were eaten at by-the-weight buffets.

I would venture to say that stroganoff is not, at first blush, associated with Brazil. I’m also taking the brazen position that the stroganoffs of Rio are not the most authentic but rather an Ibero-American adaption of this Russian classic, where dumplings are exchanged for rice and sour cream for whipping cream among other creative twists such as the addition of condiments. Authentic or not, that thick, rich sauce was so unbelievably good that it had me doubling back to the chafing dish.

Stroganoff is curiously beloved in Rio. Rachelle told me that she actually noticed it on menus all across the country and I learned anecdotally while doing my research that fast food chains in Brazilian shopping malls even offer this high-demand dish http://jv-foodie.typepad.com/foodie/2008/03/brazilian-strog.html. Rachelle is trustworthy so I don’t think fact-checking her contribution is necessary.

My love of stroganoff did not start in Rio. It was, however, rekindled there. I had the good fortune of eating Milvi’s mom’s stroganoff in Golden, British Columbia, circa 2005/2006, on a beautiful and challenging ski trip. The dish was exquisite and I’ve been sitting on the recipe ever since. Milvi is Estonian (some politically incorrect people might say that’s close enough to Russian) but unconfirmed rumours say that her mom found the recipe in The Joy of Cooking. I guess we’ll never know.

What happened next in the stroganoff saga is that Karina and I made that revered recipe on NYE a couple of years ago. As I have never done before or since, we burned the stew so severely that it was unsalvageable. I even had to throw out the pot. The experience was so traumatic and so wasteful that I swore I would never eat or make stroganoff again.


Well if I’ve learned anything from stroganoff it’s that life is long and sentiments ephemeral. In a tribute to Rio, Golden, New Years Eves and the complex mixture of joy and sorrow that is life, I’ve made Milvi’s mom’s stroganoff and Brazilian stroganoff. The Brazilian one was a complete afterthought since I didn’t even realize that such a recipe actually existed beyond in my dreams until about an hour ago.

While my memories of Brazilian stroganoff are fond, the traditional recipe is by far the better, although what with my terrible photos this month it’s hard to tell. The traditional stroganoff is actually sensational. I really encourage you all to make it. If you don’t eat bacon or beef or combinations of meat and milk, find some substitute (liquid smoke and tofu?) or make some other creative modification. Su told me that unripened breadfruit is used as a meat substitute in Brazil – for those of you in Toronto this might be your best bet since breadfruit is so easy to come by here. Once you’ve sorted out your dietary restrictions you’re in the clear: the recipe is fairly easy - making my tale of burnt pot all the harder to understand - and I can’t imagine your end product could taste bad.

Beef Stroganoff (Milvi’s Mom)

Ingredients

• 1/4lb bacon, cut in ½ inch pieces
• 2lb stewing beef, trimmed and cut in 1-inch cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 onions, chopped
• ¼ tsp each dried thyme and marjoram
• 3 cups beef stock
• 1 cup dry red wine
• ¼ cup ketchup
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ½ lb mushrooms, sliced
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2-3tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• Freshly ground pepper

Directions

• In large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, cook bacon until softened.
• Add beef cubes; cook, turning to brown on all sides.
• Stir in garlic, onions, thyme, and marjoram; cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
• Pour in stock; bring to boil, stirring constantly.
• Stir in wine, ketchup, sugar, and Worcestershire.
• Reduce hear to simmer and cook, covered, for 1 hour or until meat is tender.
• Blend together flour and ¼ cup of cold liquid (water, broth, or wine) shaking really well, and add a few spoonfuls of the warm broth before putting flour mixture into the stew.
• In skillet, melt butter, cook mushrooms for 4 to 5 minute, stirring occasionally.
• Stir into stew along with sour cream, salt, and pepper to taste.
• Transfer stew to 12-cup (3L) flame proof casserole if planning to top with pastry or biscuits. (recipe can be prepared ahead to this point and refrigerated for up to 2 days).
• Bring stew to simmer, stirring gently, and top with dumplings, pastry, or biscuits.
• Alternatively, just serve with mashed potatoes or pasta.


Brazilian Stroganoff

I got the foundation for the Brazilian stroganoff recipes at http://www.maria-brazil.org/brazilian_strogonoff.htm and http://jv-foodie.typepad.com/foodie/2008/03/brazilian-strog.html. I’ve changed a few things like “catsup” to “ketchup” and “heavy cream” to “whipping cream” and added tomato paste.

Ingredients
• 2-4 lbs beef or chicken (if using beef they recommend filet mignon)
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 to 3/4 tsp dry oregano
• dry white wine (optional). 1 cup? 2 cups?
• 1 – 1.5 cups whipping cream or Brazilian creme de leite
• 5 tbsp ketchup
• 3 tbsp yellow mustard
• 4-6 tablespoons tomato paste

Directions
• Cut up meat into 1-inch pieces.
• Put into a bowl and mix with garlic, half of the onion, salt, nutmeg, oregano and wine. Let it marinate for 1 hour.
• Sauté remainder with a bit of oil.
• Add meat/chicken and marinade to the pan and cook.
• If it is a bit dry, add a few tablespoons of water, and cook a little while longer. Then add ketchup, mustard and tomato paste. When ready to eat, add cream and let cook for one minute.
• Serve over white rice. (you can see in the photo I used wild rice).