Beef Strips in Cream Sauce (Stroganoff)

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Cooked pasta

1. 1
   Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water (4¼ cups of water and a heaping teaspoon of salt for every 4 oz of pasta), following the package directions (taste about 2 minutes early), until al dente.

   ⚙ Cooking in salted waterStovePot

   💡The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.
2. 2
   Drain.

   Colander

To assemble

1. 3
   Heat the oil and butter in a large pan over high heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan

   💡What you brown (meat, patties, schnitzel) goes into hot oil: in lukewarm oil it soaks it up and comes out greasy. For onion and garlic that you soften, oil heated over medium or low heat is enough; do not wait for it to smoke.
2. 4
   Add the meat strips and fry 2–3 minutes, until browned. Transfer to a plate.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Fry the strips briefly, over high heat and in a single layer: they brown outside and stay tender, and finish cooking in the sauce.

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 5
   Return the meat for the pan and add the cream. Turn down the heat and simmer 3–4 minutes, until the sauce thickens.

   ⚙ SimmeringStoveFrying pan

   💡The cream thickens at a gentle simmer: a hard, long boil can split it, and the meat toughens.

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
4. 6
   Season with salt and black pepper and serve.