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and a bit of that' recipe, but I always have fun playing around with it. (I just scanned the article which I cut out and keep in my recipe file.)
THE BARONESS' RECIPE
Royal proclamation: Don't ruin the dish with expensive meat
The Barones Helene de Ludinghausen is the last in the line of the Stroganoff family, the nobles who built the Stroganoff Palace in St. Petersburg in the 18th century. She has a copy of her family's famous recipe, handwritten by her mother. There are no serving portions listed; everything is cooked to taste. She insists that the secret to making Stroganoff is using an inexpensive cut of meat like chuck roast, cooking it a long, long time — and adding two big spoonfuls of Dijon mustard.
Don't use an expensive cut of meat with this recipe, she says, because that makes it too rich. It's better to start cooking the night before. The meat is not marinated in her version. This recipe calls for regular cream or half-and-half, not sour cream.
In addition to the baroness's recipe, which she explains in the following interview, FOODday offers an alternate recipe for those who can't spare six hours spread over two days. It's made with filet mignon, beef tenderloin or New York steak cut into strips and quickly seared. It uses some sour cream along with some regular cream, which gives it the taste that says "stroganoff" to Americans.
The baroness lives with her mother (the last person born in the Stroganoff palace) in Paris. She is director of Yves St. Laurent couturier in Paris. FOODday interviewed her by phone at her home:
Q: Have you eaten Beef Stroganoff in the United States?
A: I've eaten it all over the world. It's never exactly the same way we do it, but it's always rather good. I find that people complicate it, instead of simplifying it. My mother's is the best in the world.
Ql What exactly is the origin of Beef Stroganoff?
A: In St. Petersburg, there was a gastronomical club, and the chefs each were invited to invent something one year in the late 1890s. The Stroganoff chef won the prize with this recipe.
Q: What are your favorite Russian foods?
At Four things I really like a lot: Siberian pelmeni — it's a bit like a gnocchi. Golubtsi (cabbage rolls) made with meat; piroshki; and ku-
libiaka (a classic layered savory pie) made with salmon.
Q: Beef Stroganoff is high in fat, isn't it?
A: I live in France, and I think this is very American, this total obsession with fat. You say you can never be too rich or too thin. I agree you can never be too rich, but you can be too thin! I think people shouldn't be enormously overweight. If you eat too much one day, be careful the next day. Don't eat enormous quantities. It's important for morale to have good things and to have a bit of wine with your food and a variety of things. French people eat everything, and they're not fat.
Q: Do you cook for your family and friends?
A: I have no idea how to cook. My mother used to cook. I hate cooking, bus I know how to tell people how to do things.
Q: How do you make Beef Stroganoff?
A: The night before serving, take a rump roast or a chuck roast and have it stripped into pieces that are the same width but half the length of a woman's baby finger.
Saute the beef strips in butter in a big saute pan. Add no seasoning. After the beef strips get golden brown, add flour until it makes a little sauce. Then add beef broth (either canned or homemade) until it makes a little gravy.
Let it cook for a while, then add 2 two big spoonfuls of Dijon mustard and lots and lots of fresh dill. Cook it three or four hours. If it too thick, add more beef broth.
Put it in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, cook for several more hours until the meat cuts with a fork. Add cream or half-and-half at this point. Add mushrooms if you'd like — they're optional, but they add flavor and if you have more guests than you plan for, it adds to the quantity you can serve.
Never use a tomato sauce. Don't add onions. That's completely wrong. Add a little salt and pepper if you'd like. At the end of cooking, add some more fresh dill. If you don't have fresh dill, use dried.
Serve with white rice. Always serve with white rice; never use pasta or potatoes. Serve the stroganoff next to the white rice.
You won't need a knife, it will be so tender.
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