‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond’s Easy Beef Stroganoff Is a Comfort Food Classic
Ree Drummond shared a recipe for classic comfort food from her childhood — beef stroganoff. The Pioneer Woman star made a few small tweaks to her mother’s recipe from the 1970s, but it still maintains that retro vibe.
Ree Drummond shared her childhood memory of beef stroganoff
Drummond demonstrated how to make the easy and hearty dish on an episode of The Pioneer Woman dedicated to dinners she’s loved over the years. She kicked off the show with a “retro beef stroganoff.
Drummond explained, “Whenever I think of dinners that I loved growing up in the 1970s, one dish always comes to mind — beef stroganoff. It’s so delicious. It’s that perfect combination of comforting and elegant.”
She continued, “My mom used to make it all the time and I still love it every bit as much as I did then. I can remember helping my mom make beef stroganoff when I was little and while I’ve tweaked just a couple of things in her basic recipe, it’s pretty much the same. I always say, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’”
How to make Ree Drummond’s beef stroganoff recipe
Drummond cut sirloin steak into pieces and added them to a hot skillet with olive oil. “I don’t want the beef to cook all the way through,” she explained. “I don’t want to put all the beef in at once because if I do it’ll crowd the pan and it’ll never get brown.”
After browning the meat, Drummond removed it from the pan. “You just have to be a little patient when you’re browning the beef,” she shared. “You don’t want to rush this process.”
Drummond reduced the heat and added olive oil, diced onions, carrots, and mushrooms to the pan. After she cooked them for 5 minutes, she turned off the heat and added brandy. “When my mom made stroganoff, she used sherry,” the Food Network host explained. “I love the flavor of brandy so that’s one of the small changes that I’ve made over the years.”
She added beef stock and a slurry of cornstarch and stock to the sauce to thicken it. “The flavors of this dish are out of this world,” Drummond noted.
After cooking the sauce for 2 minutes, The Pioneer Woman star turned off the heat and added sour cream and Dijon mustard. “Some people add cream to their stroganoff but I just love the flavor of the sour cream,” she explained. “You can also use Greek yogurt. That’s a great substitution.”
‘The Pioneer Woman’ star serves the dish with another classic
After Drummond returned the beef to the pan, she stirred everything together. “Wow, beef stroganoff — this sums up my entire childhood right here,” she said.
Of course, Drummond had to serve the dish over another classic — egg noodles tossed in butter, She put a helping of noodles on a plate and topped it with the stroganoff, then sprinkled on parsley. “And that is heaven on a plate … it’s really stood the test of time for a reason,” she said.
“You know, I have a lot of great memories from my childhood but beef stroganoff is definitely up there,” Drummond added.
The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.
