Beef stroganoff I know how to make. Sliced beef, mushrooms and onions in sour cream sauce, served on broad noodles or rice. Served on potato straws? What even are potato straws?
I asked myself that after reading Dead Heat by Dick and Felix Francis. Google told me, yes, potato straws do exist and are made the way chef Max Moreton did in the novel. So can I make this just by following what he does?
I had taken a large potato and, as Caroline didn’t have a kitchen mandolin, I had grated it on the large-hole side of her box cheese grater to produce long thin strips of potato…
Unlike Max, I have no idea how to use all sides of my box grater. However, unlike Caroline, I do have a kitchen mandolin. So I did not have to attempt using the grater. My knuckles and fingertips say thank you! I used the narrowest toothed blade on the mandolin. Found out pretty quickly that your knuckles are still at risk pushing a raw potato through it. Using the hand guard is definitely a good idea.
Wash the potato straws
Next step – an important one – is not in the book. I cheated, googling whether you have to wash the starch out of the potato strings. Yes you do. So put in a sieve and run cold water over them until the water runs clear. Then put them on a clean tea towel or paper towels with another on tap and pat dry. Let them sit a couple of hours until they are completely dry. They’ll be fine, they won’t brown.
I used an air fryer instead of deep frying them. They took about 20 minutes, the same as regular French fries take. I’d grated three potatoes, which is the amount that our air fryer can comfortably cook and is enough for two people.
Beef Stroganoff sauce
I trimmed the beef and cut it into strips before seasoning and then searing it in a hot frying pan. Then I fried a sliced onion and some mushrooms until they were tender and added them to the beef with some plain flour. I poured a generous measure of cognac over the mixture and… flamed off the alcohol.
Next I carefully poured in some sour cream and a small amount of lemon juice, and sprinkled some paprika over the top…
I now fried [the potato strips] briefly in a deep-fryer while my beef mixture warmed on a low heat.
With an air fryer taking longer, you can make the stroganoff sauce while the potato straws are cooking. I used about 1/2 pound of beef, sliced very thin. Ribeye or sirloin steak or tenderloin are your best options.
When the meat and mushroom and onion mixture were nicely browned, I combined them in the large frying pan and added flour and maybe a couple capfuls of cognac. The cognac flamed off too quickly for me to get a picture. I added enough sour cream (about 2/3 cup) to make a good amount of sauce, lemon juice and paprika. Then I let it cook over low heat for about 15 minutes while the potato straws finished.
Serving
‘I thought beef stroganoff was served with rice,’ she said, watching me… I lifted the basket of potato straws out of the oil. ‘It’s traditional in Russia to serve beef stroganoff with potato straws, although lots of people like serving it with rice.’
When both were ready, I didn’t know how to serve it. It seemed to me it would be better to have the stroganoff beside the potato straws. My husband thought it should be served on top, as you do with noodles or rice. So I did one each way. Both worked, but it’s actually better with the sauce on top. The sauce soaks in nicely but the potato straws stay crispy.
Beef Stroganoff backstory
We sat together on the sofa in her sitting room and ate off trays in our laps. ‘Not bad,’ she said. ‘Why is it called stroganoff?’ ‘After the Russian who invented it, I think.’… ‘It’s nice.’ She took another forkful. ‘What gives it such a distinctive flavour?’ she asked with her mouth full. ‘The sour cream and the paprika,’ I said, laughing. ‘This dish used to be on lots of restaurant menus, but unfortunately, these days, it tends to be made without the beef, is called mushroom stroganoff and is served up for vegetarians.’
Alas, Max, it wasn’t named after the cook. The name comes from the rich family for whom the cook made it.
Google AI: Beef stroganoff originated in 19th-century Russia and is named after the wealthy Stroganov family, likely created by a French chef in their employ. The original recipe featured sautéed beef in a sauce of mustard and sour cream and was first published in a Russian cookbook in 1871. It became popular globally after spreading with Russian emigrants and has since evolved with many variations.
Finding a new Dick Francis
As I have said before, there’s nothing like finding a new Dick Francis! A neighbour asked if I’d read Dead Heat. The cover and title looked familiar, with its race term title and racing horses. So I thought I probably had. But, reading the book jacket: a chef at a restaurant in Newmarket caught up in murder – not familiar at all.
Dead Heat covers different territory than usual. Lots of food and music. Near the racecourse but not on the track and in the barns. Owners and trainers, but few jockeys or horses. One of the best descriptions of a horse I’ve ever seen: one end kicks, the other end bites and the middle is uncomfortable. An old joke, I’ve since learned, but new to me.
Sorry, Felix and designers, but I’d have given it a different title and cover so that it would stand out from the other Francis books. To avoid people doing what I nearly did – pass it by because I figured I’d already read it. With over 40 Dick Francis novels, most with racing titles and images, it’s easy to get them confused. Easy to criticize, harder to come up with a better idea. But here’s a suggestion. “Courses for Horses” or even “The Hay Net” after Max’s restaurant. Maybe a racecourse grandstand on the cover.
Whatever its title, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. And potato straws have replaced noodles for beef stroganoff for me!
- The Ultimate Beef Stroganoff Recipe gives a really good backgrounder on stroganoff,
- RecipeTin Eats also has a good recipe for stroganoff, and explanation of meat cuts – as well as the recipe I used for potato straws.
