[nr]Sherry, or no sherry?[nr]

Should Beef Stroganoff be made with sherry?

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Sac Arrow

Sac Arrow

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Okay, this isn't about the new MC member @Ryanb's potential romantic interest. He is forbidden from dating women named after alcohol anyway. But you should have keyed in on that by the lack of capitalization in the title.

That's right. Beef Stroganoff. Purportedly created by a French chef for the Stroganoff family during the course of a cooking contest. Moms used to make it all the time when I was little. It was made with sherry. It was really good. However, every Beef Stroganoff I've ever had since then did not contain sherry. I mean it's good, but it's not the same. I find recipes that both use it, and not.

What's the true Romanoff?
 
I always feel sad for Brandy every time I listen to that song.
 
I don't drink sherry so I don't cook with it. I do cook with wines I would happily drink. If the dish needs that much more sweetness I add the appropriate sweetener. That said, I think the only reason anyone makes beef stroganoff is because they don't know better.
 
my wife Sherry doesn't cook beef stroganoff, so I guess yes, in our kitchen, I'm cooking with Sherry.
 
ColoPilot said:
Sherry? That sounds way too complicated.

Beef Stroganoff has exactly 2 ingredients, a pound of ground beef and a box of Hamburger Helper.
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"I don't know why they call this stuff Hamburger Helper, it does just fine on it's own."
 
Never used sherry. Wasn’t in the stroganoff the wife made last night either.

Chef acquaintance tells me that alcohol releases some chemicals in tomato sauces that otherwise can’t be tasted, which explains the popularity of vodka sauces for pasta, but that wouldn’t apply to stroganoff.
 
Blech, first off "Sherry" isn't a single wine. There are a whole range of Sherries from the so-called cooking sherry (which should never be used for anything) to the very sweet Pedro Ximenez stuff. Most sherries in my opinion are incompatible with Stroganoff. The classic Russian Stroganoff has no added alcoholic beverages, just sour cream and butter and a little mustard. If you want to add a little beef broth or dry white wine, you may do so.
 
denverpilot said:
Never used sherry. Wasn’t in the stroganoff the wife made last night either.

Chef acquaintance tells me that alcohol releases some chemicals in tomato sauces that otherwise can’t be tasted, which explains the popularity of vodka sauces for pasta, but that wouldn’t apply to stroganoff.
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Are you sauced again? :D:D:D:D
 
Julia Child is my expert witness:

1/2 cup Madeira or dry white vermouth
 
Sherry and Brandy are two strangers to me... ;)

I do like Beef Stroganoff once in awhile though, if it’s done right, along with some mixed vegetables and a salad. Sounds like good eating to me!
 
flhrci said:
Are you sauced again? :D:D:D:D
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Lol. I wish. Haven’t been able to drink alcohol in going on a couple of years? Or so?

Right now my excitement is that I ate a piece of cake and immediately took a diabetes pill for my birthday and let the two of them fight it out. LOL

It worked. Stupid pill works too well right now. Blood sugar was so low by morning I ate a second piece of cake.

Now back to low/no carb. Ha. Been easily controlling the steroid induced diabetes with diet but wife made homemade carrot cake for birthday so... screw it. Ha.

That’s the extent of my eating and drinking excitement.

Did find some stevia sweetened sodas that aren’t too bad on the drinking side. Ha.

Reeeeealy looking forward to next steroid step down Nov 1.
 
denverpilot said:
Lol. I wish. Haven’t been able to drink alcohol in going on a couple of years? Or so?

Right now my excitement is that I ate a piece of cake and immediately took a diabetes pill for my birthday and let the two of them fight it out. LOL

It worked. Stupid pill works too well right now. Blood sugar was so low by morning I ate a second piece of cake.

Now back to low/no carb. Ha. Been easily controlling the steroid induced diabetes with diet but wife made homemade carrot cake for birthday so... screw it. Ha.

That’s the extent of my eating and drinking excitement.

Did find some stevia sweetened sodas that aren’t too bad on the drinking side. Ha.

Reeeeealy looking forward to next steroid step down Nov 1.
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Bubly and the like zero calorie fizzy waters are probably what you want. No sweeteners, at all, just a slight juice extract admixture. I slurp on those all day long.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Okay, this isn't about the new MC member @Ryanb's potential romantic interest. He is forbidden from dating women named after alcohol anyway. But you should have keyed in on that by the lack of capitalization in the title.

That's right. Beef Stroganoff. Purportedly created by a French chef for the Stroganoff family during the course of a cooking contest. Moms used to make it all the time when I was little. It was made with sherry. It was really good. However, every Beef Stroganoff I've ever had since then did not contain sherry. I mean it's good, but it's not the same. I find recipes that both use it, and not.

What's the true Romanoff?
Click to expand...

I don't know what's the true recipe, but the sour cream that goes into most stroganoffs would overpower the sherry. Authentic or not, if you like sherry in your stroganoff, by all means put it in. Just don't use cooking sherry, as @flyingron said, it's awful, but I'm guessing you know that, there a bunch of salt in it to prevent people from drinking it. The bottle in our kitchen is made by Taylor, no need to spend a lot of money on cooking wine.

Bill Jennings said:
I always feel sad for Brandy every time I listen to that song.
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That's her decision, she did have other offers. ;)

steingar said:
I don't drink sherry so I don't cook with it. I do cook with wines I would happily drink. If the dish needs that much more sweetness I add the appropriate sweetener. That said, I think the only reason anyone makes beef stroganoff is because they don't know better.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't use a sweet sherry in a savory meal like Beef Stroganoff. I keep a bottle of dry sherry in the kitchen, there are two things we use it for regularly, making a teriyaki marinade, and making a peanut sauce that goes on a chicken stir fry. It does add richness to a sauce, without making it taste like sherry.
 
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ColoPilot said:
Sherry? That sounds way too complicated.

Beef Stroganoff has exactly 2 ingredients, a pound of ground beef and a box of Hamburger Helper.
Click to expand...

My wife makes something that's about a half step up from that. It involves cream of mushroom soup, French onion soup, and stew meat. It's actually pretty good, just kind of salty.
 
"no sherry"? I think I heard that song on the oldies station the other day. It's by some band called Tourney or something like that
 
Sac Arrow said:
Still better than 'cooking sherry'. Ugh. If you can't drink it, why put it in to your food?
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I dunno. My wife makes a tasty stroganoff and that’s what she uses. Just asked her where she got it. Her mother, she doesn’t know where she got it from.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Still better than 'cooking sherry'. Ugh. If you can't drink it, why put it in to your food?
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In general, salt is added to wine and called "cooking wine" so that grocers can sell it unlicensed as an ingredient rather than liquor.
 
These days I'm more likely to add some bourbon to whatever I'm cooking than wine. Works really well to deglaze a sauté.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Isn't the dish named for bulls jerking off in a field somewhere?
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True story.

"If there are four places to hook the machine up, then hook it up. If there is only one place to hook the machine up, do not hook it up, because it is not a cow."

My training in dairy farming.
 
No sherry.

Red wine, check.
Grappa, check.
Retsina? I think we can skip that.
 
When you started off with "Sherry" I thought of a girl a year ahead of me in high school. That was a looong time ago.

In any case, I'll just look forward to a resolution to this threat. BTW, I'm friends with Sherry on FB (along with her younger sister who was a classmate of my wife's), so some things just hold on forever.
 
Yep, while I'm not fond of most sherries for drinking, I will cook with it (though I do enjoy a nice PX at times).
Retsina is where I draw the line. I've had people foist it on me a few times when they find out I'm a wine judge, and yes I can tell good retsina from bad, but damn, I guess turpentine is an acquired taste.

It's about up there with Uni (sea urchin). Just about the one thing I'll pass up at a sushi bar.
 
wsuffa said:
No sherry.

Red wine, check.
Grappa, check.
Retsina? I think we can skip that.
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I quite agree. Retsina is nasty. I also thoroughly dislike ouzo. I really enjoyed time spent in Greece years ago, but left thinking the locals had terrible taste in alcoholic drinks.
 
We had Stroganoff this week and my wife uses red wine. I had two helpings for dinner a two more for lunch later in the week. Oh yeah, RICE not noodles.
 
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