Meat!
May. 30th, 2026 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
billroperI am sure that this is something that a lot of you already knew. But *we* didn't know it, so maybe this will be of use to some of you.
I like beef stroganoff. Given the price of beef lately, we've had some hamburger stroganoff instead, which can be tasty, but which just isn't the same.
Gretchen agreed that I could go ahead and pick up some sirloin steak when I went to Sam's Club for use in stroganoff. Yay! And I discovered that sirloin steak was $12 per pound. Boo! And then I saw the top sirloin steaks for $8 per pound and said, "Well, that ought to work. Probably."
When I got home, Gretchen explained that one of the problems that she has with any recipe that requires strips of cooked beef is that the beef tends to come out dry and tough. I, however, am Internet Boy with superior Google-fu, so I figured I'd go run an Internet search and see what I found.
There were two tricks here. First, make sure that you cut your strips of meat across the grain. The grain on the top sirloin steaks was very apparent, so that was easy to manage.
Second, you want to use about 3/4 teaspoon per pound of baking soda, plus a few tablespoons of water, which you add to the cut meat, massage it in, and then let it sit for 15-30 minutes before rinsing it well to remove the baking soda, and then patting it dry before it hits the skillet. Once the meat is nicely browned, you remove it to a separate bowl while making the stroganoff sauce and then throw it back in.
Gretchen cut the meat. I handled the baking soda steps and gave it back to her rinsed. Gretchen finished the job.
The meat was lovely, tender, and tasty.
I had never heard of this baking soda trick before. Half of the rinsed meat went into the freezer for later use, so we'll see how it does after freezing.
But this was a good thing to learn. :)
I like beef stroganoff. Given the price of beef lately, we've had some hamburger stroganoff instead, which can be tasty, but which just isn't the same.
Gretchen agreed that I could go ahead and pick up some sirloin steak when I went to Sam's Club for use in stroganoff. Yay! And I discovered that sirloin steak was $12 per pound. Boo! And then I saw the top sirloin steaks for $8 per pound and said, "Well, that ought to work. Probably."
When I got home, Gretchen explained that one of the problems that she has with any recipe that requires strips of cooked beef is that the beef tends to come out dry and tough. I, however, am Internet Boy with superior Google-fu, so I figured I'd go run an Internet search and see what I found.
There were two tricks here. First, make sure that you cut your strips of meat across the grain. The grain on the top sirloin steaks was very apparent, so that was easy to manage.
Second, you want to use about 3/4 teaspoon per pound of baking soda, plus a few tablespoons of water, which you add to the cut meat, massage it in, and then let it sit for 15-30 minutes before rinsing it well to remove the baking soda, and then patting it dry before it hits the skillet. Once the meat is nicely browned, you remove it to a separate bowl while making the stroganoff sauce and then throw it back in.
Gretchen cut the meat. I handled the baking soda steps and gave it back to her rinsed. Gretchen finished the job.
The meat was lovely, tender, and tasty.
I had never heard of this baking soda trick before. Half of the rinsed meat went into the freezer for later use, so we'll see how it does after freezing.
But this was a good thing to learn. :)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
