Stroganoff revisited

Stroganoff revisited


Recently I blogged about Beef Stroganoff À La Tété, and the unfortunate waitress who in her infinite wisdom decided to challenge a Sous Chef over the quality of the dish he was sending out and what followed after. Just as I was finishing up the Blog I remembered about an incident that I was involved in with 'Beef Stroganoff' Perhaps not as funny as À La Tété but it had a happy ending for me and one of the hotel barmen.

There was nothing special going on that night, just a normal busy night with over a hundred customers in for dinner. Service was fairly fast and we had served about 70-80 customers and a check came on for a Beef Strogonaff special that was on the Table D´HÔte menu.

I mentioned in the previous blog that all Chefs have their own recipe for Stroganoff and I am no exception. You will find many variations on how to cook the dish and what to serve it with. This was mine at the time.

Fillet of beef cut in to strips
2 or 3 medium sized shallots finely chopped.
4 or 5 button mushrooms finely sliced
A good measure of Brandy (1 third for the pan, 2 thirds for the Chef Keith Floyd style)
Double cream,
Paprika,
Dijon mustard,
Saffron flavoured rice (If you do not have saffron use a little turmeric).
Chopped parsley,
seasoning,
olive oil,

Method:

Roll the strips of beef in paprika and season with a little salt and milled black pepper.

Heat a little olive oil up in a sauté pan till hot, add the strips of beef and quickly brown, remove from pan and put to one side to keep warm.

Deglacé the pan with what brandy you have not drunk before hand. Burn of the brandy and reduce down,

Add the finely chopped shallots and mushrooms and sauté until lightly colored.
Add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and then add a goodly amount of double cream or whipping cream,

Reduce the sauce down by half and add the strips of beef and finish the sauce of with more paprika and seasoning,

Having done a 'Blue Peter Special' and cooked your saffron rice before hand, fill a small mould with the rice and compact the rice in your mould and turn out on to a plate, serve the strips of beef around the rice and sprinkle with chopped parsley and a final dusting of paprika and serve.


Back to the service and the main course for the stroganoff was called away. I plated up the order, checked the plates for drips and finished them off with the appropriate garnishes and sent them to the restaurant. The service was drawing to a close and the chefs were busy clearing down the kitchen when a waitress appeared at the hot plate with a pint of lager on a silver platter. Then to my surprise she called me over to the hot plate and said it was for me. She told me it was from the customer who ordered the Stroganoff special. The customer said "It was the best he had ever tasted but could you put a little less chili in the dish next time as it was very hot"

I thanked the waitress and asked to pass on my thanks to the customer for the drink. I was chuffed mint balls As I walked back to the sauce section with my pint of lager I started to clean down my section when It dawned on me why the sauce was so hot I had used chili powder instead of paprika. Some one had put chili powder in the container marked 'paprika'.

Later on that night when we were having a few beers to wind down we got talking to one of the bar staff and he recalled a customer coming into the hotel bar after dinner was over. He said the customer had a raging thirst and was shipping down pints to put out the fire and he had given him a healthy tip for keeping him well supplied with refreshments. Having put two teaspoons of chili powder in his Stroganoff I was not surprised.




It reminded me of the silly games we used to play in the kitchen when the Chef was not about and we would see who could swallow the most teaspoons of Tabasco sauce and.....Ooops It is getting late I will have to go and put our animals to bed.

Until next time

Cheers

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Beef Stroganoff A'La Tete

Beef Stroganoff A La Tete is not a dish you will find on any restaurant menu nor is it one I recommend that you order.

The original 'Beef Stoganoff' is a traditional Russian dish that dates back to the 19th century as is reputed to be named after the Stroganov family. The dish consists of strips of Beef sauteed with mustard and finished with sour cream. The dish has changed over the years and almost every Chef has his own interpretation of how it should be made. There are numerous cook books where the recipe can be found and most will have a different interpretation of Beef Stroganoff.



Larousse Gastronomique is a classic encyclopedia of gastronomic recipes and one of the first books I bought along with ' Le Guide Culinaire ' by Georges Auguste Escoffier. Every budding chef was told to get a copy of these books to complement their obligatory copy of 'Cessarani and Kinton's - The Theory of Catering ' and in these you will find a traditional Beef Stroganoff recipe. I bet you will find at least one of these books in every chefs kitchen.

To quote Frankie Howard "And so it came to pass"

Beef Stroganoff A La Tete is a very funny story that happened in the kitchen many years ago and I still can picture the waitresses face after she foolishly dared the Sous chef. For those who are not in the know, a Sous Chef is usually the second in charge in a kitchen brigade and is the right hand man to the Head Chef or Chef de Cuisine. The Sous Chef looks after the day to day running of the Kitchen and also is in full charge in the Head Chefs absence.

It was a Sunday and the Sous Chef was in charge. Sunday is usually quiet after Sunday lunch service is over and many of the kitchen staff headed for some after service R&R. This mainly consisted of a quick change and wash up and head to the nearest alcohol available. If the pubs were shut we would have an impromptu party in one of the staff rooms or several rooms as the frequently happened. We were young and worked hard and after work we played hard. It was not unusual to find many of the hotel staff feeling the the affects of alcohol when they returned to work for the evening session.

This particular occasion was no exception and many of us had had cracking afternoon of relaxing, boozing and foolish horseplay. The time to return to work was approaching and many of us were a little vibrant and set about preparing for service. The Sous Chef was late arriving for work but we just got on with our jobs. Service time was fast approaching and in staggered the Sous Chef. He was well and truly sloshed and the first thing he did after he got changed was to hit the kitchen drinks cupboard for anything he get his hands on.

The service started and the Sous had still not come out of the office but we just carried on as normal. After about half an hour had passed by the Sous came out of the office and had a grin like a Cheshire cat and was a little unsteady on his feet. He took over from the veg chef who was calling the meals away and propped himself up at the hot plate. Meals were ordered and sent and service was plodding along slowly when a waitress who had come to collect an order refused to take a dish to the restaurant.

Instantly a silence fell on the kitchen and service ground to a halt. A waitress or waiter refusing to take a dish to the restaurant was not a usual occurrence and we all come to to the hotplate for a nosy. The dish in question was 'Beef Stroganoff' and the waitress was adamant that she was not taking it to the restaurant because she said " It looked like a dogs dinner" Everybody in the kitchen and most of the waiting staff had gathered round and waited for the Sous chef to explode as he had a fair temper and when drunk he was unpredictable. The Sous chef just gave her a drunken smile and very quietly said "Take that dish to the restaurant now or you will be wearing it on your head"

What happened next was probably one of the funniest things I have seen in kitchen. The waitress put both hands on her hips, tilted her head to one side and with a cocky voice she said "I dare you." To dare a fool is silly, to dare a drunken fool is asking for it and the Sous duly obliged. Quick as flash he pick up the serving dish and tipped the Beef Stroganoff all over her head and selected a fresh bunch of watercress and plonked it on her head for garnish. The place erupted, the chefs burst in to laughter, plates, trays and crockery fell to the floor with a deafening crash and the waitress in question started screaming as she attempted to remove the Stroganoff and at the same time throw the serving dish back at the Sous. The scene would not look out of place in that well known comedy about a crazy hotel set in the English Riviera in the mid 70s.




The screaming was clearly heard in the restaurant and the restaurant manager came rushing in to see what was wrong. He took a look round and saw the aftermath of what had happened and started a big argument with the Sous. The duty manager came down and he took one look and did a runner. The Sous and the restaurant manger were last seen heading down the corridor where the carried on their heated argument. We quickly cleaned up the mess around the hotplate and set about getting the service back on track. Meanwhile the waitress went to clean herself up and normal service slowly resumed at the hotplate.


I can still see the scene clearly in my mind as the Beef Stroganoff and saffron rice dripped of her head and shoulders and sprigs of watercress got lodged in her hair. I laugh myself silly when I recal it. Thats probably why you never see ' Beef Stroganoff A La' Tete ' on the menu and if it was would you order it?


There was another incident involving Beef Stroganoff involving me and .....maybe later!

Until next time.

Au Revoir


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Yorkshire pudding making under fire

The weather is 'persisting it down' here in Creuse, limousin Central France and it's very cold as the short but sharp winter starts to set in. Our three geese are loving it as they just love to waddle in the mud and face into the driving wind and rain. perhaps they would not be so happy if they were to find out what's in store for most of the geese in the area with Christmas looming. £30-£45 for a free range goose for Christmas and we have 3 of them. .....I have not got the heart for it as Spot, Tickle and Campbell are our pets and they make fantastic guard geese. Much better than a dog and far cheaper as grass and weeds are free.

Our free range chickens pictured behind the geese look very funny when they are soaking wet. They are all skin and bone under their feathers and seam to shrink in size the more wetter they become but their freshly laid free range eggs are delicious and fantastic for cooking with. Which leads me nicely on to the topic of 'Yorkshire Puddings' and I don't mean that lot that live t'ther side of Pennines.

I have always liked making Yorkies as I call them and usually got the task of making them for Sunday lunches or functions in the hotel restaurants that I have worked for in the past. That is when I had mastered the art of making them. I remember when I was a young apprentice chef and the head chef allotted the task of making over 140 Yorkies for Sunday lunch to me. In my enthusiasm I grabbed a couple of trays of eggs, heaps of flour and water and put it all in the Hobart industrial mixer and knocked up a huge batch of batter mix. I oiled the Yorkie trays, heated them up in the convector oven, poured the mix into the trays and banged them in the oven slamming the double doors behind me as I set about my other duties.

Time passed by and the Sous chef decided that he would check on my progress. He walked over to the convector oven and looked inside. The look on his face said it all and the arrival of the Head chef followed by a flurry of kitchen french that a Frenchman could not understand as well as being unprintable and I knew I was in big trouble. I heard the word Merde mentioned a few time and looked over to the oven where a small crowd of tut tutting chefs had gathered. More kitchen French followed and as I walked slowly over to the oven and my certain death at the hands of a crazed judo loving Head chef, who thought nothing of practising a devilishly painful judo throw or a back snapping judo press on an unsuspecting commie in the middle of service. To make things worse he was from Yorkshire of all places. I looked in to the oven and saw that my Yorkies were giving pancakes a run for their money.

After a few seconds of questioning my parentage and more utterings of Merde accompanied with facial colours ranging from purple to black and a quick impression of Vesuvius the Head chef burst in to action and issued a shed load of instruction to all around and my Yorkies were consigned to the pigs dinner and I was told to take my mix down to larder and put it into the fridge. I could of sworn I heard someone saying "looks like toad in hole for staff tea tonight" as I trudged crest fallen down to the larder. The chef delegated 'The Big Man' to take over making the puddings and show me how to do it right. I will call the chef who showed me how to make Yorkies 'The Big Man' as he was a walking toilet door with clogs and whites on and from Scotland. Fiercely Scottish and proud of it along with an impish grin and smile that melted the hearts of several of the hotel receptionists and a few others from surrounding hotels but that's another story....

He was an animal who stood over 6 feet tall massive chest and broad shoulders and walked with a slightly bow legged gait. He could could drink like a fish, eat like a hog, swear like a trooper and shift a few waiters over the hot plate if he thought they were deserving it or not. Kitchens were sometimes a violent place to work in and tempers often got frayed and waiters for some reason had the contents of a skillet or serving dish tipped over their heads. They would of course be finished of with a suitable selection of garnishes and sent on their merry way. The Head chef insisted that all food that left the hot plate had to be served with proper garnishes and served on a silver platter but often the waiters didn't hang around to collect it and those that did where to slow at running away.

The first thing he told was the recipe and to follow his instructions to the letter.
as we would both be making identical mixes. The recipe is as follows:-

Half a pint of water,
Half a pint of milk,
10 ounces of plain flour
4 eggs (Free range if possible) We are lucky because we have 17 free range chickens and they provide fresh eggs daily.
salt&pepper.

This will make between 10 and 24 puddings depending on the size of trays used. We always used the extra large trays that only have four moulds per tray and doubled up the mix according to the numbers we required

Method:-

Weigh out the flour, some people say sieve the flour but the 'beastie from Scotland said not to bother with sieving but not in so many words, something to do with sex and travel I recall

measure the milk and water exactly

Preheat your oven on almost it's highest setting

Mix the eggs in a large bowl in a figure of eight pattern (I thought the chef was pulling my leg when he said that but did as I was told for fear of being on the receiving end of his over sized clogs in the seat of my pants

Add salt&pepper to season and whisk in half the quantity of flour and whisk in a figure of eight pattern until a smooth batter is achieved

Oil the Yorkshire pudding trays with enough to cover the bottom of the moulds used and a little extra for luck and place in the oven,

Add the other half of flour until a smooth mix is achieved again. The object being to whisk in air to enable the mix to rise properly. Pour some mix into a measuring jug to help you fill the moulds easily and quickly,

When the oil in the trays in the oven is on the point of smoking take the tray/s out of the oven but make sure you open and close the doors slowly and do not slam the doors. This causes cold air to rush in to the oven and spoil your mix.

Quickly pour in the mix and put tray/s back in the oven whilst opening and closing the doors slowly without slamming. Try to avoid spills round the edges of the moulds as if left they can prevent the batter from rising evenly and you can end up with sloping puddings

After about 8-10 minutes your puddings should have risen as far as they can and you can turn the oven down to a medium setting and let the puddings finish off. Some people say that the puddings should be soft and doughy and some say they should be firm and crispy. It's a matter of taste or preferences. Take them out when soft or leave them a little longer on a lower heat setting to crisp them up.

All this talk of Yorkshire pudding has got my taste buds activated and I am going to make some to go with my roast lamb dinner that I am planning for later. Yorkshire pudding served with roast lamb and not roast beef!! Traditionalists would say that it is a travesty of almost biblical proportions to serve lamb and Yorkies together. I say why not? The price of food and meat these days is stretching the family budgets to breaking point along with the massive hikes in fuel and energy bills by the greedy barstewards that run the companies. Massive pay rises and bonuses to their upper management, free share hand outs and putting hard working people on the dole while they feather their nests with insulting pension rights.....Hanging is to good for them...ooogh eergh I digress forgive me for my rantings

It makes sense to use puddings to compensate for the lack of plenty of meat. My Dad told me that my Grandad used to say to all the 7 children in the family... whoever eats the most pudding gets the most meat. The pudding was served before the main course in his house. He would eat only a little pudding and watch the family fill them selves up with pudding and have no room for meat. Therefore allowing him to have the largest portion. The older members of the family got wise to that but it did not stop them trying to eat as much pudding as they could.

I swear that Umma our black Labrador knows what I am writing about. She loves them and works her self in to a tail wagging frenzy when she smells them cooking in the oven. It could be said that a Labrador is a Labrador and it will eat anything put in front of it and not bother what it is. We put pieces of pudding in her bowl and then put dog biscuits, gravy and any other tit bits and watch with amazement as she use her nose and tongue to move the contents around to get at the pudding underneath. It would also appear that Bloomfield our strawberry blond cat has a penchant for them as she managed to paw one of the cooling tray before I could put them away.

Yorkshire pudding mix is versatile and can be used with sausages for a 'Toad in T' Hole' or any left over mix can be used to make a savoury pancakes or add sugar to make it a sweet pancake. Or do what a Sous chef I worked with used to do and that was put ice-cream in the center of the pudding and top of with maple syrup whipped cream.

So that is how I learned to make Yorkshire puddings. A Lancashire lad taught by a Scotsman to make perfect puddings for a Yorkshire man. Remember that failed mix that I put in to the fridge earlier on and was going to be used for staff tea. Well the Head chef stormed into the walk in fridge a little later on after some one else had failed to meet his exacting standards. He knocked over the bowl and the mix spilled all over his boots and checks. I heard the noise erupting from the larder and I knew I was in for another rollicking as I had left the mix on the floor near the fridge door. Ooops.

I do miss the kitchen life sometimes and remember the fun and games along with the hard work that a young trainee chef had to endure in those days. We worked long and many unpaid hours in the kitchens to learn our trade. Many of the positions in most of the hotels that I have worked in were 'Live In All Found' and we had no bills to pay for and what we earned after tax and national insurance was all our own. The pay back was that we worked 'hours as required' No walking out of the kitchen when your 40 hours where up. You stayed until the job was finished and then you got cleaned up and headed for the nearest pub or night club for a binge of speed drinking and a night of trying to chat up the latest arrival to the hotel and catering fraternity. You would not believe the things that went on...or would you? The politically correct crowd would have a field day.

Another time perhaps!

Good luck with your Yorkshire Puddings

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