Classic Beef Stroganoff + Mediterranean Dorado in Salt Crust
🍳 Today’s culinary lineup:
👨🍳 Greetings, gourmands! Today, in our home kitchen, we’re crafting two masterpieces—tested by time and millions of connoisseurs. Aprons on! 🍴
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🇷🇺 Classic Beef Stroganoff
Tender strips of beef in a velvety cream-and-sour-cream sauce. This dish is the gold standard of homey comfort food—every bite melts in your mouth.
Ingredients:
- Beef tenderloin — 500 g
- Yellow onion — 1
- Sour cream (20-25% fat) — 200 g
- Tomato paste — 1 tsp
- Butter — 50 g
- Flour — 1 tsp
- Salt, black pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Slice the beef into thin strips against the grain. Dice the onion into half-rings.
- On high heat, sear the beef in butter until browned (about 3-4 minutes), then remove from the pan.
- In the same pan, sauté the onion until golden. Add flour and stir.
- Return the beef to the pan, add sour cream and tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper.
- Simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes until the sauce thickens.
💡 Fun fact: The dish is named after Count Alexander Stroganov, who hosted an "open table" in Odesa, where any educated person could come for lunch.
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🐟 Mediterranean Dorado in Salt Crust
The purest way to cook fish. Baking in a "salt cocoon" locks in natural juices, making the flesh unbelievably tender and fragrant.
Ingredients:
- Whole dorado — 1 (about 500-600 g)
- Coarse sea salt — 1 kg
- Egg whites — 2
- Lemon — ½
- Sprig of rosemary or thyme
Instructions:
- Scale the fish, remove the innards (leave the head on if you like). Pat dry with a paper towel.
- Stuff the cavity with lemon slices and herbs.
- Mix the salt with egg whites until it reaches the consistency of "wet sand."
- Line a baking sheet with a layer of salt, place the fish on top, and cover it completely with the remaining salt, packing it tightly.
- Bake at 200°C for 25-30 minutes. To serve, carefully crack the crust with a knife—it will lift off in one piece.
💡 Fun fact: The salt crust acts like a natural oven, maintaining even heat and preventing the fish from drying out. The meat absorbs just enough salt for the perfect flavor!
