These burgers are fine without the fries

  • By Sara Moulton Associated Press
  • Thursday, March 6, 2014 6:00pm
  • Life

Hunkering down to watch sports on TV usually involves grabbing the traditional grub — chicken wings, sliders, nachos, that sort of stuff.

I thought it might be fun to turn instead to a classic of Russian cuisine, namely, beef stroganoff. A rich dish with a noble birthright (scholars disagree about which particular Count Stroganov the dish is named for), beef stroganoff was a staple at America’s tonier restaurants during the ’60s and ’70s.

The standard recipe calls for thinly sliced beef with a sauce of sauteed mushrooms and sour cream. But I’ve engineered a healthy version that delivers luxurious flavor using lean ground beef and low-fat sour cream.

The obvious appeal of lean ground beef is that it cuts the fat. And if you can find 100 percent grass-fed ground beef, you’ll be using an ingredient that’s good for the environment, too.

Either way, you’ll need to do something to counterbalance the tendency of lean ground beef to turn into a dry burger. My usual solution is to reach for sauteed onions or shredded carrots or cabbage. But this time, out of respect for traditional stroganoff, it made sense to go with mushrooms.

My first pass, using sauteed fresh mushrooms, resulted in burgers that were crumbly. The second pass, using soaked dried mushrooms, worked out much better.

Dried mushrooms — soaked in chicken broth, water, or wine — bring two assets to any recipe: the mushrooms themselves and the instant (and deeply flavorful) sauce provided by the liquid in which the mushrooms are soaked.

Teamed up with some caramelized onions, the mushrooms made the burgers nice and moist. The veggies also added bulk. Now the burgers weren’t just moist, they were plump and substantial, qualities that don’t apply to the standard quarter-pounder.

Beef stroganov burgers

1 ounce dried mushrooms (porcini, shiitake, chanterelle, oyster, button or a mix)

1½ cups low-sodium chicken broth

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

4 ounces fresh cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour

¼ cup low-fat sour cream

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

1 pound 90 to 95 percent lean ground beef

In a small saucepan over medium-high, combine the dried mushrooms with the broth and bring to a boil. Cover, remove from the heat and let stand for 15 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft. Reserving the broth, strain the mixture through a strainer lined with a wet paper towel. Clean the mushrooms if you see any dirt on the edges, then finely chop them and set aside.

While the dried mushrooms are soaking, in a large nonstick skillet over medium, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer half of the onion mixture to a medium bowl.

Add another tablespoon of the oil and the fresh mushrooms to the skillet and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms give off all their liquid. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the reserved mushroom broth in a stream, whisking, then bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Whisk in the sour cream and mustard, then season with salt and pepper. Transfer the sauce to a saucepan and keep warm.

Wash the skillet and return it to the stove.

Add the chopped reconstituted dried mushrooms to the onions in the bowl along with a hefty pinch of salt, ground black pepper to taste, and the ground beef. Mix well and form into 4 burgers.

In the cleaned skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium. Season the burgers lightly with salt and pepper, then add them to the skillet. Cook the burgers for 3 to 5 minutes per side depending on the desired degree of doneness (3 minutes for rare and 5 for medium-well).

Transfer the burgers to each of 4 plates and spoon some sauce over each portion.

Nutrition information per serving: 380 calories; 210 calories from fat (55 percent of total calories); 23 g fat (6 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 80 mg cholesterol; 13 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 28 g protein; 300 mg sodium.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.