Beef in a Tarragon Cream Sauce (or Beef Paprikas with Tarragon)

(from Qetesh’s recipe box)

You could call this Beef Stroganoff, minus mushrooms, with a strong tarragon flavor, I guess, but it’s actually somewhat of a cross between mushroomless Beef Bourguignon and Stroganoff, with tarragon+++ A general french herb mix (provence, or variants) also works as a substitute for tarragon. It’s actually a modified recipe for paprikas. Serve over noodles or with bread.

Source: lots of experimentation with Beef in sauce variations

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 70 minutes
Serves 4 people

Categories: Beef, Cream, Sauce, Stew

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Beef, chuck is ok, brisket/tritip is better, cubed
  • 3 onions, large, thinly sliced into half rings
  • 1/2 cup red wine, or port or cognac
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2-3 cups water, depending on pot
  • 1 tbsp thyme, dried or fresh
  • 2 Tbsp paprika, hungarian sweet
  • 1 tsp flour
  • 1 tsp salt, kosher (to taste)
  • 1/2 tsp pepper, green or black, ground (to taste)
  • 3-4 bay leaves, dried or fresh
  • 4-5 Tbsp tarragon, dried or 2Tbsp fresh (dried works better)
  • 1/4 cup sour cream, crema or clotted cream (I use central american style crema) (to taste)

Directions

  1. Heat 1Tbsp olive oil on medium heat in a large, high roofed skillet pan or pot. Add the beef cubes and brown on all sides. Leave room in between the pieces of beef so they brown well. Remove meat from pan.

  2. Add 2Tbsp olive oil to the skillet along with all of the onions and bay leaves. Stir and sautee the onions on very low heat approximately 15 minutes or until the onions become translucent, shrink to half of their volume.

  3. Sprinkle thyme, paprika, flour, pepper and salt over the onions. Stir and continue to cook for 5 minutes on low heat. Do not allow to burn, although a thin crust will form on the bottom of the pan.

  4. Add red wine and completely deglaze the pan (scrape bottom of pan with a wooden spoon). Simmer for 5 minutes or until the alcohol is evaporated but wine has not completely boiled off.

  5. Add the beef back in, along with 2-3 cups water, just enough to cover the mixture, and the tarragon. Cook on low heat about 45minutes or until the onions start to dissolve into a thick sauce.

  6. Add the sour cream and stir to mix. The sauce should be medium thick; cook down to desired sauce level (I usually cook it until the sauce is about a little less than halfway up the contents of the pot). Add various herbs, additional tarragon, pepper, salt, to taste.

  7. Serve over egg noodles, macaroni, thick spaghetti, linguini, etc.

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