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You are here: Home / NaBloPoMo 2007 / If life gives you leftover roast lamb, make lamb Stroganoff!

If life gives you leftover roast lamb, make lamb Stroganoff!

by Jeanne Horak on November 23, 2007 18 Comments in Leftovers, Main course - meat, NaBloPoMo 2007

lamb-stroganoff

One of the great things about winter is that all of a sudden I have develop a craving for hearty stews and chunky roast joints of meat.  Somehow, these just don’t seem to be appropriate in the summer, but as soon as the weather turns chillier they take on a whole new appeal.

Apart from their general deliciousness, there is also the ease-of-cooking aspect, because in both cases the long and slow cooking time means that I get to pop something in the oven, go upstairs, take a bath, have a glass of wine, check e-mails and all of a sudden dinner is ready!  Like magic.

Last week, one of the more comforting meals we had was Nigel Slater’s wonderful slow-roast lamb on chickpea mash (soon to be blogged!).  This meant that for most of the week, there has been a giant lamb bone with the last of the meat clinging to it sitting in my fridge, daring me to make something with it.  Now if it were summer, I would probably have been making lamb and chutney sandwiches for work every day, but seeing as it’s pretty chilly out there, I’ve been gorging on soups from EAT instead.  Because we are going away this weekend, though, my mind has recently become more sharply attuned to what’s in the fridge and how I can use it up.  Hmm, let’s see… leftover roast lamb, half a punnet of chestnut mushrooms, some cream…  Bingo!  Lamb Stroganoff!

Of course, the classic dish is beef Stroganoff (traditionalists, avert your eyes!), a recipe usually accepted to have Russian origins and containing beef, sour cream and mushrooms.  It seems that there was a 19th century Russian noble called Count Pavel Stroganoff who was something of a gourmet and a bon viveur.  The name of the dish is generally attributed to him allegedly because either he or his chef came up with the recipe.  But since a recipe by this name appeared in Elena Molokhovets’s classic Russian cookbook in 1861, well before his reputation as a gourmet had developed, it seems more likely that the recipe had been in the Stroganoff family for years and became well-known through Pavel’s entertaining. (Incidentally, the 1861 version calls for beef cubes, rather than strips, cooked with bouillon and mustard – no onions and no mushrooms.)

Seeing as I chucked tradition out of the window when I started cutting up the cooked lamb instead of raw beef (!), I guess I have some leeway as to the ingredients, but I tried to stick to the meat-cream-mushroom formula.  And it turned out pretty damn well, even if I say so myself. NOTE – as I was making this up as I went, quantities may not be exact.  Increase or decrease as you see fit.

 

lamb Stroganoff

 

LEFTOVER LAMB STROGANOFF (serves 2-3)

Ingredients

Leftover roast lamb – about 2 cups, cubed  (or 400g raw lamb, cubed)
12 (approx) chestnut mushrooms
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
100ml cream
25g butter
2 Tbsp flour
a splash of sherry
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 cup lamb stock
salt & pepper to taste

Method

Cube the lamb, crush the garlic and slice the onions and mushrooms.  Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and sautée together the onions, garlic and lamb.  If the lamb is cooked like mine, sautée the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent and beginning to brown, then add the lamb to heat through.  Add the mushrooms at the very end – they need minimal cooking.

Once the mushrooms, onions, lamb and garlic are done, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and keep warm.  Stir the flour into the pan juices, stirring to pick up any bits sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Cook for a minute or two, then add a splash of sherry (optional), the paprika and rosemary, followed by the stock.  Mix well and remove from heat before adding the cream, stirring all the time to prevent lumps.  Return to heat and stir to get a smooth csauce. (If the sauce is too thick, add a little milk to thin it.)

Stir the lamb, onion and mushroom mix into the sauce, heat through and serve on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes.  And, in my case, with gem squash on the side!

Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month – a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here are all my NaBloPoMo ’07 posts so far.

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  1. Pille says

    November 23, 2007 at 7:42 pm

    I had been eating stroganoff for over two decades, and it was only when I moved to the UK (temporarily for 7 long years) I came across a version including mushrooms! Intriguing, how recipes travel across borders 🙂
    (I’m not complaining, of course, being a huge fan of mushrooms)

    Reply
  2. Katie says

    November 23, 2007 at 8:40 pm

    I won’t even tell you what the first stroganoff I had consisted of….but, hint: it involved opening cans…..
    This sound lovely – and a perfect use for the leftover lamb….one can’t always make risotto…. And perfect with that little squash!

    Reply
  3. ejm says

    November 24, 2007 at 12:09 am

    I’ve never been a fan of lamb but that stroganov looks awfully good! Whenever we are about to serve stroganov (beef) I can never decide if it would be better with mashed potatoes or with egg noodles tossed in butter and poppyseeds (whichever one of those we choose is always my favourite…).
    That squash looks beautiful!
    -Elizabeth
    P.S. That’s really interesting, Pille. I always thought that mushrooms were an essential ingredient in stroganov.

    Reply
  4. Pam says

    November 24, 2007 at 3:08 am

    That looks wonderful!

    Reply
  5. Chris says

    November 25, 2007 at 1:52 am

    I just read a recipe for Beef Stroganoff and was thinking about other proteins to use the recipe with. The thought of Lamb is lovely! Thanks!

    Reply
  6. Pille says

    November 25, 2007 at 11:23 am

    Elizabeth – the only must-have ingredients in a classic stroganoff are beef, onions and smetana/sour cream. Mushrooms seem to be the most popular addition outside the former Soviet Union, for sure, but potatoes or pickled cucumbers can be used, too. There are as many recipes as there are stroganoff-makers:)

    Reply
  7. ejm says

    November 27, 2007 at 10:15 am

    I know I shouldn’t be surprised, Pille; I should have realized there would be zillions of variations on stroganov (I just can’t get my fingers to type “stroganoff” :-D)
    Wow, it looks like the only essential ingredients are beef and sour cream:
    excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_Stroganoff
    ………………………………………..
    Elena Molokhovets’ classic Russian cookbook (1861) gives the first known recipe for Govjadina po-strogonovski, s gorchitseju “Beef Stroganov with mustard” which involves lightly floured beef cubes (not strips) sautéed, sauced with prepared mustard and bouillon, and finished with a small amount of sour cream: no onions, no mushrooms.
    ………………………………………
    The wikipedia article also says that the classic Russian accompaniment is crisp potato straws. That sounds good!! And in America, it’s rice or noodles. (Oh oh. Now I’ll have FOUR things to choose for a favourite with stroganov!)
    -Elizabeth
    P.S. I love the internet! Look what I just found: http://www.foodtimeline.org/

    Reply
  8. Webutante says

    November 29, 2007 at 10:28 pm

    A deliciously savory post (Greenman Tim brought me here).
    If you have any leftover chicken and sausage, you might want to try this:
    http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu/2007/09/succulent-slice.html

    Reply
  9. Port Lamb says

    April 30, 2010 at 12:56 pm

    Looks really delicious..
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Viva-Magazine-Your-Premium-Womens-Natural-Health-Magazine/262734921452?ref=ts

    Reply
  10. Diana says

    February 7, 2011 at 6:41 pm

    It wsounds like a great recipe (which I am trying) but you don’t mention when to add the paprika & rosemary!
    Comments please

    Reply
  11. Fat Gary says

    March 20, 2012 at 9:33 am

    Hi! I tried this last night and it was fantastic! I added a really small amount of tomato paste and a bay leaf, and served with fettucine. Lovely!

    Reply
  12. gemma says

    November 2, 2016 at 4:53 pm

    That looks amazing might make it for tea tonight

    Reply
  13. M says

    January 2, 2017 at 3:35 am

    Was much too creamy for us and lacked the “bite” that sour cream usually lends. Nice texture but not much flavor.

    Reply
  14. Rosemary says

    September 23, 2017 at 9:16 am

    Thank you for the recipe. I was looking for something different to do with leftover lamb other than shepherds pie. Will make tonight.

    Reply
  15. Loraine says

    April 9, 2018 at 7:04 pm

    I have a chunk of Lamb left over from Easter! Yay me! Making lamb stroganoff!

    Reply
  16. John says

    August 13, 2019 at 11:08 am

    Thanks for the recipe. If I can suggest a couple of variations, I go for sour cream and also cook the mushrooms well down before sauteing the onions etc. Remove them from the pan first and reincorporate later.

    Reply
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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