Perhaps because it was such a 1970’s dinner party recipe, stroganoff has a reputation for being difficult and time consuming to cook, and it’s not, not at all. Use kangaroo fillet and you can have it ready to eat in about 20 minutes. The standard 1970’s version has rather too much fat in it for everyday eating though. So this is my Witches Kitchen version of the old favourite. It’s very delicious and it uses lean, free-range, environmentally friendly roo as the red meat and olive oil for most of the fat.
Nearly all the red meat we eat these days is kangaroo. Originally I guess this was a political decision. Kangaroos are much better adapted to the soils and climate extremes of this desert continent. They are ethically harvested from the wild and the species is sustainable. And they don’t fart greenhouse gases. I firmly believe you can have not just a good, but the best, quality of life with a very small, even negative, carbon footprint, and eating kangaroo is part of that.
Luckily though, this is one of those ideological decisions that carries its own reward. Roo meat is much cheaper than cow for much better cuts, so you can make roo stroganoff from fillet steak, in a fraction of the time, for a fraction of the price.
The Recipe:
- Take a heaped tablespoon of plain low fat yoghurt out of the fridge and let it warm up to room temperature while you cook the stroganoff.
- Mix together a couple of tablespoons of plain flour, 2 teaspoons of paprika (sweet or smoky, whichever you prefer), and a pinch each of salt and pepper.
- Cut 500 grams of kangaroo steak into cubes and toss in the flour mix to coat.
- Fry the meat in a little olive oil in a hot pan in a few batches. This is the most fiddly part of the recipe, but it is important that you sear rather than stew it, so you need to avoid trying to fry too much at once.
- Take the roo out and, in the same pan, fry a sliced onion and two or three cloves of finely chopped garlic.
- As soon as they start to colour, add 250 grams of sliced mushrooms and saute briefly.
- Add the meat back into the pan, and add 2 tablespoons of tomato passata or one of tomato paste, a scant teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and a cup of low fat milk.
- Keep it on a medium heat for 5 minutes or so to reduce the milk to a nice sauce consistency.
- Take it off the heat and stir in the good tablespoon of plain low fat yoghurt that you took out of the fridge at the beginning. If you boil it now, the yoghurt will separate and though it won’t affect the taste, it won’t look as creamy, so having the yoghurt at room temperature avoids cooling your dish too much.
- Stir in a couple of tablespoons of chopped parsley (flat leaf parsley preferably), and reserve a few pinches for garnishing.
- Traditionally stroganoff is served with a buttery pasta, but my preference is potato or parsnip mash and broccoli, which soaks up the creamy mustardy mushroom sauce really well.
Kangaroo stroganoff is one of my favourite meals (seen http://littleecofootprints.typepad.com/little_eco_footprints/2009/05/roo-stroganoff.html). I really like the look of your recipe and will definately give it a go. Thanks 🙂
Great minds think alike, ay!
nice post. thanks.
Finding roo is tricky where we are – will see if the butcher can order some in for us. Thanks for the recipe…
mmmmmm saw stroganoff on a Masterchef challenge…. your recipe looks easier, yummier and the roo is taking this 70s icon into the future!
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
Kangaroo can be purchased from most Coles stores in Australia and it is a yummy alternative to beef and lamb. Thanks so much for this recipe.
We made this for dinner last night. Delicious! Thanks Linda for another great ‘healthy’ version of what is normally an infrequent treat 🙂
This will definately become a favorite.
I adore your wordpress web template, wherever do you get a hold of it from?
Hi Nancy, it’s a thesis template that I’ve customised a lot. I’m enjoying thesis – it’s let me do most of the things I want. Glad you like it!
I just love kangaroo! Found your site through Little Eco Footprints 🙂 When we make Kangaroo Stroganoff- we called it ‘Rooganoff’ (Roo Gone Off…my daughter said it was because it tasted ssssooo good it was like Kangaroo’s having a party in her mouth LOL! She was only 5 at the time!)
Its nice to see someone advocating Kangaroo- its delicious!
Hi Linda,
I stumbled across your site while looking for a kangaroo strogonoff recipe (which was delicious by the way!) and am so happy to see that others care about the sustainability and environmental impact of our food. These days I almost only cook with kangaroo and sustainable seafood and try very hard to do the same while eating in restaurants too.
I’ve linked your blog to my blog – some some ideas and feedback!
Liv
Love blog links! Great way to find sites. I’m off to investigate yours!
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I made this in our solar cooker yesterday. Absolutely delicious. I had it in there for around 4 hours and it was ‘melt-in-the-mouth’ tender. Thank you.
Hi Tricia, I’m getting more and more attracted to the idea of a solar cooker, specially now I’m baking bread two or three times a week. Would be great for recipes like this.