On 3/6/2012 1:58 PM, sf wrote:
> On Mon, 5 Mar 2012 15:11:57 -0800 (PST), "
> > wrote:
>
>> On Mar 5, 12:53 pm, A Moose in >
>> wrote:
>>> Yesterday, I made beef stroganoff. When the beef was nice and tender,
>>> I folded in sour cream and simmered it no more. Then I thought, I
>>> better get it even more tender. I was bringing some of it over to my
>>> uncle who has dentures, and will not eat beef unless it is extremely
>>> tender. So I simmered it another 40 minutes or so. It was very
>>> tender, but the sauce had started to separate. Not a professional
>>> appearance, but still very tasty and edible.
>>> I remember reading Judy Haffner's post yesterday, where she mentioned
>>> that she mixed flour and sour cream together and added to the
>>> stroganoff. Did she simmer it further?
>>> Then I remembered that I had made sour cream dishes in the distant
>>> past where I simmered them and they did not separate. Why? I think
>>> the reason was that I mixed the sour cream and flour together, then
>>> added to the sauce and simmered for a good 15 minutes.
>>
>> I usually add flour to my sauce to thicken it while it simmers, and I
>> let it simmer a long time. I add the sour cream at the end, let it
>> heat up, and then consider it done.
>>
>> Sometimes I do the meat and sauce in the crock pot. I still wait until
>> the very end to add the sour cream.
>
> Agreed about *when* to add sour cream... or heavy cream for that
> matter. I know you can boil heavy cream and it won't curdle. Not
> sure how (full fat) sour cream handles, but I'd think it would be just
> as stable.
>

In the days when I could use full fat sour cream, we were instructed to
simmer not boil and we almost always mixed the cream with a teaspoonful
of flour. This flour mix and careful simmering at the end of cooking
works even for fat-free sour cream. Indian food, perforce made with
fat-free yoghurt also benefits from its being mixed with flour and can
be cooked for a long time without separation.


--
Jim Silverton

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.