Ground Beef in Sour Cream Sauce

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   Gather the ingredients. Use any ground meat you like: beef, pork, chicken, or a blend. It's best to grind it yourself from fresh cuts—equal parts pork and beef, with a little onion mixed in. Those two meats complement each other beautifully, giving you a juicy, moderately rich dish. Ground chicken makes it lighter, but the sour cream sauce keeps it from drying out.

2. Step 2:

   

   Put the ground meat in a bowl and season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Mix it well. Peel and finely chop the onion. You can use either a yellow or a red onion, and the flavor will vary with the variety—red onion lends the dish a pleasant hint of sweetness.

3. Step 3:

   

   Pour the vegetable oil into a skillet—a couple of tablespoons is enough, and if the ground meat contains pork, it'll render plenty of its own fat. Add the chopped onion to the hot oil and sauté until translucent, stirring now and then with a wooden spatula.

4. Step 4:

   

   Add the ground meat to the onion in the skillet. Start breaking it up with a wooden spatula so it doesn't clump together and brown in big lumps. If the meat is dry and hasn't had water added to it, pour in a little right away—that also helps prevent large clumps. Cook the meat for about 15 minutes.

5. Step 5:

   

   Then add the rinsed, chopped fresh tomatoes to the meat. They'll soften the strong flavor of the ground meat and add a pleasant tomato note. Cook the meat and tomatoes, covered, for about 10 minutes.

6. Step 6:

   

   Then stir in the sour cream and add half a cup of water. The thicker the sour cream, the more liquid you'll need. Mix the meat and sauce together.

7. Step 7:

   

   Simmer over medium heat, covered, for about 20 minutes. Then take off the lid and let the sauce thicken a bit. Turn off the heat and let the meat rest, covered, for about 15 minutes. Serve with a side and bread, if you like. Enjoy!