Mushroom Stroganoff

This Russian-inspired mushroom stew is adapted from Paul Gayler's recipe in Ultimate Vegetarian cookbook. Since I am partial to fusion cuisine I used sake in this recipe as I had it handy and was in the mood for experimenting, but, any dry white wine can be used instead.

Also, since I don't eat beef, this is just a vegetarian version featuring mushrooms as the primary ingredient.

Serve it with rice or noodles or even rotis, or enjoy it by itself. I like it with quinoa.

Ingredients
4-6 cups sliced mixed wild mushrooms
¼ cup sake or dry white wine
1 medium red onion diced finely
1 small gherkin, finely chopped or sliced (optional)
1 cup canned evaporated milk -or- heavy cream
½ cup vegetable stock
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard (optional)
1 Tbsp Hungarian paprika
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
chopped spring onions for garnish

Preparation

1. Dredge the mushrooms in half the paprika, sprinkle some salt and toss it around till well coated
2. Heat the oil in a pan, add the mushrooms, sauté for a few minutes, remove from pan; then add the onions and sauté for a couple of minutes over medium high heat, add the stock and wine and bring to a boil
3. Stir in the evaporated milk or heavy cream, turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer till sauce reduces by half and thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon
4. Add the mushrooms back, the gherkins and mustard if using, the remaining paprika and lemon juice, stir well, season to taste; garnish with spring onions

Piroshky

About half a dozen years ago, when D and I were just spending a weekend in Seattle, we accidentally found ourselves near this teeny tiny little store called Piroshky, Piroshky at Pike Place Market. We wanted to just grab a couple of piroshkies for lunch and head out. But, boy did I have a hard time picking just one or two! We ended up buying about a dozen assorted ones and bringing it back home... The carrot, cabbage and potatoes Piroshky (Piroshki, Piroshky, or Pirozhki, aka Russian stuffed pastries) stuck in my mind.

Every time I looked up a piroshky recipe, the dough at a glance seemed to me like the calzone recipe (approximately, at least) and I wasn't sure if it would turn out as tasty as the ones I had from Piroshky, Piroshky, so, I just didn't really try it often. The first time was not a great success. I blame it on the oven :)

But, now that we have a newer oven, and I am getting the hang of using it correctly, this batch turned out quite good, if I may say so myself. I went with a simple potatoes, peas, carrots and cheese filling.

And, they make a wonderful snack hot or cold. One of these piroshkies for breakfast is incredibly filling and satisfying. They turned out soft and flaky, not dense and tough.

Piroshky can be fried or baked. I preferred to bake. And, it is definitely a weekend project for me - usually if it involves letting the dough rise, punch down, let it rise a second time, allow to rest, fill, shape and then bake, it has to be a weekend project for me... weeknights are just too short :)

The basic dough recipe is from Kaleenka Piroshky Recipe at Recipezaar. The quantity listed here made about 14 or 15 piroshkis of various shapes, before I ran out of filling, even though I was a bit conservative with the filling. So, I used the rest of the piroshky dough to make yummy stuffed naan.

Ingredients
dough:
4½ tsp dry rapid rise yeast
¼ cup warm water
4 cups flour (plus more for dusting, kneading)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
3 Tbsp additional vegetable oil
1½ cups milk

for the filling:
2 medium potatoes, peeled, cooked
2 medium carrots, cooked
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
salt to taste
1 Tbsp canola oil
some paprika powder, cayenne pepper powder, hint of nutmeg - or any of your favorite spices/herbs
plus, 15 or so 1-inch cubes of cheddar or colby cheese

Preparation

1. Dough: In a glass or ceramic bowl, activate the yeast by dissolving it in the warm water; let it sit for about 10 minutes; combine the rest of the dough ingredients, then add the yeast mixture, knead well till sooth and elastic
2. Leave in a warm place to rise; usually, I heat the oven to 175°F (as that is the lowest it would go) before I prepare the dough, and turn it off; then, I cover and leave the ceramic bowl with the dough to rise in the warm (but off) oven; especially in winters, it might take several hours even if left by the heating vent to have the dough rise till double in volume; then punch down and keep the dough handy
3. Filling: Heat oil in a pan; add the peas and sauté ; mash the potatoes and carrots and add them in, plus the salt and spices; stir till well incorporated; set aside to cool a bit
4. keep a greased or lined pan or cookie sheet handy
5. Heat the oven to 350°F
6. Shaping: I took liberties with shaping the dough - basically, rather than gathering up the edges and pinching to seal, I rolled the dough to 1/8" thick rounds, folded them over to a semi-circle and then cut the edges a bit to shape as seen in the picture; and, just for fun I shaped a few others into a longish hoagie-like shape :)
7. Anyway, roll out the dough, add the filling plus one cube of cheese, seal and shape as desired; set aside in a microwave safe dish without smushing them together or overcrowding
8. Warm them in a microwave for about 10-15 seconds and transfer to the greased cookie sheet and allow to rise for 10-15 minutes while working in batches; then brush the tops with some water if preferred
9. Bake in 350°F oven for about 15-20 minutes till golden brown on top and cooked through

Borscht (no meat)

Borscht is one of those dishes I make when I have been thinking about it for a while, and somehow D echoes my thoughts, and we finally decide it is time to have some.

It is just a simple hearty vegetable beet soup, and I make variations of this soup on and off. But, this recipe here is my version of borscht that happens to satisfy both D's and my tastes, and has a bit of a kick to it with the spices.

While there are several regional and cultural variations of it, I stick to this basic version most of the time, leaving out the sour cream, and usually serving it hot. Cold beet soup has not appealed to me so far, but that can change ;)


Ingredients
1 medium potato, peeled and finely diced or julienned or grated
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely diced or julienned or grated
1 medium beetroot, peeled and grated finely
2 to 3 cups finely chopped red cabbage
1 medium onion, diced finely
1-2 garlic cloves, minced finely
3-4 cups vegetable stock^†
salt to taste
1 Tbsp canola oil
^†Or, chicken stock or vegetable stock; or just 3-4 bullion cubes dissolved in 3-4 cups of water

spices:
1 Tbsp paprika powder
2 Tbsp cayenne pepper powder
1 Tbsp dried dill

Preparation

1. heat oil in a pot, add the onions and garlic, a pinch of salt and sauté till translucent
2. add the rest of the vegetables and the stock, cover and simmer on medium low for about 15-20 minutes till vegetables are done
3. stir in the spices and simmer 10 minutes longer, adjust salt to taste