Russian Monday: Mushrooms with Sour Cream Sauce - "Gribi v Smetane"

Mushrooms are traditional ingredient of Russian cuisine. For centuries, our ancestors used bounty of forest to diversify their menu. And even today with enormous variety of options, ingredients, recipes from around the world available to us true gourmets love tasty and fragrant mushrooms in sour cream.

Boletus (“white mushroom”), chanterelle, armillaria and champignon are four mushroom species cooked the most often. Sour cream is added to the sauce served with mushrooms or directly applied during frying or cooking process. Mushrooms with sour cream are traditional dish occupying honorary place in all Russian cookbooks and it that can easily boast many centuries of history.

For more Russian recipes, visit Russian Cuisine page.



Forest berries and wild mushrooms are a wonderful gift of nature. They carry the fragrance of a pure forest and help maintain your good health and longevity.



Note: If you are using frozen wild mushrooms, before begin to cook them, rinse them with water. Do not defrost. Cook as any fresh mushrooms.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fresh mushrooms, I suggest baby portabella mushrooms for this recipe (or wild frozen mushrooms, I found them in Russian supermarket)
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
• 3 garlic gloves, finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour)
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• shredded cheese
• chopped fresh dill to serve

Directions:

Wash fresh mushrooms, dry them and break off stems. Slice in quarters.

In a large fry pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the olive oil. Add all the mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, until golden and tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the onion and garlic. Low the heat and cover the pan, cook gently for about 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle the flour and stir gently. Season with salt and pepper. Then add sour cream, stir well and heat for a few minutes but do not let mixture boil.

Preheat an oven to 400ºF.

Divide the mushroom mixture between two baking dishes. Top with cheese and season lightly with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Bake until browned on top, about 15-20 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Sprinkle with fresh dill and serve with you favorite bread and wine.