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Mushrooms with Sauerkraut
6 large dried mushrooms cold water 1 pound sauerkraut 1 tablespoon flour 1 tablespoon shortening 1/2 cup thick sour cream Stew mushrooms for 30 minutes in 6 cups cold salted water if your sauerkraut is fresh, in 2 cups if canned. If fresh sauerkraut is used parboil for 15 minutes. Drain the sauerkraut and pour over it the liquor in which the mushrooms have been cooked, then add mushrooms, minced, and simmer until thick, about 1 hour. Brown flour and add shortening. Add this and the sour cream to the sauerkraut and simmer for 10 minutes before serving. Serves 6.
A Central European braise of dried mushrooms and sauerkraut, thickened with a browned-flour roux and finished with sour cream. The one thing to get right is the finish: the cream goes in at the end and the pot must never come above a bare simmer afterward, or it will break.
- The mushrooms"Large dried mushrooms" here most likely means wild boletes -- dried porcini or the mixed "Polish" mushrooms sold in packets; the recipe itself does not specify. Six large caps is roughly 1 to 1.5 oz. Rinse them first and, after stewing, lift them out with a fork rather than pouring, so the grit stays behind in the pot.
- Fresh versus canned sauerkraut"Fresh" means raw, barrel- or bag-fermented kraut sold in brine, which is saltier and sharper and so gets a 15-minute parboil and a larger volume of mushroom liquor. Canned (or jarred, pasteurized) kraut is milder and already soft, so only 2 cups of cooking water is called for. Modern refrigerated bagged kraut behaves like the fresh sort.
- Salting the waterSix cups of salted water is a lot of salt to concentrate down over an hour with kraut already in the pan. Salt the mushroom water lightly, taste at the end, and adjust then.
- Browned flourToast the tablespoon of flour dry in a skillet over medium heat until it smells nutty and turns the colour of sand, then stir in the shortening off the heat to make a smooth paste. This is the Polish zasmażka; browning first gives colour and takes the raw flour taste out.
- The shorteningIn a meatless menu this would have been vegetable shortening; butter or oil works and tastes better. A tablespoon each of fat and flour will only lightly bind a pound of kraut, which is the intent -- the dish should be moist, not gluey.
- Adding the sour creamUse full-fat sour cream, and stir a ladle of the hot kraut liquid into it before adding it to the pot. Low-fat sour cream will curdle. Ten minutes at a bare simmer is enough to cook out the flour.
- Timing and reductionThe hour of simmering is not exaggerated -- it is there to soften the kraut and drive off liquid. Keep the lid off or ajar for the last half hour so it actually thickens, and add water if it threatens to catch.
- ServingServes 6 as a side or as a filling for pierogi and yeast buns. As a main course for a meatless meal it wants boiled potatoes, buckwheat groats, or rye bread alongside.