An Asian Way with Polish Chanterelle Mushrooms

I’ve been loving the summer season of Chanterelle mushrooms here in Warsaw!

Of course, I buy my Polish kurki at Hala Mirowska.

However, sometimes I get in a rut of how to cook these delicious, golden mushrooms known as kurek, kurki or kurka in Polish. The traditional Polish recipes often feature a lot of heavy ingredients like cream and butter. I wanted a healthier option.

Amongst my vast cookbook collection, I stumbled upon a 2011 August edition of Saveur Magazine that featured several recipes for different types of mushrooms. I decided to adapt Saveur’s recipe for a special Chinese dish called Jiyou Jun Bao Ji (Clay-Pot Chicken Stew with Chanterelles). I love Asian flavors and this recipe was just the inspiration I needed!

Instead of a clay pot, I used my trusty Le Creuset Dutch oven, but I’m sure any large cooking pot would work as well for cooking this scrumptious stew.

This dish is full of the rich Asian flavors of ginger, soy sauce, chilies and sesame oil that we both enjoy at home. Luckily, hubby is not picky and pretty much enjoys whatever I cook for us.

If you enjoy Asian flavors like us and find a batch of Chanterelle mushrooms at your local market, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this recipe too!

Smacznego!

All the fresh ingredients ready to go.

My finished dish of Asian-Inspired Chicken Stew with Polish Chanterelle Mushrooms.

Asian-Inspired Chicken Stew with Polish Chanterelles

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

500      g.                     Chanterelle mushrooms/mixed mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed in half if large

200      g.                     ham (I used Polish baleron), chopped small

1          Tablespoon      ginger, minced

1          Tablespoon      garlic, minced

1          Tablespoon      soy sauce

1          ea.                    jalapeno or Serrano chili, sliced in half

4          ea.                    green onions, cut in 1-inch pieces

4          tsp.                  granulated sugar

1          ea.                    large onion, chopped small

500      ml.                   chicken stock

1          kilo                  chicken legs and thighs

Optional:         4, small bok choy, sliced down the center, and chopped into 2-inch pieces

Cooked rice or brown rice vermicelli noodles for serving.

Dipping sauce:

4          Tablespoons    soy sauce

1          Tablespoon      cilantro, finely chopped

2          teaspoon          toasted sesame oil

2          teaspoon          ginger, finely minced

¼         teaspoon          ground black pepper

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the dipping sauce ingredients and set aside.

2. In a large Dutch oven  or pot, place all the stew ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover, and reduce heat to medium-low so stew is just simmering. Cook for about 30 minutes.

3. Then, add the bok choy. Let the stew cook for another 10 minutes until the chicken is tender and cooked through.

4. Serve the stew over rice or noodles. Drizzle the dipping sauce over the top, at least that’s how we did it.

5. This stew works great as leftovers, but you might want to add a bit more chicken stock when reheating it.

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Busy Times, Polish Chanterelle Mushrooms in Risotto

Whenever we return from a trip, it always takes a couple of days to recover, do laundry and simply catch up on everyday things.

Our recent trip to the Białowieża National Park (Białowieski Park Narodowy), located in eastern Poland, was an amazing, magical place. We saw a couple of bison, two boar and a fox in the wild. I took nearly 500 photos in two days so I have much to share with you soon.

In the meantime, I’ve had a busy week preparing for some upcoming baking classes with a local cooking program called CookUp Studio in Warsaw. My first class is tomorrow, which is sold out with 16 participants.

However, there’s still time to sign up for my next class on Wednesday, Nov. 5, which will feature American Sweet Potato Pie and Mini Pecan or Walnut Tarts. These are two of my favorite recipes for the Thanksgiving holiday. (Please check the studio’s website to sign up for my next class.)

Besides baking, I usually end up cooking something for dinner as well. One of my recent dinners featured the Polish chanterelle mushrooms (kurek or kurka in Polish). On the blog’s Facebook page, I had asked readers what I should make with the lovely batch of kurek. If I had Turkish yufka, a mushroom börek would have been a great idea!

I settled on using one of my old, but favorite recipes for risotto, cooked the chanterelle mushrooms in white wine and stirred the mushrooms into the risotto later. I served this hearty, fall risotto with garlic-yogurt marinated chicken breasts. It was a delicious dinner!

Remember as you’re cooking the mushrooms, it’s okay to enjoy some of the white wine for yourself like I did! A little wine for the mushrooms and a little for your glass!

Smacznego!

Polish Chanterelle Mushrooms in Risotto

Ingredients:

2          T.         olive oil

1          ea.        medium yellow onion, cut into small dice

1          cup       Arborio rice (approx. 210 grams)

2-3       cups     chicken stock (approx. 480-720 ml.)

1       T.            butter

½         c.         grated Parmesan cheese (more to taste)

To taste           salt and pepper

Garnish:           fresh Italian parsley, chopped

2          T.         butter

½                     medium onion, cut into small dice

16        oz.       Chanterelle mushrooms (about 500 grams), cleaned and trimmed

1          cup      dry white wine such as a Chardonnay (240 ml.)

2          ea.        bay leaves

A few sprigs of fresh thyme

To taste           salt and pepper

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.

2. Then, add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon until toasted and opaque, about 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Add a 4-ounce ladle of the stock to the risotto and cook. Continually stir this mixture until the liquid is absorbed. Add more stock. Stir again. Repeat this procedure until all the stock is fully absorbed.

4. Cook the rice until it is tender and creamy, but a tad al dente, about 20-30 minutes. As the risotto cooks, just taste a bite of it. If it seems too al dente, add more stock and keep cooking and stirring.

5. Lastly, stir in the butter and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Pull the pan off the heat if you are still finishing the mushrooms.

6. While the risotto is cooking, heat a second saucepan for the mushrooms. Add the 2 Tablespooons of butter. Once melted and hot, add the onion and sauté until translucent.

7. Then, add the mushrooms, thyme and bay leaf into the pan. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released their moisture and turned golden brown.

8. Next, add the white wine and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. (Pour yourself a glass of white wine too!)

9. Lastly, fold the mushrooms, removing the thyme and bay leaf stems, into the finished risotto. Add as much chopped, fresh parsley as you like. Season with more salt and pepper as needed.

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Polish Chanterelle Mushrooms with Pork

What goes well with Chanterelle mushrooms? Why pork of course!

Here in Warsaw, Chanterelle mushrooms (kurek or kurka in Polish) still abound at the summer markets such as Hala Mirowska. Hopefully, the locals will continue to bring them in from the nearby forests especially since we are having a rainy spell.

I recently was looking for new inspiration to use up a fresh batch of kurek. I took a peak at my new Polish cookbook, From a Polish Country House Kitchen, by authors Anne Applebaum and Danielle Crittenden, published last year. (My mother-in-law kindly brought me five cookbooks in July).

Appelbaum, a Pulitzer Prize winner, lives in Poland part-time as her husband, Radoslaw Sikorski, is a Polish politician and writer. She also is a columnist for the Washington Post and Slate.com. Crittenden currently works for the online journal of the Huffington Post Canada.

This excellent cookbook features gorgeous photography as well as 90 recipes for modern takes on traditional Polish food such as pierogies, chlodnik (cold beet soup) and sernik (Polish cheesecake). And I happened to find several recipes utilizing mushrooms including one for chicken breasts with a creamy Chanterelle mushroom sauce. I didn’t have chicken on hand, but I did have thin, boneless pork chops.

Off to the kitchen I went to break in my new cookbook.

This recipe took a bit of time as the mushrooms required some extra cleaning. However, I don’t mind spending time in my kitchen as long as I have my music turned up.

The end result is a casserole dish brimming with cooked pork chops baked in a Chanterelle mushroom cream sauce flecked with loads of onions and dill. My side dishes were simple steamed green beans and boiled summer potatoes with dill.

I’m sure Applebaum’s Polish recipes will make a regular appearance on our dining table.

Smacznego! (Bon appétit in Polish)

Our Polish-American dinner enjoyed outside on our balcony in Warsaw.

Polish Chanterelle Mushrooms with Pork

Adapted from From a Polish Country House Kitchen

Ingredients:

1                      T.                                 butter

1                      T.                                 olive oil

500-600           g.         (about 1 ¼#)    thin pork chops

2                      T.                                 butter

3                      medium                       onions, diced

4-6                   ea.                                garlic cloves, chopped

350                  g.         (12 oz.)            Chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed

240                  ml.       (1 cup)             chicken stock

240                  ml.       (1 cup)             water

180                  ml.       (3/4 cup)          cream (I used 18% cream in Poland.)

To taste                                               salt and freshly ground black pepper

To taste                                               fresh dill, roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F/176 C.

2. Pat the pork chops dry. In a large pan over medium-high heat, melt 1 Tablespoon of butter and olive oil together. Then, fry the pork chops until golden brown on both sides. I had to do this in two batches. When done, set aside in a medium-sized baking dish (about 8x11 inches).

3. In the same pan, add the remaining butter. As it melts, scrape up any of the browned pork pieces with a spatula.

4. Add the onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions are translucent.

5. Add the mushrooms. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook until the mushrooms are softened and have released some of their liquid.

6. Add the chicken stock, scraping up any more bits on the bottom of the pan. Simmer until the sauce has reduced and thickened a little, about 10 minutes or so.

7. Stir in the cream. Season with salt, pepper and some dill. Pour the sauce over the pork. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and lightly browned on top.

8. Garnish more fresh dill on top of the finished dish.

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Polish Soup with Chanterelle Mushrooms (Zupa z Kurek)

One fact that I am finding out quickly is that the Poles love mushrooms!

Lately at the markets  in Warsaw, I’ve see older ladies selling small boxes of the most dainty Chanterelle mushrooms (kurek or kurka in Polish) I’ve ever seen in my life. There’s no sign indicating the price, and I have no clue how to ask in Polish. 

On Saturday at Hala Mirowska (the farmer’s market), I finally found some stalls with prices – 36 zł (about $11 USD) per kilo.

Polish gooseberries also are in season now here in Warsaw!

Last week, I had the most delicious soup made with these seasonal Chanterelle mushrooms at this nearby winebar called Mielżyński. Immediately, I started deciphering the soup’s ingredients - potatoes, carrots, the mushrooms, lots of dill and definitely a touch of heavy cream.

The restaurant version of "Zupa z Kurek."

However, trying to find a proper Polish recipe for Zupa z Kurek proved challenging. On some web sites, kurek translated to taps or cock. Umm, not sure that’s what I wanted to cook.

So I did what any good cook or chef does, I re-created my own recipe. As you know, I love soups because they are easy to make and fill you up. Some recipes called for mushroom broth, but I simply used chicken stock.

My soup recipe below only should take you about one hour to make from start to finish. If there are any Poles out there, please share with me your Zupa z Kurek tips!

Smacznego! (Bon appétit in Polish)

My version of "Zupa z Kurek."

Polish Soup with Chanterelle Mushrooms (Zupa z Kurek)

Ingredients:

250      g.         (9 oz.)              Chanterelle mushrooms (Polish kurek), washed and cleaned

2          Tablespoons                butter

1          ea.                                large onion, small diced

6          ea.                                garlic cloves, chopped small

2          ea.                                carrots, peeled and small sliced

450      g.         (16 oz.)            potatoes, peeled and small sliced

1          L.         (32 oz.)            chicken broth

120     ml.        (1/2 cup)          low-fat milk (For true Polish taste, use heavy cream instead.)

A         small handful                fresh dill, finely chopped

To taste                                   salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Clean the mushrooms. Mine were really dirty so I covered them with warm water. Let stand for a few minutes, then drain and rinse. I even used my salad spinner to get the mushrooms really dry. I kept the mushrooms whole, but you might want to slice in half if you have larger ones.

2. In a medium-sized pot, heat the butter and then sauté the Chanterelle mushrooms 10-15 minutes until softened and some of the extra water is cooked off. Remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon and set aside.

3.  Add the diced onions and garlic. Sauté until vegetables are softened.

4. Then, add the carrots and potatoes, and cover with chicken stock. Cook over medium-high heat until potatoes are softened, 15-20 minutes. Add the mushrooms during the last five minutes to cook. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Lastly, stir in the dill and milk or cream. This soup tastes great as leftovers as well!

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