Ashy's vegetarian recipes ©2002 all rights reserved

 

Mushrooms and potatoes

This is a traditional Russian dish. Guess what the main ingredients are? The recipe is very simple, although it can be complicated by the addition of onion, garlic or herbs, but doesn't need to be. Potatoes and mushrooms are among the most traditional ingredients in Russian cooking, alongside cabbage, beetroot and various grains. Perhaps contrary to popular belief, historically, the diet for most Russians included very little meat, consisting rather of the ingredients already mentioned plus milk and milk products, the occasional fish and nuts and berries gathered from the forest.

Traditionally, fresh mushrooms of various kinds are gathered from late spring to mid autumn and in winter, salted or dried mushrooms are used for this dish. Use whatever type of mushrooms you can lay your hands on. Although this is a dish born out of necessity, using available ingredients, the combination of tastes and textures is wonderful and one would be hard pushed to imagine any other vegetable which would combine with mushrooms so successfully.

Ingredients

Mushrooms and potatoes in equal proportions by weight
Butter or sunflower oil for frying
Salt

Chop up the mushrooms roughly and cut the potatoes into 2-3 cm cubes. Fry the mushrooms for about 7-8 minutes until lots of water comes out of them, then add the potatoes and a large pinch of salt. Stir and cover the pan. Cook until the potatoes are soft and the water has evaporated.

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