#9 Russian Casserole - Julienne

If you love mushrooms you have to try this Russian dish! You will love it, it is easy, simple and so delicious! I think you might even be able to turn some mushroom haters with this one. There seem to be way too many of them! I have to admit I actually used to be one of the mushroom-hating-clan myself. Fortunately I converted 10
years ago and now I'm a mushroom missionary! So let's all make this and spread the word ;-)

This dish is a simple casserole, but the simplicity is what makes it so great! There are quite a few variations. Meatlovers can add chicken or even bacon. Some recipes ask for adding flour directly onto the mushrooms, but I got lumps that way. Therefore I chose to make the sauce seperate and used a variation with browning the flour. This browning of the flour gives extra flavour and makes everything blend together really well. If crème fraîche is hard to obtain in your country, I suppose you could replace this with sour cream or a bechamel sauce.

The only downside to this dish are the amount of calories. Yes there are loads. So to just to make peace with that guilty conscience, I recommend serving it with a green salad.

[No  that doesn't get rid of the calories but psychologically it will!!]

Julienne - Mushroom Casserole

500 gr of mushrooms

250 ml/ 1 cup crème fraîche

2 handsful of grated cheese - Gouda, white mature cheddar,

1 tablespoon of flour

1 tablespoon (25 gr) of butter

salt & pepper

a medium casserole/or individual ramekins

Heat the oven at 390 F/200 C

Dice the onion and sauté on a low heat for 10 minutes
[make sure the onions are soft sweet but haven't browned yet]

In the meanwhile clean and slice the mushrooms

[when you clean them please don't wash them but use a paper towel or a brush to get rid of the dirt]

Add the mushrooms to the onions

sauté the mushrooms on a medium heat for 5 - 8 min

There will be a lot of moist coming out of the mushrooms that's ok

In the meanwhile you can prepare your white sauce

 Melt the butter on a medium heat

 make sure you have your flour and crème fraîche ready to go!


 

Add a tablespoon of flour to the butter
Turn the heat down low and let this fry until the color of the mixture starts turning brown (this wil take 3 - 5 min)

Then quickly add the crème fraîche

Stir untill smooth

Add the white sauce to the mushrooms

Season to taste with salt & pepper
[this will need a lot of salt I used about 1/2 teaspoon, make sure you actually taste it before you start baking]

Spread the mushroom mixture evenly into your casserole (or the individual ramekins)

 Grate the cheese

And devide evenly over the mushroom mixture

Bake at 390 F/ 200 C
for 15-25 minutes in medium casserole
or 10 - 15 minutes in individual ramekins

Julienne goes well with green salad and is preferably served with some Vodka on the side ;-)

Приятного аппетита!

Now if you still hate mushrooms.. just go straight for the Vodka, На здоровье!