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Ryzhiks are a miracle of Russian forests, they can be used in any form: fried, boiled, stewed, and even raw, if, of course, very young mushrooms were found. But recently, with the introduction of modern freezers and the constant lack of time for housewives, frozen mushrooms have become popular. Moreover, cooking frozen mushrooms is no more difficult than freshly picked ones. And for the preparation of some dishes, there is even no need for additional defrosting of mushrooms.
How to prepare frozen mushrooms for cooking
Despite the fact that mushrooms belong to lamellar mushrooms, mushroom pickers have long distinguished them in a special way, placing them on the same level with white mushrooms and milk mushrooms. Not only do they differ in their extraordinary taste and unique aroma, their use does not at all affect the functioning of the digestive system, like other mushrooms.
So, if other lamellar mushrooms are recommended to be boiled before freezing, then mushrooms can be frozen raw. This will greatly save the time of harvesting them for the winter, if large quantities of mushrooms have been harvested in the forest. On the other hand, boiled frozen mushrooms take up much less space in the freezer than fresh ones.
But the choice of the method and time of preparation of the mushroom dish depends on whether the mushrooms were cooked before freezing or not.
If the mushrooms were boiled before freezing, then they do not need any additional processing. You just need to defrost them at room temperature. And for frying or using saffron milk caps for soups, there is no need to even specially defrost the mushrooms.
If the mushrooms were frozen fresh, then for frying and cooking, you can also do without preliminary defrosting. Only the cooking time of the dish is slightly increased. But in order to prepare a salad or main dishes such as meatballs, dumplings or pie fillings from frozen mushrooms, you will first need to defrost the mushrooms. And then boil or fry them, depending on the requirements of the recipe.
The fact is that when defrosting, too much excess liquid is released, which can be used in the case of using ready-made boiled mushrooms. But it is better to drain the liquid from defrosting raw mushrooms. After a little drying of the defrosted mushrooms in a colander, the mushrooms are ready for further culinary processing.
What can be cooked from frozen mushrooms
If the hostess encounters mushrooms for the first time, then she will certainly have a question, what can be prepared from frozen mushrooms. The answer to this question is surprisingly simple: almost anything, by analogy with porcini mushrooms. That is, any recipe that uses porcini or champignons is also suitable for mushrooms.
Fried mushrooms with onions
You will need:
- 500 g of raw frozen mushrooms;
- 2 onion heads;
- 2-3 st. l. vegetable oil;
- salt and black pepper to taste.
Manufacturing:
- Pour oil into the pan and heat it for several minutes.
- The mushrooms, without defrosting, are laid out in a preheated pan.
- Reduce the fire, cover with a lid and heat until the mushrooms are completely thawed.
- Then the lid is removed, the fire is increased and the mushrooms are fried for about 15 minutes, until all the moisture is gone.
- Peel the onion, chop it into small pieces, add to fried mushrooms.
- Salt and pepper are added to taste and kept on fire for another 8-10 minutes.
Oven baked mushrooms with sour cream
You will need:
- 500 g frozen mushroom caps;
- 3 tomatoes;
- 1 tbsp. l. flour;
- 200 ml of 20% sour cream;
- 180 g of hard cheese;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 40-50 g of fresh herbs;
- vegetable oil, salt, pepper - as needed.
Manufacturing:
- The mushrooms are thawed, the caps are cut off from them, if the mushrooms have been frozen whole.
- Sprinkle the caps with pepper and salt, leave for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, the garlic is passed through a crusher, mixed with flour and sour cream.
- A baking dish is greased with oil, the camelina caps are carefully laid out in it.
- Tomatoes are cut into slices.
- Mushrooms are poured with a sour cream-garlic mixture, then tomato circles are laid out on top, sprinkled with grated cheese and chopped herbs.
- At a temperature of + 180 ° C, place in the oven and bake until the top layer is browned.
Ginger soup
You will need:
- 500 g frozen mushrooms;
- 4-5 potatoes;
- 1.5 liters of water;
- 2 pickled cucumbers;
- 1 onion;
- 2-3 st. l. tomato paste;
- vegetable oil for frying;
- salt, pepper - to taste.
Manufacturing:
- Peel the potatoes, cut them into small slices and put them on the fire, flooded with water.
- At the same time, mushrooms are set to defrost.
- In a preheated frying pan with butter, fry the onion, cut into small half rings.
- Cucumbers, grated on a coarse grater, are added.
- Then put the defrosted mushrooms in the same pan and fry for another 7-8 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and 3-4 tbsp. l. water in which potatoes are boiled.
- After the potatoes in the soup are ready, add the contents of the pan, pepper and salt to the pan.
- Cooking is continued for about a quarter of an hour, the heat is turned off and the soup is allowed to brew for a while.
Salad with mushrooms and squid
You will need:
- 500 g frozen mushrooms;
- 100 g of processed cheese;
- 500 g squid;
- 200 g of shelled walnuts;
- 2 tbsp. l. sour cream and mayonnaise;
- a few cloves of garlic.
Manufacturing:
- Ryzhiks are defrosting. If fresh mushrooms were frozen, then they must be boiled in salted water for 10 minutes.
- Squids are cleaned of all unnecessary parts, rinsed in cool water and thrown into boiling salt water for literally 30 seconds.
- Both the mushrooms and the squid are cooled, then chopped into convenient sized slices, usually straws, and mixed in a deep bowl.
- Peeled nuts and garlic are chopped with a sharp knife.
- Processed cheese is rubbed on a coarse grater, mixed with nuts, garlic and mayonnaise.
- The resulting mixture is seasoned with camelina and squid salad.
- If desired, add chopped herbs (dill, parsley) and sour cream.
Ginger julienne
You will need:
- 500 g frozen mushrooms;
- 200 g of parmesan cheese;
- 500 g cream;
- about 100 ml sour cream:
- salt, spices - to taste and desire.
Manufacturing:
- Mushrooms are thawed and cut into thin slices.
- Simmer over low heat under the lid until all the moisture has evaporated.
- Add oil and fry for another 10-12 minutes.Attention! Finely chopped and sautéed onions can also be added at this point, if desired.
- Distribute the fried mushrooms into cocotte makers or simply into small baking dishes.
- Pour in cream, leaving a little free space on top, add spices to taste and mix.
- Add a little sour cream on top and sprinkle with finely grated cheese.
- Bake in the oven at + 180 ° C until an attractive golden crust forms.
Useful Tips
To make dishes from frozen mushrooms delight with their taste and aroma, you should heed the advice of experienced chefs:
- Heat treatment should not be overused in the manufacture of saffron milk caps. Fresh frozen mushrooms are fried for about 15-20 minutes. For boiled mushrooms, 8-10 minutes is enough.
- Ryzhiks have their own individual, distinct aroma and taste, therefore, in dishes with them, they usually either do not use spices at all, or use them to a minimum.
- When defrosting raw mushrooms, they are left in a colander to drain the liquid, then washed in water and squeezed lightly.
Conclusion
Cooking frozen mushrooms is not only easy, but quick and convenient. In addition, properly preserved mushrooms retain the whole palette of aromas and the benefits of fresh forest mushrooms.
