Creamy Braised Chanterelles and Potatoes

Recipe from Bonnie Frumkin Morales and Deena Prichep

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Creamy Braised Chanterelles and Potatoes — Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Total Time: About 2 hours
Rating: 4(190)
Notes: Read community notes

The simplicity of this dish may make it sound dull, but its flavors are stunningly earthy, rich and deep. It makes a luxurious fall or winter vegetarian main course. The chef who wrote the recipe for this Russian classic, Bonnie Frumkin Morales, says she knows it is tempting to add garnishes like snipped chives or seasonings like black pepper. But the pure flavor of the mushrooms and cream, which saturates the potatoes, is best appreciated alone. You'll need to buy crème fraîche or smetana (not regular sour cream) and heavy cream that hasn't been ultrapasteurized to ensure the sauce stays stable without separating and becoming greasy. —Julia Moskin

Featured in: Russian New Year’s Eve: Christmas, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, All Rolled Into One

or to save this recipe.
Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
Subscribe
Share
Print Options
Include recipe photo

Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 main course servings, 8 to 10 appetizer servings

Ingredients

1 to 1½pounds fresh chanterelle or shiitake mushrooms
1tablespoon unsalted butter
1½cups heavy cream (not ultrapasteurized)
1½cups crème fraîche or smetana (Russian sour cream)
1tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
2pounds Yukon Gold or other all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
Crusty bread, for serving (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Clean the mushrooms: Fill the sink or a large bowl with cold water. Lay out some clean kitchen towels. Working with a few at a time, dunk the mushrooms in the water and gently swish to remove any dirt or debris. Shake off excess water and transfer to the towels to dry until excess water has been absorbed. Use your hands to tear any very large mushrooms into halves or quarters.
Step 2
In a medium-size heavy pot with a lid, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally. The mushrooms will first give off a lot of liquid and then it will begin to evaporate. Raise the heat as needed to keep the liquid at a fast boil.
Step 3
In a bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, sour cream and salt. When the liquid in the pot has mostly evaporated, stir in the cream mixture and bring to a simmer. Stir in the potatoes and return to a simmer. Partly cover the pot, and let simmer gently for 1 hour. Check and adjust the heat occasionally to make sure the mixture is simmering, not boiling.
Step 4
After 1 hour, test the potatoes. If they are still firm, keep simmering until they are just cooked through.
Step 5
When the potatoes are just cooked through, uncover the pot and raise the heat to a lively simmer. Cook until the braising liquid reduces and begins to caramelize, 10 to 20 minutes. It will turn golden brown and thick, like a cream sauce. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Toward the end, stir often to prevent the liquid at the bottom of the pot from scorching.
Step 6
Serve hot, mopping up the sauce with crusty bread, if desired.

Ratings

4 out of 5

190 user ratings

Your rating

Have you cooked this?

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

gale force5 years ago

Will the mushrooms be overdone with cooking them for over an hour while the potatoes cook?

Madeleine5 years ago

Wonderful. This recipe is very low-key to make, most of it being time spent hands-off. I used cremini mushrooms, and a combination of russet and baby gold potatoes. I couldn't find creme fraiche unfortunately, and no question whether I was going to be able to find "smetna". I replaced it with mexican sour cream and some Greek yogurt, and was fortunate enough to find simply pasteurized (as opposed to ultra) non-homogenized whipping cream.

walto4 years ago

LET THIS GO FOR 3 HOURS! If you can. Bonnie recommends it in her recipe, and it really made a difference when I made it yesterday. By the time it gets to 3 hours, the cream mixture has really started to get brown and the whole flavor takes on a heady aroma. Wonderful.

Diane5 years ago

If it's in the refrigerator in the grocery store , it's not ultra-pasteurized.

Joyce5 years ago

Most of the heavy cream available in my area (Cincinnati) is ultrapasturized and found in the refrigerated section. It is designated on the container. I can sometimes get an Ohio based Snowville heavy cream that is minimally pasteurized.

Noelle5 years ago

Could this be made in a slow cooker? I'm terrible about forgetting items on simmer and wouldn't want to scorch this.

Nicole5 years ago

Used half and half instead of heavy cream and would recommend sticking to heavy cream. Not that it didn't work, but it could have worked better. I used a mix of chanterelle, shiitake, and cremini mushrooms and they turned out great. This recipe doesn't require any extra herbs or speices because the mushrooms add so much. I was skeptical but satisfied.

Judith Petersen 5 years ago

Heavy cream is the same as whipping cream, unwhipped.

Haley5 years ago

I made this the other night and used the exact amounts of both dairy ingredients (slightly more butter) and was about 1oz short of both the mushrooms and potatoes. The dish came out extremely dry (definitely nothing to sop up, which I was looking forward to with this), and I had to drizzle some olive oil on it afterwards just to make it more palatable. The taste was wonderful, but I would probably double the liquid ingredients next time (unless I completely missed something?).

Red Cayenne1 year ago

This was very rich, but very bland. I made it as directed, but found it just so, so. The flavor of the chanterelles just got lost in the sauce, and the sauce just didn't have any tang to it. For the price of chanterelles these days I need them to be the star. Nope, won't be doing this again. I'll opt for the old butter sauté for the chanterelles, and if I want something heavy on the sour cream taste I'll prepare a stroganoff.

Michele5 months ago

I make this at least once a year. Chanterelles have a delightful apricot flavor that comes through clearly in this recipe. I personally prefer the cooking time for the dish in this version to Bonnie Frumkin's version, as I find that Frumkin's length of cooking time causes the sauce to separate. I have a gas cooktop so can set the dish over low heat; but cooktops vary. Let it brown a little but not go too far, would be my recommendation.

Julia.6 months ago

We made this last night for dinner for 2 with bison steaks and a simple arugula and tomato salad. Delicious! I cut the recipe in half for the potatoes and mushrooms and made about 2/3 of the sauce based on some of the prior comments. Perfect.

nikke10 months ago

The potatoes were done way before an hour

Red Cayenne1 year ago

Molly10 months ago

I read your review but tried the recipe anyway and should have heeded your warning. Meh and not worth the $$$$ chanterelles.

CaliCook1 year ago

Used coconut milk instead of cream, it'd be too rich for my taste with heavy cream and creme fraîche

David2 years ago

Found crème fraiche and pasteurized (not ultra-) heavy cream at Wegman’s, shiitakes at H-Mart. Surprised that shiitakes didn’t cook down as much (first time with that ingredient). Would definitely up the crème fraiche and heavy cream to 2 cups each at least. Really a subtle flavor, lovely. One idea might be to roast the mushrooms slightly first to get some caramelization before adding to the (large) pot. A rustic keeper to refine for chilly evenings!

Mary Ann2 years ago

Wonderful! So rich and luscious. The timing in the recipe is spot on. Two hours and it was perfect and So Easy!

Michele3 years ago

I have Bonnie Frumkin's book "Kachka" and have made her version. I prefer this one--I get wonderful results with a shorter cooking time. Thank you so much! This is my all-time favorite mushroom and potato recipe!

Ian3 years ago

This recipe has the highest reward for the lowest effort of any recipe I have tried on this site. Have made 3x now and hard to imagine making potatoes a different way as long as chanterelles are available. Sauce broke a bit and it was still amazing every time. We used the best cream and creme fraiche we could find. Substitutions would be appalling…don't do it. Leftovers are miraculous if you have any.

walto4 years ago

Faye4 years ago

Very rich and delicious; the kind of dish one only makes for company because it’s too unhealthy for a family meal. The fat did separate at the end when I was browning even though I used Creme fraiche (not sour cream) as instructed. Not sure why. Maybe pan was too hot. I used chanterelles because they were in season in Oregon. Heaven!

Tori5 years ago

Absolutely delicious and decadent - especially topped with a skillet fried filet mignon and the skillet juices poured over the top!

Haley5 years ago

Elliot5 years ago

This recipe was excellent, and very rich. I added chopped dinosaur kale before reducing the braising liquid, and this worked well to add some color and balance off some of the heaviness of the sauce.

Sue5 years ago

Sinfully delicious but very rich. I had only 1 cup of creme fraiche so used about 1/2 cup good quality nonfat yogurt (Nancy's) and it was fine - next time I will try using only the yogurt instead of creme fraiche. Can't eat much at one time because it's so rich, so half quantity would probably be plenty for 4.

Private notes are only visible to you.