Chicken & Mushroom Stroganoff

This is a fairly simple chicken-in-a-creamy-sauce-with-mushrooms kind of a dish, but take a look at that spice blend. It's based on one I found in a Polish grocery store (one of the few highlights of having had to drive to Mississauga every N days this winter was the shopping) and I liked it enough to reverse-engineer it. I've been using it a lot, in all kinds of things, and in particular I thought this gave an unusual and delightful flavour to the proceedings here. It goes well with pork and fish, too.

Like the original beef version of Stroganoff, this is quite fast and easy to make but the slightly luxurious ingredients make it, well, slightly luxurious.

4 to 6 servings
1 hour prep time

Make the Spice Blend:
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon coriander seed
4 teaspoons caraway seed
4 teaspoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon rubbed thyme OR savory
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo or similar hot chile/paprika

Grind the mustard, coriander, and caraway seeds. Sift them and regrind anything that didn't go through. When all is ground finely, mix with the remaining spices. Keep sealed in a jar in a cool, dark spot until needed. This makes more than you will need, but don't worry. You'll find a use for it.

Prepare the Ingredients:
6 shallots
4 - 6 cloves of garlic
125 grams (1/4 pound) shiitake mushrooms
125 grams (1/4 pound) oyster mushrooms
225 grams (1/2 pound) button mushrooms
500 grams (1 pound) skinless, boneless chicken pieces

Peel and chop the shallots. Peel and mince the garlic. Clean, trim, and cut all the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. 

Cook the Stroganoff:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons soft unbleached flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup unsalted chicken stock
1 cup yogurt OR sour cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
dill pickles, if desired

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until melted and sizzling. Add the chicken pieces and cook until seared all over; stir a few times. Add the shallots and mix them in well, then follow with the mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes, turning occasionally, until they are softened and slightly browned in spots. Add the garlic and mix in; cook for another minute.

Mix in the flour, 2 tablespoons of the spice blend, salt, and pepper. Cook until there is no white flour left showing. Slowly mix in the chicken stock to make a smooth sauce. Let simmer for a few minutes, until thickened and you are confident that the chicken is cooked. Mix in the yogurt or sour cream, the mustard, and one or two dill pickles finely chopped (if you like) and allow to heat through to steaming hot, but do not allow to simmer or boil. Serve at once, over noodles or steamed rice.




Last year at this time I made Butter-Infused Beans in Tomato Sauce.

Posted in: Ontario Food