Mushroom Piroshki Appetizers

Umami. Flavor that hits on all six cylinders. Mushrooms have it. And until a few years ago, I admit that my misunderstanding of mushrooms led me to dislike and avoid them. Thank goodness I've moved past that, because YUM. 

With a few simple steps, even common brown mushrooms can deliver powerhouse flavor, and in this case, kick the butt of the beef piroshki I made to accompany these mushroom ones for Easter. 

Mushroom 101

• Selecting Fresh Mushrooms: How can you tell? See the photo above? Fresh mushrooms will have a smooth, glossy cap, that (for the most part) will not have come away from the stem. Like all produce, use it ASAP for the best results. 
• Storing - A Cool Dark Place: Store in a paper bag in a low-humidity drawer in the fridge.
• Washing: YES. Wash off the dirt, for they grow in the ground. Just rinse them under some cool water, and gently rub off any dirt. Allow them to dry, then use them as desired. 

Makes about 50 bite-sized piroshki 

The Dough
4oz cream cheese (just half of a regular old brick), at room temp
4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 1/4C AP flour
1/2t kosher salt

Cream the butter til smooth. Add the cream cheese, and cream til combined. Stir in the flour and salt to form a ball. Flatten it out into a rectangular slab about 1/2" thick, wrap in parchment or plastic wrap, and chill for about an hour. 

The Filling
3 8oz packages organic brown mushrooms 
1 small, or 1/2 large white or yellow onion
2T olive oil
1T butter
salt & pepper 
sherry (optional)

1 beaten egg to seal the piroshki, and for an eggwash

For this recipe, we'll use the whole mushroom. Trim off the ends of the stems. If you have a food processor, you're very happy right now. Chop the shrooms in batches of 3 on "pulse" til finely diced. Otherwise, grab a sharp knife and go to town. Finely dice the onion. Heat a large skillet on medium-high, heat 2T olive oil, then saute the onion til golden. Remove from the pan. Turn heat to high. 

Dump the chopped mushrooms into a cheesecloth or clean kitchen towel (it will turn brown) and squeeze out as much liquid as you can, saving it in a jar for later use (I froze mine to use later in a soup or sauce). Dump the mushrooms into the hot pan, and saute, stirring constantly for even browning. Sprinkle with about 1/2t salt and freshly ground pepper. Saute for about 10 minutes. If you have some sherry, drizzle about 2T over the shrooms to deglaze the pan (about 1 minute). Add the shrooms to the sauteed onions, dot with butter, and allow to cool, stirring occasionally to let off steam. Taste the cooled filling. Add more salt & pepper if needed. 

Roll the Dough
Dust a clean work surface lightly with flour. This dough isn't very sticky, so you only need a little flour to help roll out your dough to about 1/16." Cut silver dollar-sized discs and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. 

My dough cutter is 2" in diameter 

Fill and Shape
Take a disc of dough and using your finger, brush some beaten egg around the inside edge. Scoop a full spoon of filling onto the center. Fold the disc in half like a taco. Press the edges together, then crimp the edge to further seal it. 

If making ahead, freeze the piroshki on the sheet pan, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag. 

unbaked frozen piroshki. space them out farther when baking.

Baking
Preheat oven to 400'. Space out piroshki on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Brush with eggwash, and bake until golden brown. Serve hot. 

my test bake popped open, so I added some eggwash to the seal. either way, they're delicious!

на здоровья! 

Lemony Scones

Let's cut to the chase. These scones are tender and delicious. With zest in the dough, and a tart lemon juice glaze on top, even the gluten-free people in your life will throw caution to the wind and gobble some down. This recipe makes a pretty big batch (I filled two sheet pans with about 30 4-bite scones each). Either make half the recipe, or keep it whole to feed a crowd, or freeze half unbaked for next time*. 

Recipe
4C AP flour
1/4C sugar
1T baking powder (make sure it's fresh!)
1t kosher salt
1/2t cream of tartar 
zest of a large lemon (save the juice for the glaze)

1 stick + 5T unsalted cold butter, cut into small cubes

1C + 6T half & half
1 large egg

powdered sugar & lemon juice for the glaze

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 375'

Using a food processor fitted with a metal blade (or a pastry cutter in a bowl), cut the butter into the dry ingredients until you see some pea-sized pieces, and some course-meal-looking pieces of butter in the flour. These uneven pieces of butter will give you the tender layers you want in a scone or biscuit. DO NOT OVERMIX. 

Whisk the egg into the half & half, then mix into the flour, just until a ball forms. I do this by hand. Then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and gently knead the dough for just a few turns until all the dry bits are incorporated. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 1" thick. Using a pizza cutter or thin, sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into squares, then cut the squares in half to make triangles. Clean, sharp cuts will help the sides of the scones puff up while baking. 

Space the scones out a bit on baking sheets lined with parchment, and bake about 20-25 minutes, until the tops just begin to turn golden. 

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then glaze. If you glaze when the scones are too hot, the glaze will melt right off, like that guy's face in Raiders of the Lost Ark. If you wait til they're too cool, the glaze won't dry properly. 10 minutes is perfect. 

Glaze
Sift about 1.5C of powdered sugar into a glass or ceramic bowl. Do not use metal, or it will react with the lemon juice, and the glaze will taste like metal. Squeeze a little lemon juice over, and stir (again, with something NOT METAL). Add lemon juice until you get a thick but still sort of runny glaze. It should coat the back of a spoon, but still drip...slowly. 

Serve immediately. 

*Note: If you decide to make the full batch and freeze half of them for later, freeze the scones on a sheet pan, then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen. They might just take a bit longer to bake. 

На здоровя!