A Visit to Russia and a Russian Inspired, Mushroom Stroganoff Pizza...

 

 

A few years ago I was very fortunate indeed, to be able to visit Russia and the Ukraine and was a guest for a lovely time at the British Embassy in Moscow. The stay in the British Embassy was amazing... 

They looked after us so well and it was such a treat and a privilege to stay in their lovely high-up penthouse apartment and each evening to sit outside on the decking with a glass of Russian champagne in hand and take in the sunset and surrounding vistas of the fascinating city of Moscow. 

An early evening view of the city of Moscow from our penthouse apartment at the British Embassy,

The view takes in one of the famous Moscow Seven Sisters, seen here on the left, part of the neo-classical buildings build in the Stalinist era and now, ironically, part of the Radisson Hotel group whose HQ is based in the USA.

And a few minutes later when the sun set, the lights shimmered across the water...

 

The Russian and Ukrainian cultures were so exotic and different from our own.

The local markets were not only full of stalls selling both the familiar and the unfamiliar vegetables and flowers but also selling amber jewellery, painted religious icons, fur hats and Matryoshka dolls...

The buildings in the cities were also amazing...

 

The interiors of the large churches we visited were on the whole, rather dark and gloomy and it was difficult to see around but when you came across a lit area, the views were incredible, with the walls covered in vibrant colours and gold leaf...

 

Each time you turned a corner inside these buildings, there were yet more beautiful views...

 

The sights we visited and saw were fantastic.

The weather, however, was not that good-frequent very heavy rain and even an unexpected mini tornado in the heart of the city of Moscow on one very, very scary occasion. And many thanks indeed to some gallant Russian policemen who saw us hanging onto to some spindly trees for dear life as the tornado suddenly hit and enabled us to take shelter in their local police station whilst the tornado passed by!

Afterwards it was really scary to see the devastation and debris on the path we would have been walking down. Huge billboards, fences and trees had been torn down and were strewn across the very path we would have been walking...

On other days it was much more peaceful...

There were some lovely sights to behold at the end of the day, when miraculously the weather would be calm and there would be a lovely pink sunset.

 

Even off the usual tourist trail there were incredible places to see, though we were usually the only English speaking people to be visiting...

 

You could turn a corner and just literally gasp at what you saw...

 

And just through an open doorway would be another incredible view...

 

Wedding parties would also visit the scenic spots-it was not unheard of for them to visit 12 places on the day of the wedding to get those all important photo opportunities-we saw many such couples...such as this one at The Hermitage in St Petersburg.

 

Just wonderful sights on every corner, but I won’t go on as I would be here all day...

 

Gardening wise I did not get to see many home gardens. Most of the local professional people I met, lived in very tiny city apartments and found the fact that I lived in a house with more than one bedroom and with a garden-albeit small-truly amazing indeed...The more well off i.e. consultant doctors had a second home in the countryside-a Dacha-here they would grow lots of fruit and vegetables which they would bring back to their city home. The Dachas though were far from being opulent, summer homes. Many were very simple and basic, lacking electricity etc and situated right next to main roads but were still considered a ‘luxury’ by Russian standards...

Food wise I had a ‘few’ problems as I do not eat meat...Much of the Russian cuisine revolves around meat for the well-off as it is considered a luxury. Trying to say I did not eat meat was difficult as that could be construed as an insult implying I did not think the host could afford meat... 

Luckily I eat fish, and one of the favourite dishes on offer was ‘fish and chips with champagne’.  The fish although called Salmon, was usually roast Sturgeon and served with fried potatoes coated in herbs and spices and the meal was accompanied with copious amounts of Russian champagne-which, I have to say, was dramatically cheaper than even the imported Pepsi or Coco cola!!!

In the Ukraine, there were many dishes with peppers, cream and paprika. We were advised though, by The British Foreign Office, to avoid dishes including mushrooms when visiting Kiev because of the resulting nuclear fallout from Chernobyl which still affects mushrooms even then, grown in the vicinity.

And as for Russian Vodka...well don’t get me started...I am a complete and utter novice, and even after many, many ‘lessons’ I am still an utter novice...ice, lemon, lime, frozen, partly frozen, shots, mixers etc..

but I did enjoy those lessons...

Back to the food...

Continuing on the Russian theme...

Mushroom Stroganoff Pizza 

 

Many years ago I had the sublime pleasure of enjoying a Mushroom Stroganoff Pizza-not in Russia ironically but whilst visiting Swansea in Wales of all places...

Not your usual pizza I admit. The base was thin and crispy with a tangy tomato sauce overlaid with a scrumptious, creamy, mushroom stroganoff topping. The result was truly delicious....

Since then I have tried and tried to reproduce that fabulous pizza. I offer this version but it is still not quite right...my search will therefore continue...

For the pizza base-and my thanks to my good friend Wobbly Mouse for the original recipe for the base which I have adapted slightly...

Pizza base

275g Flour (I used on this occasion a mixture of Welsh Oak Smoked flour and Spelt flour-both from the Bacheldre Welsh Flour mill)

1/2 sachet easy blend yeast

1 tsp British Extra Virgin British Rapeseed oil

200 ml hand hot water

For the topping

450g Mushrooms-torn into chunks

2 Onions-sliced

3 fat garlic cloves-finely crushed

 1 TBSP finely chopped fresh Thyme

2 tsp Sweet Spanish Paprika

 110g Crème Fraiche-I used Rodda’s Cornish Crème Fraiche

A small glass of Vodka

A small glass of white wine

140g Tomato puree

1 ball of Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella cheese-sliced

Sea Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

 A little butter

Little British Extra Virgin British Rapeseed Oil

Sieve the flour into a large bowl, stir in a tsp of salt and the easy blend yeast.

Make a well in the middle, stir in the oil and water with a round bladed knife

Mix to form a soft, slightly sticky dough

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 15 minutes until a smooth, elastic dough is formed.

This will make one large pizza or two 25 smaller thin pizzas.

To form the base, stretch the dough out as thin as possible on a parchment lined tray.  Leave to rise in a warm place for 30/40 minutes.

Whilst the dough is rising, make the filling.

Thickly slice the onion and mushrooms and very gently fry in a little butter and rapeseed oil. Add the chopped garlic and finely chopped fresh thyme. Add the small glasses of vodka and white wine and burn off the alcohol for a couple of minutes.

Add the tsp of paprika and the Crème Fraiche, season with salt and pepper and very gently simmer until all is unctuous, creamily thick, and bubbly...You want the resulting mixture to be quite thick so it does not make the pizza base soggy when added. Once it has cooked, turn off the heat and allow it to cool slightly.

Heat the oven to 210C.

Once the base has risen cover it with the tomato puree. Make sure you spread the tomato right to the edges of the pizza. Add the cooled mushroom topping and spread evenly across the whole pizza. Top with thin slices of the mozzarella cheese.

Place in the top of the hot oven for 25 minutes until all is hot, bubbling and slightly golden-usually about 15 minutes or so.

 

That’s all for this post. I would be happy to post some more on my trip to Russia and the Ukraine and some more Russian inspired recipes if anyone is interested...

Apologies also to those that were expecting a post on wild food and wild garlic. It will be coming, but unfortunately I had a fall this week and severely injured my knee and, consequently, my mobility is somewhat impaired.

Plus it is pouring with rain this weekend-not my favourite weather to go walking in the woods-and considering last year I ended up scrabbling up steep banks of slippery clay slopes and even at one point having to climb a tree and edge out along a branch to return to my garden, I feel somewhat constrained this weekend to stay close to the house!!

Until next time, enjoy your evenings...wherever you may be...

A Moscow evening...