How to cook saffron mushrooms: recipes with descriptions

It cannot be said that many dishes are prepared from fresh saffron milk caps, but you can serve some interesting things on the table. Soups are prepared from the forest red beauty, fried in a frying pan with potatoes or in sour cream, casseroles are made, incomparable caviar and other yummy things. They also prepare it for the winter. You and I are already salted And pickled saffron milk caps, and I won’t dwell on these recipes in detail, I invite you to get acquainted with them on other pages of the site. Today I am sharing recipes for dishes, and if you prepare them correctly, then when you come from the forest, you can simply and quickly set the table for dinner or a family lunch.

Do you know what saffron milk caps were called in Rus'? They were called the “Grand Duke” because they knew and were able to prepare amazingly delicious everyday dishes for the winter. Previously, in our forests there was such an abundance of red-haired beauty that we supplied even distant France with pickles. Mushrooms were valued no less than the famous local champagne, and were even more expensive.

Features of saffron mushrooms

Did you know that this type of mushroom has been considered a delicacy since ancient times? And all because of their special taste. Saffron milk caps are well absorbed by the digestive system and do not cause heaviness or discomfort.

Among the traditional methods of preparing saffron milk caps, the following culinary processing options are distinguished: frying, boiling, stewing, baking. In addition, these mushrooms lend themselves well to preservation.

How to eat saffron milk caps correctly and safely, what recipes for preparing saffron milk caps to surprise your guests, and what methods of preparing saffron milk caps to use, read on.

Features of the type and useful properties

The saffron milk cap from the genus Mlechniki of the Russula family is a lamellar edible mushroom of the first category. Named for its characteristic copper-red color with orange hues. It has a flat cap (15 cm) depressed in the center with concentric grooves. The leg is cylindrical, hollow. When broken, an orange-reddish milky juice is released.

Ryzhik Real

Contains large quantities of beta-carotene, ascorbic acid and natural forms of B vitamins, saccharides, fiber and ash substances, mineral salts of magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, sodium and iron, which is very beneficial for human health. Lactarioviolin, a natural antibiotic, allows them to be used as a therapeutic drug against bactericidal diseases.

Preparing the mushrooms

The saffron milk caps should be prepared by thoroughly clearing the soil. They are a favorite delicacy of mushroom worms, snails and other midges and insects. Processing of mushrooms includes the following steps:

Sort through the mushrooms, getting rid of wormy specimens.
Rinse under running water and leave in a bowl of water for one hour.
Drain the water and place the mushrooms on a paper towel, turning the caps down.
Young small mushrooms can be selected by immediately sprinkling them with salt. After an hour and a half you can serve fresh. This is an easy to prepare and unusual snack.
More mature mushrooms for further use in cooking can be pre-cooked for 15-20 minutes.

What to do with saffron milk caps after collection

Saffron milk caps are very susceptible to worms, so the success of delivery to the place of their preparation largely depends on proper collection and packaging. After cutting, each specimen requires careful inspection and breaking. Wormy mushrooms or parts thereof must be discarded.

The container should not be very large; it is better to transfer each layer of saffron milk caps with paper or a clean cloth to avoid mechanical damage.

Processing rules

After collecting, the first thing to do is to properly process the collected mushrooms. Experienced experts advise not to put off this task, otherwise you may lose the entire forest harvest at once. You can peel mushrooms both at home and right in the forest.

Mushroom picking

Proper processing includes:

sorting, removing rotten and damaged parts;
cleaning adhered earth, leaves, blades of grass and moss;
cutting off hardened sections of legs;
placing mushrooms in a closed glass, wooden, enamel or plastic container.

How to store

Saffron milk caps cannot be stored fresh for a long time and are difficult to transport. 3-4 hours after collection at room temperature they begin to deteriorate. If they are exposed to direct sunlight, this period is even shorter. In the refrigerator, the spoilage process can be slowed down by up to 24 hours, if you make sure to perform the initial processing of the mushrooms without using water.

Storing saffron milk caps

In the future, only those mushrooms that retain elastic and strong flesh should be used for food.

Which of the saffron milk caps can be cooked?

In terms of the content of proteins and other nutrients, saffron milk caps are compared with chicken, beef, and eggs. Therefore, it is not only an additional ingredient for salads, fillings or meat dishes. Saffron milk caps are good for creating independent dishes, and even those who are on a diet can consume this type of mushroom due to its calorie content.

Mushrooms are eaten dried, fried, salted, stewed, boiled or pickled, and they are excellent in each of these forms.

Recipe for fried saffron milk caps

Before frying the mushrooms, first boil them for 10-15 minutes in salted water. To fry mushrooms, use butter or vegetable oil or pork fat. You can cook saffron milk caps with meat, potatoes, onions, and cabbage. Mushrooms are fried separately for 20 minutes or added to a common frying pan 10-15 minutes before they are fully cooked.

The spices used are salt, pepper and bay leaf; no additional spices or spices are used for this. A standard set of spices is quite enough.

You can experiment and cook saffron milk caps not on the stove, but in a slow cooker or convection oven.

Fried saffron milk caps are good in pies, pancakes, pizza, puff pastries, pies, snacks, and salads.

Red caps in batter

Remember the slogan: “don’t be sad - crunch.” The dish will be appreciated by lovers of crispy snacks. You can make any batter - with beer, with cheese or with water. I suggest making onion.

We take:

Onion – 2 heads.
Eggs - a couple.
Mayonnaise - spoon.
Ketchup - spoon.
Flour.
Saffron milk caps.
Salt, oil.

How to do:

Mix eggs, ketchup, mayonnaise in a bowl.
Grate the onions on a fine grater and add to the mixture. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
Add flour, determine the amount yourself. The batter should be liquid, like pancake batter.
Boil the mushroom caps (10 minutes is enough). Drain the broth and thoroughly dry the preparations.
Pour oil into a frying pan and heat it well. Dip the caps in the batter and place in the oil. Fry until golden brown. Place the finished dish on paper napkins to drain excess oil.

Classic recipe for stewed mushrooms

Every lover of saffron milk caps must cook such mushrooms at least once in their life. And for those who are not yet familiar with the technology of preparing stewed mushrooms, prepare the ingredients:

saffron milk mushrooms – 12 pcs.;
onion – 1 head;
sour cream – 200 ml;
butter – 15 g;
flour for breading;
spices.

Wondering how to cook saffron mushrooms? Prepare them in this order:

First, clean and rinse in a bowl of water.
Boil the saffron milk caps for 15 minutes.
Drain in a colander.
Leave small mushrooms whole, cut large ones into 3-4 pieces.
Finely chop the onion and fry in butter until golden brown.
Sprinkle the saffron milk caps with flour, mix with onions and fry until the liquid has completely evaporated.
Pour in sour cream, reduce heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes.
This dish goes well with hard cheese, with which it can be additionally baked in the oven, slow cooker or microwave, but no more than 10 minutes.

Calories and nutritional value

Mushroom sauce is a low-calorie dish that will not harm your figure. Its calorie content does not exceed 120 kcal and depends on the ingredients. The lean version without the use of cream, sour cream and butter is the most dietary. The less dairy and frying, the lighter the sauce.
Mushroom sauce with broth will contain about 80 kcal, 6 grams of fat, 3 grams of carbohydrates and 1.5 grams of protein.
If you add cream or sour cream, the number of calories will be 108–115 kcal, and the KBJU will be something like this: proteins 10 g, fats 5–15 g (depending on the fat content of the dairy product you take).
It's great for meatless and vegetarian meals, but it's also filling and tasty enough to add variety to your daily home menu. For those who are on a diet, this sauce should be prepared without frying onions and vegetables, but using light sautéing in vegetable oil.

Salted mushrooms

To prepare salted saffron milk caps, two main salting methods are used.

First way:

Prepare the mushrooms: peel, rinse. Do this carefully, carefully sort through the mushrooms, discarding all wormy specimens.
Layer the mushrooms, placing them caps down. Make sure the layer is even and, if necessary, trim the stems of the saffron milk caps to the same level.
Sprinkle each layer on top with salt at the rate of 50 grams of salt per 1 kilogram of mushrooms.
Press the mushrooms on top with a plate wrapped in cloth and press down with heavy pressure to compact it.

Before the saffron milk caps are prepared, you should wait about a month, although the mushrooms will produce juice already on the 1st or 2nd day.

The second way to cook delicious saffron milk caps:

Boil washed and clean mushrooms for 5-7 minutes.
Drain in cheesecloth or colander.
Place in even layers in a container of sufficient volume, cover each layer with salt, add bay leaf, pepper, chopped garlic and dill for flavor.
Press down on top with pressure and place in a cold place for 1.5 months.

How to ferment saffron milk caps correctly

The described recipe involves using only caps of saffron mushrooms for fermentation. Pickled mushrooms are considered healthier than salted ones, so pay attention to this recipe and take note.

So, how to cook saffron mushrooms. The fermentation process looks like this:

Rinse the caps, pour boiling water over them, and place in a colander to drain the water completely.
Prepare the marinade for pouring. Mix for 1 kg of mushrooms: salt - 30 g, sugar - 15 g, whey - 1 tbsp. l., and stir until completely dissolved.
Place the saffron milk caps in a container, sprinkle with additional salt and pour over the marinade.
Mushrooms must be fermented in liquid, and the tank or barrel with saffron milk caps must be pressed down with pressure on top.

It will take 2-3 weeks for the mushrooms to be fully prepared.

Main types of saffron milk caps

We have found out where the saffron mushroom grows, now let’s see what it is like. According to the place of growth, there are two main varieties of camelina - spruce and pine.

Spruce saffron milk cap

Grows in spruce forests. This variety is a medium-sized mushroom - from 2 to 8 cm. The older the mushroom becomes, the deeper the “funnel” on the cap.

Elovik

The edges of this mushroom are not curved, the stem is short. In damp weather, greenish mucus accumulates in the cap - this is a reaction of the fungal substances with the environment. Unlike the classic saffron milk cap, a much lighter yellow-gray, rarely orange, hue, the circles are barely noticeable. The taste of spruce is a little bitter.

The saffron milk caps are real

The saffron milk cap is real.
Such a “masterpiece” is difficult to miss. It looks like it was written from a picture. It is distinguished by a beautiful shiny cap in rich colors - from orange and brown to red-brown. The stem is dense, the color of the cap is even, bright red, it is slightly rounded at the edges. Grows in pine forests. Such mushrooms, as a rule, are immediately used entirely in pickles and marinades. However, to detect it, you will have to carefully examine each tubercle. The real saffron milk cap hides under a thick layer of grass and leaves. The latest mushroom of all saffron milk caps - it is collected until the end of autumn.

Red saffron mushroom

Red saffron milk cap
Not the most popular type of saffron milk cap. It is found almost in impenetrable coniferous forests. It differs in that it does not contain the mucus or milky juice familiar to other types of mushroom. It's practically dry. The leg is also different; it looks like it is covered with flour and has red spots. Quite brittle.

False saffron milk cap

Mushroom pickers insist - there are simply no false mushrooms! There are other types of mushrooms that are very similar to saffron milk caps, some of them are inedible and dangerous!

The real edible saffron mushroom exudes a pleasant smell of fresh resin in places where it breaks.

However, if you look at them more closely, they have nothing in common with real saffron milk caps.

Inedible mushroom. It is also called amber milky. The main difference from the saffron milk cap is the leg. It is usually long, hollow and white in color. And we remember that a real saffron milk cap is usually the same color as its cap, and its stem is hollow.

Amber milkweed is an inedible mushroom, very similar to saffron milk cap.
Death cap. It is quite easy to confuse it with a saffron milk cap - their caps are similar, but the toadstool's leg has a characteristic skirt, which a real saffron milk cap does not have.

The dangerous double of the saffron milk cap is the ubiquitous grebe
Volnushka. The most harmless representative in this group. Volnushka does not pose any threat. However, it is still worth knowing about the difference. The edges of the waves are more rounded, in addition, they are covered with a small fluff.

Volnushka pink

You can accurately check whether a mushroom belongs to a noble family by cutting it off - if after some time the cut site turns blue or dark green, then it is a camelina.

Pine mushroom

It grows only in pine forests. Usually attached to trees or growing close to the rhizome. Unlike other varieties of saffron milk cap, it often grows alone. A characteristic feature is that they like to hide under branches or a thick layer of grass. The circles spread out in wider waves and are often uneven, oval-shaped, or even discontinuous.

The boletus mushroom loves to hide - it is better to look for it directly under the pine trees, in the grass

In the dry season there are more pine mushrooms, in rainy summers there are more spruce mushrooms.

Camelina milky red

Two-colored camelina
Thanks to its specific color, the camelina has a rather noticeable appearance. It lives in coniferous forests and ripens in late autumn. Sometimes green is also added to orange-red colors. Otherwise, it has all the other properties characteristic of saffron milk caps.

How to pickle mushrooms

Ryzhiki in marinade are characterized by a milder taste. They are good for salads, toppings, and appetizers. Prepare pickled saffron milk caps like this:

Peeled mushrooms are poured with salted boiling water.
After a couple of minutes, the water is drained, and the saffron milk caps are placed in a colander and cooled.
Prepare the marinade. For this you will need ¾ glass of water, 1 spoon of salt, 5-10 peppercorns. for 1 kg of mushrooms.
Place a saucepan with the marinade on low heat and simmer it over low heat for about 25 minutes.
Cool the marinade slightly and add ½ cup of vinegar to the already warm liquid.
The saffron milk caps are poured with marinade and cooked for 15-20 minutes.
After cooking, the mushrooms are placed in jars.
The marinade is filtered and poured over the saffron milk caps.
The jars are covered with lids and stored in the cellar, on the balcony or in any other cool place.

Rules for pre-treatment of mushrooms

The main question that housewives ask is whether they need to soak saffron milk caps before pickling.

These mushrooms belong to the genus of laticifers, so there is some bitterness in their taste. But this gives the saffron milk caps some piquancy. To remove all the bitterness from the pulp, you can soak the mushrooms before cooking, but not for long: 1 - 1.5 hours is enough.

You cannot soak saffron milk caps for a long time, as they quickly begin to mold and spoil.

Processing of collected mushrooms should begin as quickly as possible. Greenish-marsh spots quickly appear on the tender flesh of saffron milk caps in the area of cuts and even in places where finger pressure is applied. They do not spoil the appearance of the mushrooms, and provoke the formation of toxins in the pulp.

Pre-processing of raw materials consists of the following stages:

Sorting . Small mushrooms with a dense structure are selected for pickling. Old ones. It is better not to use softened specimens, since they contain a high content of harmful substances and there is obvious bitterness.
Cleaning . Mushrooms are freed from leaves, needles and dirt with a soft brush or sponge. You can also remove the thin film covering the cap. But it is not necessary to do this on young mushrooms. After cleaning, the saffron milk caps are washed under running cold water and dried by placing them on a wire rack.
Boiling . This stage is only relevant for hot marinating. Boil the mushrooms in salted water for 10–15 minutes. Before cold pickling, it is enough to pour boiling water over the saffron milk caps, but you don’t even have to do this.

Expert opinion

Melnikov Vladimir Mikhailovich

Knows 1000 ways to cook, pickle and marinate any types of mushrooms

After cooking the saffron milk caps, the water is poured out. It cannot be used for marinade!

The most popular recipes for dishes with marinated mushrooms

So, how to prepare salads with mushrooms and saffron milk caps. Marinated, they are an indispensable ingredient in salads, for which sour cream, mayonnaise, olive oil, and vinegar are used. Try the recipe below and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Ingredients for preparing a delicious dish with pickled saffron milk caps:

the mushrooms themselves – 250 grams;
fat sour cream – 100 grams;
egg – 1 pc.;
green onions - a bunch;
green peas – 6 tbsp. l.;
pepper and salt to taste.

How to prepare a hearty appetizer with saffron mushrooms using this recipe? Very simple! Steps for preparing pickled mushrooms and peas:

The egg is hard boiled and then cut into cubes.
Mushrooms are cut into halves or quarters; small ones can be left whole.
Green onions are finely chopped and mixed with spices and sour cream.
Mushrooms, eggs, peas are mixed and poured with sour cream sauce.

How to cook delicious saffron milk caps

These secrets will help you prepare delicious dishes with mushrooms.

First, remember that the quality of the prepared dish depends on the mushrooms you choose and their freshness. When the mushroom is broken, the pulp should be brightly saturated, and a juice with a carrot tint and a pleasant aroma will form on the cut. If, when you cut into a saffron mushroom, you see white juice and smell a strong aroma, this means that the mushroom is not suitable for consumption.

Don't add a lot of spices and herbs. This can spoil the taste of the mushrooms. Just add a pinch of salt, a few bay leaves and a couple of peppercorns.

Here are the recipes, secrets, subtleties and methods for preparing these forest mushrooms. Try it and you will be surprised by the result.

Legend

There is a legend according to which humanity owes the appearance of saffron milk caps to the good gnome, or rather his hat. Dwarves lead a reclusive lifestyle and are very unsociable. But there are exceptions to all rules. In ancient times, there was one strange one among them. He wore an orange hat and walked towards people, helping them: either he would throw some gold to the poor, or he would lead them to a treasure.

But they didn’t always pay him good for good. The dwarf is tired of sympathizing with greedy and greedy people. He put his bright orange hat on the grass and disappeared. Since then no one has heard anything about him. And his hat turned into a beautiful mushroom - saffron milk cap.

In Rus', the orange mushroom was called the “Grand Duke”: they knew and knew how to prepare it for the winter and prepare amazingly tasty everyday dishes. Few people know that Peter I loved saffron milk caps; mushrooms were considered a delicacy; they were sent to France and cost like expensive champagne.