Buttery, flakey, and Deeply Delicious
These Parisian mushroom tarts are insanely delicious. Buttery, flakey puff pastry encapsulates a rich and deeply flavorful mushroom, proscuitto, port wine, and garlic mixture that has other-worldly flavor. Serve as a wonderfully warming autumn dinner or as a welcome change of routine for lunch or dinner when the holidays arrive.
Ingredients:
For the Mushroom Filling
1/4 ounce dried cépe mushrooms
1/4 ounce dried morel mushrooms
1/2 cup vegetable stock
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
1/2 pound fresh white mushrooms
1 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
pinch of cayenne
pinch of nutmeg
coarse kosher salt
1 or 2 thick slices of dry-cured ham such as Bayonne or Proscuitto
1/4 cup port wine
1 egg lightly whipped with 1 tablespoon of whole milk
For the Puff Pastry
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter
Preparation:
1. Make the Puff Pastry
Start the dough
Place the flour in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center.
melt two tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat taking care not to brown the butter.
Add the water, salt, vinegar, and melted butter into the well
Whisk the liquid briefly to mix
Using a fork gently fold the flour into the liquid
take care not to overmix, the less mixed the more flakey
You're done mixing when the dough looks like this.
When mixed knead the dough a few times with the palm of your hand
Form the dough into a ball and chill for about two hours
Add in the butter block
Lightly flour a large work surface
roll out to a rough rectangle about 1/4-inch thick
add the chilled butter to the very center third of the (rough) rectangle
Folding like a business letter fold the bottom third of the dough up over the chilled butter in the middle third
Then fold the upper third down over the dough covering the butter. Chill for 30 minutes
Do a series of three roll-outs, three-way-folds, and chills
Pull the chilled dough-and-butter "letter" out onto a lightly floured surface
roll out to a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick
fold the rolled-out dough rectangle back into a business letter starting with the bottom third...
...then folding over the upper third
Chill for thirty minutes. REPEAT THIS PROCESS OF ROLLING OUT, RE-FOLDING, AND CHILLING THREE MORE TIMES.
At the end of the fourth roll-out leave the rolled-out rectangle without re-folding and chill another 30 minutes
2. Prepare the mushroom filling
Combine the dried mushrooms with the stock and heat over medium heat to…
A simmer. Turn off the heat and let the mushrooms cool off for 30-60 minutes, this allows the flavors to infuse.
Chop the garlic and shallots
Slice the white mushrooms
Your ingredients will look like this
Cut rounds out of the rolled-out, chilled puff pastry
And line the tartelette molds you are using. Tonight I'm using a cupcake pan because I left my tartelette pans at the bakery where I am the pastry chef.
A cupcake pan will yield about 5 tartelettes, tartelette pans will yield about 4. Line the pans completely
For decoration I used a fluted-edge pastry roller to cut out leaves. Chill the lined pans, decorations, and remaining dough while you complete the next steps
Drain the liquid out of the mushrooms in the pan. Set the mushrooms aside. Reserve the liquid
Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat
Add the shallots and garlic
Sauté until golden
Add the sliced white mushrooms
Sauté until golden. Remove to a bowl and reserve.
In the same pan over medium heat melt two tablespoons of butter
Sprinkle the flour over the butter
Prepare a blonde-colored roux. For details on the production and use of roux check out http://reclaimingthegoodnameoftheepicurean.com/2011/10/10/back-to-basics-blonde-and-brown-roux/
Add the reserved mushroom/vegetable stock and stir until the roux is combined with the liquid over medium heat
Allow the sauce to chicken slightly, stirring constantly over medium heat
Pour the dried mushrooms you cooked in the stock back in along with the Sauteéd white mushrooms, garlic, and shallot
Stir until combined
Remove the thick, golden mushroom and sauce mixture to a bowl.
Coarsely chop the dried ham or proscuitto
Heat another two tablespoons of butter in the same pan you've been using, when hot add the ham and sauté until golden and crispy
Deglaze the pan by pouring in the port wine and, over medium heat scraping all the dark little flavor nuggets off the bottom of the pan
It will look like this and smell amazingly good
Keeping the heat at medium add the saucy mushroom mixture back into the pan
Stir over medium heat just until combined
Fill the lined tartelette pans just to the top. Take a pastry brush and brush the exposed top of the puff pastry lining the pans with the egg-and-milk mixture (professionals refer to this as "egg wash")
Cut circles out of the remaining puff pastry and cover the mushroom mixture, pressing the dough down over the egg-washed pastry in the pan. Affix the decorations to the top and gently brush egg wash over the tops. The egg wash gived the tartelettes their golden brown color
Bake the tartelettes in a pre-heated 400-degree oven for 20-30 minutes. If you like your pastries darker cook them until they look like mine, but just pull them out sooner for a lighter, more golden appearance. When the crust is the color you like they're done.
Enjoy with a nice, slightly spicy French red wine. Bordeaux lends itself perfectly to this dish. I would recommend Château Lalande 2001 Bordeaux, for a review of this bottle check out http://reclaimingthegoodnameoftheepicurean.com/2011/10/05/hump-day-vices-chateau-lalande-an-exceptional-value-from-bordeaux/. Bon Appétit
D. McGray
Travis Brock Kennedy
