Wild Mushroom Tart

It is that time of year again!  Wild mushrooms abound, at least in some parts of the world!  Unfortunately I am here in New Orleans and have yet to venture north or east in search of the bounty.  But luckily I still have some dehydrated mushrooms from last year's abundant mountain-top harvest!  This was my first time making this tart and it turned out remarkably well.  I paired it with the tart green salad with anchovy dressing to help balance the rich creaminess of the tart.  There was also the added bonus of using the leftover tart crust for an impromptu apple tart!  The earthiness of wild mushrooms is truly divine.  We ate it as a main course but if you cut it into smaller pieces you could serve it with an aperitivo.  But no matter how you slice it, it is so good you'll wish you had more!

Tart Crust
See recipe from the (Easy) Onion Parsley Tart
Once the tart crust is rolled out as thin as you can get it place your tart pan on it and, adding an inch to circumference of the pan, cut out your shell.  Place the shell in the tart pan and press on all sides so that it fits snugly.  If excess dough hangs over the edges roll your rolling pin over the top to remove them.  Place in freezer for 30 minutes to rest and chill.
Preheat oven to 350.
Butter one side of aluminum foil and place inside the tart.  Fill with dried beans (I keep a bag reserved just for this use).  Bake the tart for 20 minutes.  Take the tart out, remove the foil and beans, prick the crust bottom all over with a fork. Put it back in the oven and cook for another ten minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Filling
1 & 1/2 cups of mixed dehydrated wild mushrooms, re-hydrated, squeezed of excess liquid and cut to bite sized pieces*
3 shallots, diced
1/2 cup loosely packed parsley leaves, diced after measuring
3 medium cloves garlic
1 teaspoon Piment d'Espelette (or medium-heat paprika)
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1/2 pint table cream (do not use whip cream)
4 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
3 dashes of high quality vinagre de Jerez (sherry vinegar)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste


Heat a large saute pan on medium-high.  Add the oil and saute the shallot with some salt until it just starts to color.  Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes.  Add the butter and stir to melt.  Add the garlic and saute for one minute more.  Add the flour and mix.  Add cream and buttermilk and cook to mix, it should thicken a bit.  Add the cheese, vinegar, and parsley, mix and remove from heat.

Putting It All Together
Brush Dijon mustard and a drizzle of olive oil over the bottom of the tart crust.  Pour the filling into the tart. Grate a bit more Parmigiano over the top.  Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes until the crust and filling are golden brown.

Pairing Suggestions:  Serve with a Chianti Classico or Vino Nobile di Montepulciano


*Note: To re-hydrate mushrooms soak them in hot water for 20 minutes. Once the mushrooms are done soaking I freeze the liquid to use at a later date for mushroom risotto. If you have fresh wild mushrooms use them instead! I would use about two cups of fresh mushrooms, maybe even more!  Any mix will work with this. In fact if you are looking to save money or don't want to use wild mushrooms any variety of (edible!) mushroom will work...  For this tart I used 3/4 cup morels and 3/4 cup chanterelles.  I couldn't find my porcini (maybe I already ate them all!) or I would have added those as well. 

Fig Tart

With an abundance of figs at the farmer's market right now I thought I would experiment with a simple tart. The frangipane added a nice creamy touch, but it it is just as good without the almond paste. I used two varieties of small figs: Celeste and LSU Purple.

This made one tasty, good looking treat!

Ingredients
One Crust (recipe follows)
Frangipane (recipe follows)
10-20 figs, depending on size
One egg yolk

One tablespoon of melted butter

Crust
8 tbs. unsalted butter (chilled)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4-9 tbs. ice water

Cut the butter into small squares. In a medium size bowl, using your hands, mix the butter in with the flour until the butter is flattened into small pieces about the size of dimes. Make a well in the middle and add the ice water. Mix until the dough forms a ball. You should use just enough water for the mixture to hold together (at high altitude I am using almost 9 tbs. of water, in New Orleans I use less than 5tbs). Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Frangipane

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg

5 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon organic orange zest

dash of cream or whole milk

Preheat oven to 350. On a baking sheet toast almonds for about 8 minutes until they just start giving off an aroma. Transfer to a dish and let them cool.

In a food processor blend almonds and sugar until finely ground. Add butter, cream, egg and orange zest and pulse until well blended.

This will make a lot more frangipane than this recipe requires. I have frozen my leftovers in two separate containers until I decide what to make next with this tasty paste!

Putting it all together

Preheat oven to 375F.

On a floured work surface roll out the dough as thin as you can in all directions. Fold it in half over itself legthwise and then horizontally. Roll out again. Continue to fold and roll at least four or five times. The dough should be very thin and stretchy. At this point transfer to a baking sheet and spread a layer of frangipane on the surface of the shell leaving about an inch of border all the way around. Slice figs into quarters (large figs) or halves (small figs). Set half a fig down in the center, skin side down. Add concentric circles of figs around until you reach the perimeter border. Fold the edges up and over the outside row of figs, pinching the dough together as necessary. Brush the outside crust with egg yolk for a nice golden crust. Brush the figs with melted butter. Sprinkle sugar over the figs and crust.

Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Pairing suggestions: A tasty muscat from Australia would be perfect!

(Easy) Onion Parsley Tart

The easy is an aside because the tart is so good regardless of its ease to make. I cooked this tart as an appetizer for the first time last night and it turned out quite well. The trick is getting the crust down, but once you do you can use it for anything (split it in two and you can have a pizza appetizer and an apple tart dessert, or you can use it to make crawfish pies!). The flavors all come together nicely and make it an irresistible, mouth-watering meal opener.

Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
7 tbs. unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 tbs. olive oil
5-9 tbs. ice water

Cut the butter into small squares. In a medium size bowl, using your hands, mix the butter in with the flour until the butter is flattened into small pieces about the size of dimes. Add the olive oil and mix. Make a well in the middle and add the ice water. Mix until the dough forms a ball. You should use just enough water for the mixture to hold together (at high altitude I am using almost 9 tbs. of water). Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Topping
Olive oil
2 large yellow onions, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly
5 tbs. parsley
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper

In a skillet put a couple of table spoons of olive oil and add the onions, salt and cayenne pepper, saute over medium heat until onions are soft and translucent, add pepper and parsley and saute for one or two additional minutes.

Putting It Together
Creole Mustard (or Dijon Mustard)
Olive Oil
Crust
Topping
Parmigiano Reggiano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Roll out the crust on a lightly floured surface. Fold in half and roll out again. Repeat two or three additional times (the more times you fold it and roll it out the flakier your crust will be, so adjust according to desired flakiness!). Put finished crust onto a flat, very lightly floured baking sheet. Put a dollop of mustard onto the center of the crust and drizzle olive oil over the mustard. Mix the oil and mustard with a brush and brush over the surface of the crust, covering the entire surface (add more mustard if necessary). Distribute the onion mixture evenly over the crust (there should be enough onion mixture to cover the entire crust without leaving much open crust; cut off excess crust if you have too much and use for something else (like that apple tart!)). Grate enough Parmigiano over the onion so that you can barely make out the onions.

Cook for thirty-five minutes or until the smell is too tempting to resist.

Wine Suggestion
Equally versatile with a light, fruity red such as a beaujolais or a more peppery Cotes-du-Rhone.

Enjoy!