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Nest of Wild Autumn Mushrooms with Sherry-Mustard Sauce

Nest of Wild Autumn Mushrooms with Sherry-Mustard Sauce

This is a dish we served for several years in the 1990s. The “nest” of flaky puff pastry holds savory mushrooms and their sauce. In the spring, we’d make a green sauce from wild nettles. Here we move into autumn flavors with a sherry and Dijon mustard accompaniment. Though we made our own puff pastry, I suggest you use frozen pre-made sheets to save time. If you’re up for making your own, check the internet.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Side Dish
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

For the puff pastry cases

  • 1 pound puff pastry, 2 (¼-inch) sheets*
  • 2 egg yolks, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water

For the wild mushroom filling

  • ½ ounce dried morel mushrooms
  • 4 ounces fresh wild mushrooms
  • 1 teaspoon butter
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • ⅔ cup stock
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon caraway seeds
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Madeira wine
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • Salt, to taste

For the sherry-mustard sauce

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons shallot, minced
  • 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
  • ⅔ cup dry sherry
  • 2 cups cream
  • ¼ cup Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • Salt, pepper, to taste
  • Chopped chives or parsley

Instructions
 

To make the puff pastry cases:

  • Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  • *If your puff pastry sheets are ⅛-inch thick, you can use beaten egg yolk to glue two sheets together to make ¼-inch thick sheets.
  • With a cookie cutter, cut out four, 3¼-inch diameter circles from the puff pastry. Do this with cold pastry so that the cut edges don’t get crimped. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  • Next, cut four more 3¼-inch circles. Press a smaller cookie cutter in the center of each so that it creates a ½-inch to ¾-inch wide ring. Don’t remove the center round, you’ll remove the center after baking.
  • Brush the top of the first four circles with the beaten egg yolk. Lay the second four exactly atop of yolked circles. Press gently to glue them together. Brush the tops (but not the sides) with egg. With the back of a knife, score a repeating “V” pattern around the edge of the upper rings.
  • Place in the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes until browned, then further dry the shells in a very low-temp oven for 20 minutes.

To make the wild mushroom filling:

  • Grind the dried morels to powder in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle.
  • Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Sauté the shallot and garlic until translucent. Add the stock, morel powder and mushrooms. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the sugar, caraway seeds, soy sauce, Madeira wine, and heavy cream, and simmer for another 30 minutes. Season to taste. Finish with a touch more Madeira.

To make the sherry-mustard sauce:

  • Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then sauté shallot and garlic until translucent. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the sherry. Simmer until reduced by half. Add in the cream, Dijon mustard, paprika, salt and pepper. Simmer until it begins to thicken, then add parsley. Keep warm or gently reheat before plating.

To serve:

  • With a small, sharp knife, carefully cut out the center lid of the pastry, and hollow out the insides. Spoon the sauce onto a plate. Place pastry “nest” in center; fill with the hot mushroom filling. Garnish with chives or parsley.

Notes

Please note: This recipe has been adapted for use in Edible Seattle.
ADAPTED AND EXCERPTED FROM THE SPIRIT OF THE HERBFARM RESTAURANT, WITH PERMISSION
Zimmerman in 1986 as the first chef of The Herbfarm. Courtesy of Carrie Van Dyck.
Keyword mushroom

Edible Seattle

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