Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Recipe: Let's Have a Party-Mushroom Croustades

French Croustades are crunchy shells generally made out of pastry dough or toasted bread. They are then topped with a savory mix of herbs and vegetables, most commonly mushrooms.

I was at a party a few years ago when I tried this delicious appetizer. I couldn’t get enough of them and when I went for seconds they were gone! I immediately tracked down the host and begged for the recipe. It was first on my snack list at the next party I hosted and it was a hit! My suggestion: make extra and hide them in a special place.

INGREDIENTS:

Croustade-

  • 2 tbl. lightly salted butter at room temperature
  • 22 slices fresh thin-sliced white bread.

Filling-

  • 4 tbl. lightly salted butter
  • 3 tbl. finely chopped shallots or green onions
  • 8 oz. fresh mushrooms (finely chopped)
  • 2 tbl. all-purpose flour
  • 1 C heavy cream
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 2 oz. finely chopped fresh parsley or 1 tbl dried
  • 1/3 C finely snipped fresh chives or 1 ½ tbl dried
  • ½ tsp. lemon juice
  • 2 tbl. grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 tbl. butter cut into tiny pieces


INSTRUCTIONS:

Coat the inside of 18-2 inch muffin cups with the butter. Using a 3 inch plain round cutter, cut out a circle from each bread slice. Using fingertip, press bread cutouts gently but firmly into each muffin cup so that it fits snugly.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 10 minutes until bread is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool. (Cooled croustades may be made in advance and frozen for later use).

Filling: In a 10 inch skillet, melt 4 tbl. of butter over moderate heat. Add shallots and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms and increase heat to medium high and cook 8-10 minutes while stirring frequently. You are finished when some water cooks out of mushrooms and is evaporated. Remove skillet from heat. Sprinkle flour over mushrooms and stir in.

Heat skillet over moderate heat, gradually stir in cream and then cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and simmers for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in salt, cayenne pepper, chives and lemon juice. Mixture may be refrigerated for 1-2 days.

Assembly: heat oven to 350 degrees. Put Croustades on baking sheets (no need to thaw), and fill each with a heaping tbl. of the mushroom filling. Sprinkle with parmesan and dot with remaining butter.

Bake about 10 minutes, until heated. Makes 18. Allow 2-3 per person.

~Stephanie

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