Porcini Crusted Elk Wellington Creamed Spinach And Foie Gras In Puff Pastry Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Heat the butter in a saute pan and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Meanwhile, squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a bowl. Add the onion mixture, scallions, Gruyere, Parmesan, eggs, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and pignolis. Mix well.
• Unfold one sheet of puff pastry and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the spinach mixture in the middle of the pastry, leaving a 1-inch border. Brush the border with the egg wash. Roll out the second piece of puff pastry on a floured board until it's an inch larger in each direction. Place the second sheet of pastry over the spinach and seal the edges, crimping them with a fork. Brush the top with egg wash but don't let it drip down the sides or the pastry won't rise. Make three small slits in the pastry, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the pastry is lightly browned. Transfer to a cutting board and serve hot.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cut the puff pastry into 60 even squares. Using a pastry brush, brush each square with the beaten egg. Place the squares on a greased sheet pan. Apply the black sesame seeds to the egg wash on top of the squares in different patterns to make them look like dice. Bake the puffs until golden brown about 12 minutes. Let the puffs cool. Cut the puffs in half horizontally for sandwiching.
• Clean and cut all the mushrooms. Heat a large saute pan. Add the cooking oil and saute mushrooms in small batches seasoning with garlic, shallots, salt and pepper. Spread sauteed mushrooms out onto a large tray and allow to cool. Chop the mushrooms and return them to the saute pan. Add the white wine and reduce until the liquid is almost completely evaporated. Add the cream and reduce again until thick.
• Place one scoop of mushroom mixture on the bottom layer of the puff pastry and then top with the other layer to form the sandwich.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the frozen pastry shells on the baking sheet and bake until they puff and become golden brown, about 20 minutes. Using a small knife, cut out the center of the pastry shells.
• Meanwhile, stir the cream, milk, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in the spinach, Fontina cheese, Parmesan, and green onions. Spoon the spinach mixture into the baked pastry shells. Bake until the pastries are golden brown and the filling is hot, about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pastries to a platter and serve.

Steps:

• Wash the morels several times in water being very careful to remove the dirt from the interstices of the honeycombed cups. Lay on a towel to dry.
• Cut the puff pastry in half lengthwise and then in thirds crosswise to make 3 1/2-inch squares. Make 1/4-inch L-shaped cuts on opposing corners of the squares. Leaving 1/4-inch in opposite corners uncut. Whip the egg with a fork in a small bowl to make egg wash. Brush the wash over the pastry squares. Fold 1 corner over to the inside edge of the opposite edge, then repeat on the other side. This will make a 1/4-inch edge on the square with small diamond shapes on 2 corners.
• Put egg wash on the edges of the squares and place on a sheet pan with parchment paper. Place the pan in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Bake the pastry squares for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Make sure not to undercook, as the pastry will fall when removed from the oven. These pastry squares may be made in advance and placed in an airtight container when cool.
• Blanch the asparagus in salted boiling water for approximately 2 minutes depending on the size of the asparagus stalks, or until just tender. Cool under cold water and set aside.
• In a saute pan, heat the butter. Lightly dust the morels in flour and place in the pan with the chopped shallots, salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until tender, and then add Madeira wine. Be sure to remove from the heat before adding the wine as the alcohol may flame. Return to heat and add the heavy cream and a pinch of nutmeg. Simmer for 5 to 6 minutes until the cream has reduced to about 2 cups. Add the asparagus and turn the heat to low just to keep hot.
• Cut around the center square of the pastries, just 1/4-inch deep and remove the lid. Place the squares on the center of your plates and with a slotted spoon scoop the morels and asparagus into the center. Divide the sauce over the squares evenly and replace the lid. Garnish with chopped or whole sprigs of parsley.

Steps:

• Wipe the portobello mushrooms clean using barely moistened paper towels. Remove the stems, then slice off the excess mushroom rim that curls over the gills. (You are making sure the stem side has a flat surface so it will sear properly.) Reserve the stems and scraps for use in Step 2. Brush the portobello mushroom caps on both sides with 3 tablespoons olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large (12-inch) nonstick skillet over medium-high and cook the mushrooms, gill-side down, until caramelized, 4 to 5 minutes, then flip and cook until softened, about 4 more minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, gill-side down, to cool.
• Prepare the mushroom filling: Separate and reserve any mushroom stems. Roughly chop about two-thirds of the mixed mushrooms, then working in batches, transfer the roughly chopped mushrooms to a food processor and pulse until chopped into small pieces. (They should range from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch in size.) Transfer the chopped mushrooms to a large bowl. By hand, finely chop the remaining mixed mushrooms and stems and the reserved portobello mushroom stems and trimmings into 1/4-inch pieces; add them to the large bowl. (Chopping most of the mixed mushrooms in the food processor will save you some time, but you'll want to chop some by hand for texture.)
• Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. (You'll use this to quickly cool the cooked mushrooms in Step 4. If preparing in advance, you can simply let the mixture cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.) Wipe out the skillet. Working in two batches, warm 1/4 cup olive oil over medium-high heat. Add about half the mushrooms, shallots, garlic and rosemary, and season lightly with salt and generously with pepper. (You'll add soy sauce later, so avoid overseasoning at this stage.) Cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized and tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and repeat with the remaining 1/4 cup oil and the remaining mushrooms, shallots, garlic and rosemary.
• Once the second batch of chopped mushrooms is cooked and caramelized, return the first batch to the skillet. Add the port, soy sauce and thyme leaves and cook over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates, 3 to 5 minutes. (If using balsamic vinegar instead of port, reduce the cook time to 1 to 2 minutes.) Transfer the mushroom mixture back to the medium bowl and stir in the walnuts. Set the bowl over the prepared ice bath to cool, stirring occasionally, at least 20 minutes.
• Prepare the cider-caramelized onions: Wipe out the skillet, then melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, sprinkle with the sugar, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the cider and cook, stirring every few minutes, until the liquid evaporates and the onions are caramelized, about 15 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, if using, then transfer to a bowl to cool.
• Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface and lightly dust it with flour. Unfold your thawed puff pastry and set it on the parchment. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the pastry out into a 13-by-16-inch rectangle. Transfer the parchment paper and puff pastry to a large sheet pan. Rotate the sheet pan, if needed, so that one of the 16-inch sides is closest to you. Arrange half the cooked mushroom mixture in a strip in the center of the puff pastry (it should be about 4-by-10 inches), leaving a 1½-inch border at the ends. Arrange the caramelized onions in a single, 3-inch-wide strip on top of the mushroom mixture, leaving about ½ inch of the mushrooms exposed on both sides. Lay the portobello mushrooms on top of the onions in a single line, stem-side down. (If the portobellos are too large to all fit in a row, square off edges so the cut sides lay snugly without overlapping.) Spoon the remaining mushroom mixture on top of the filling, covering the portobello mushrooms, then gently pack the mushroom mixture to form an even layer on top. (You can shape this the same way you might shape a freeform meatloaf.)
• To assemble, lift one side of the puff pastry over the mushroom filling to almost completely cover it. Brush the surface of the puff pastry covering the mushrooms with the beaten egg. Lift the remaining puff pastry flap over the egg-washed puff pastry, gently stretching it if need be to create a second layer of puff pastry on top, then gently press the top layer of pastry onto the lower layer using your fingertips to seal. Brush the insides of the short ends of the puff pastry and press to seal. Trim any parchment paper that extends beyond the sheet pan.
• Brush the exposed puff pastry on top with the remaining beaten egg. Decorate the top of the puff pastry as you like: Create a cross-hatch pattern by gently slicing through only the top layer of puff pastry in parallel lines, then cutting parallel lines in another direction. (Apply very little pressure, as you only want to cut through the top layer of puff pastry, not the second layer.) You can also slice small decorative vents in the puff pastry (be sure to slice all the way through both layers of puff pastry), or top with additional strips or shapes made from egg-washed puff pastry.
• Transfer to the middle rack in the oven and bake until puff pastry is deep golden and flaky, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool slightly on the baking sheet, about 10 minutes.
• While the Wellington bakes, prepare the optional port reduction: In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium. Add the shallot, garlic and peppercorns, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the port, stock and thyme, and cook over medium-high until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 25 to 30 minutes. Strain the sauce, discarding the solids. (You should have about 1/2 cup sauce.) Cover and set aside until ready to serve. When ready to serve, warm the sauce over medium. Once warmed, whisk in the butter, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
• To serve the mushroom Wellington, cut it crosswise into 8 even slabs. (Each slab will include a pretty cross-section showcasing the halved portobello mushroom in the center; this is considered the presentation side.) Serve each piece presentation-side up. Pass with port reduction for drizzling on top.