Mushroom Croustade
Cindy Wambeam
I just typed this recipe up for a friend, so I thought I'd go ahead and
post it here. This is actually very easy to make, quite elegant, and it's
always a huge hit when I make it for others. The recipe is taken from a
book called, _The Complete Vegetarian Cuisine_ by Rose Elliot. This is
one of my favorite recipe books, especially when I need something fancy or
have an odd vegetable I'm not sure how to use. I'd recommend it to each
of you.
cindy
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CROUSTADE OF MUSHROOMS
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SERVES 4-6
2/3 cups almonds, or other nuts, slivered
1 cup fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs
1/2 cup ground almonds or other finely ground nuts
1 small onion, peeled and grated
1 garlic clove, crushed
7 tablespoons butter, softened (vegan: use margarine)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 1/4 cup sour cream (vegan: use nondairy cream or yogurt)
freshly grated nutmeg
paprika
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Reserve a few of the slivered almonds for garnishiing. Mix together
the breadcrumbs, ground and remaining slivered almonds, or other nuts,
onion, garlic and 6 tablespoons of the softened butter. Season well with
salt and pepper. The mixture should hold together like a crumbly pastery.
3. Press the mixture into the base of an 8-inch loose-bottomed tart pan
(I use a pie plate and it works fine). Bake for 20 minutes, until
golden-brown and crisp.
4. Meanwhile, saute the mushrooms in the remaining butter for 15-20
minutes, until all the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt & pepper.
5. Spoon the mushrooms on top of the croustade. Stir the sour cream with
a fork, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then swirl about half the
sour cream on top of the mushrooms, so that some show through the cream.
Sprinkle with paprika.
6. Return the croustade to the oven for 10-15 minutes, to heat through,
then removed from the pan and serve on a warmed plate. Scatter reserved
slivered almonds over the top. Serve the rest of the sour cream
separately, in a small bowl or pitcher.
VARIATIONS: Croustade of Leeks -- replace the mushrooms with 1 pound
cleaned and sliced leeks. Cook the leeks in a little lightly salted
boiling water for about 10 minutes, then drain well and add the sour cream
and seasoning.
NOTE FROM ME: I've never made the leek version, but it sounds good.
Also, the sour cream & nutmeg sauce is fabulous -- I always make extra to
serve on the side, since most people want more.
_ .......................
___(_) _ __ Cindy Wambeam : Computers are not :
/ __| | '_ \ New Mexico State University : intelligent. They :
| (__| | | | | English department : only think they are.:
\___|_|_| |_|.......==>cwam...@nmsu.edu<==....:.....................:
(http://scf.nmsu.edu/~cwambeam)