Photo by Patrick Harvey
Provenance of Dish
Self -- also published in "Missouri's Wild Mushrooms" by Maxine Stone
Recipe
Ingredients
Duxelle:
½ stick or more of butter
2 large leeks
3 cloves garlic
1 medium hen of the woods
(Grifola frondosa)
salt & pepper to taste
Tarts:
1 package prepared pie crust*
½ pound Havarti cheese
Penzey’s smoked Spanish paprika
Instructions
Make a duxelle of your hen of the woods.
Chop the lower 1/3 of the leeks.
Sauté leeks in butter with crushed garlic cloves.
Put hen of the woods through food processor or chop finely, depending on final texture you prefer (smooth or coarse).
Add hen to the pan and cook over low heat between 15 and 30 minutes or until done.
Salt and pepper duxelle to taste.
Depending on the size of your hen(s), you may have to do this more than once.
Cool, pack into containers and freeze.
The night before making tarts, remove carton of duxelle to the refrigerator to thaw.
Put the duxelle in a strainer and drain into a bowl to remove excess liquid (which may be used in soup, etc.).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line mini muffin tins with pie crust*.
Spoon in hen duxelle, or put into a freezer bag with the corner cut off and pipe it into the shells.
Grate Havarti cheese onto each tart. (You may want to chill the cheese briefly if it is too soft to grate easily.
Sprinkle with paprika and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
*Alternatively, you may use puff pastry shells. Set out on a cookie sheet and pre-cook until golden brown before filling.
