This dish was cooked for us by Rory O’Connell at his house in Ballycotton, Co Cork, for lunch in September 2017.
Serves 8
INGREDIENTS
10g (½ oz/1/8 stick) butter
1 tbsp (1 American tbsp + 1 tsp) olive oil
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
200g (7oz) chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely chopped into 2cm (¾ inch) pieces
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons (2½ American tablespoons) flat parsley, chopped
Custard:
300ml (10fl oz/1¼ cups) cream
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
50g (2oz) grated parmesan
salt and pepper
8 x 100ml (3½ fl oz) oven proof containers lightly brushed with melted butter
METHOD
Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4.
To cook the chanterelles, melt the butter and olive oil in a sauté pan and allow to foam. Add the chopped garlic and stir for 5 seconds. Add the prepared mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Stir to mix and sauté over a moderately hot heat until the mushrooms are wilting and tender. Remove from the pan and allow to cool. When slightly cooled stir in the chopped parsley. If the mushrooms exude a lot of liquid in the cooking, bubble that liquid in the pan until thick and syrupy in consistency and add to the cooked mushrooms.
Whisk the cream, eggs, parmesan and salt and pepper for the custard. Divide the cold mushrooms between the buttered containers and pour over the custard to fill the containers about three quarters full.
Place the custards in a bain-marie and cover with a piece of dampened grease-proof or parchment paper.
Cook in the preheat oven for 20-25 minutes or until the custards are just set.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving with a teaspoon for each guest and “soldiers” of tarragon toast.
Tarragon Toasts
INGREDIENTS
50g (2oz/½ stick) butter at room temperature
1 heaped tbsp (1 American tbsp + 1 tsp) of chopped tarragon
8 slices of white yeast or sourdough bread
METHOD
Mix the butter and chopped tarragon. Toast the slices of bread on both sides. Remove the crusts and butter with the tarragon butter.
Cut each slice into 4-6 “soldiers” and serve with the warm chanterelle custards.
