Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

1/2 lb Puff Pastry ** 3/4 c Santenay OR
1 Egg yolk 3/4 c Wine, red, full-bodied
1 1/2 ts Water, cold 1 c Sauce, Bordelaise ** OR
5 tb Butter, unsalted 1 c Stock, veal
1/4 c Shallot, chopped, fine Salt
1/2 lb Mushrooms, chanterelles * Pepper, black, ground
-- coarsely chopped, 4 lg Mushrooms, stems trimmed
-- (about 3 1/2 cups) -- flush with caps, caps
3 Cepes, fresh, sliced -- fluted
24 Snails, (1 - 7 1/2 oz 2 tb Water
-- can), drained, rinsed 1 tb Juice, lemon
3 tb Cognac, plus more as 1 tb Butter
-- needed

* Other wild or cultivated mushrooms may be substituted ** Recipes for
these ingredients can be found elsewhere in this
database.

For Feuilletes: ===============

Roll out your puff pastry to large rectangle, 1/8-inch thick.
Use a 5-inch oval or 4-inch round cutter to cut out 4 pieces of
pastry. Place them on a baking sheet. Stir together the egg yolk and
water and lightly brush the pastry with this egg wash. Chill pastry
for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Bake feuilletes for 20 minutes, then
lower the temperature to 350 F and continue to bake until they've
turned golden brown (about 5 to 10 minutes longer.) Cool them on a
rack.

In a saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high
heat and add the shallot, stirring until wilted (about 2 minutes.)
Add the chanterelles and cepes and stir until quite dry (6 to 8
minutes.) Add snails and toss well.

Add 3 tablespoons of Cognac, light the alcohol carefully with a
long handled match, and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer this mixture
to a sieve placed over a bowl and return the pan to heat. Add red
wine and reduce by half, scraping up any browned bits in the pan
(about 4 minutes.)

Add Bordelaise sauce, or veal stock and reduce until thickened
enough to coat a spoon lightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan from
the heat, swirl in the remaining butter a little at a time, and
adjust seasonings to taste with salt and pepper and a few drops of
Cognac.

For Garnish: ============

Slice the tops off of the feuilletes and scoop out insides.
Return feuillettes and their lids to the oven briefly to reheat. In
a small saucepan, combine the mushrooms, water, lemon juice and 1
tablespoon of butter. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cover
and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until just tender (about 4
minutes.) Remove the mushrooms; drain them and cut them into thick
slices.

To Assemble: ============

Add the snail-mushroom mixture to your sauce and bring it all to
a simmer. Place heated pastry shells on 4 heated plates and fill
with snail mixture. Garnish with mushroom slices by overlapping them
along 1 edge of each shell. Spoon any remaining sauce over, replace
lids at a slight angle, and serve immediately.
Source: New York's Master Chefs, Bon Appetit Magazine
: Written by Richard Sax, Photographs by Nancy McFarland
: The Knapp Press, Los Angeles, 1985

Chef: Jean-Jacques Rachou, La Cote Basque Restaurant, New York

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