Three Mushroom Tart

I made this a few times after meeting my husband but I believe the last time may have been a distance birthday.  It was the weekend my husband met my parents at their NC home.  A few of us drove/flew there in order to attend a local symphony concert where my Dad, dressed in his tux, was to direct the symphony in Radetzky's March.  At the time, we didn't know what song so it was all a surprise to us when he appeared on stage at the end.  Back story is that earlier that year he attended a silent auction and won the bid to  conduct during an evening performance.  It was hilarious because during the piece, he stopped conducting and turned to face the audience and the audience roared with laughter as the symphony played on, not missing a beat.  It was all good fun.  That weekend is still a very fond memory of mine.  But that Sunday was my birthday and we had these tarts for a mid-day meal.  I recall that day as if it were yesterday.

This hails from April 1996 Gourmet Magazine, a well used issue of mine.  When I recently set out to make this, I couldn't recall where the recipe came from and looked for hours this past weekend until I found it.  I forgot I have a directory of all the recipes that I make (or would like to make) from my magazine collection.   But I was literally thumbing through the index of dozens and dozens of magazines scanning for it until I found it.  The directory is handy in that it is in alphabetical order and lists exactly where to find a recipe in my hundreds of magazines.  

So here's how you make this.  

Thaw a 1 Package of Puff Pastry or if you are talented make your own.  I have to admit, I've been watching The British Baking Show Master Class and plan to make my own soon.  That'll be for another day.

Read the recipe through and do all your prep in advance.  

Make sure you have a variety of 3 mushrooms.  You need at least one to have an appearance similar to enoki, or in my case Wegmans opened up nearby and I spied Beech (my new favorite).  

For the mushrooms -  8-10 Button, 8-10 Baby Bella (or Shitake), 6 oz Beech.  Pick out 4 of the best of the Button and Baby Bella that will be sliced for the top.  Take the rest and clean, trim the stems, and dice.  You should have about 3 Cups of diced Mushrooms total.  

To a skillet, add 2 TBL Unsalted Butter.  Add 1/2 Cup Minced Shallots and cook over medium heat to sweat, about 3 minutes.  Add diced Mushrooms, 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce, Salt and Pepper.  Cook over medium high heat until the liquid is evaporated.  Add 1/4 Cup Sherry with 1 TBL Balsamic Vinegar and cook until the liquid evaporates.  Place this mixture in a bowl to cool.  Can be made in advance up to this point.

Preheat oven to 425.  Roll Puff Pastry and place in a rectangular tart pan.  

In a measuring cup, combine 1/3 Cup Heavy Cream with 1 Egg.  Add this to the cooked mushroom mixture.  Pour this into the prepared tart pan.  Slice the Button and Bella mushrooms into 1/4" slices and arrange them in rows along the long sides of the tart pan.  Place the Beech mushrooms down the center.  Brush with the Juice of a Lemon.

Place in hot oven and cook for 20-25 minutes until deep golden brown.  Don't open the oven door for the first 20 minutes.  Rotate the tart pan once and cook for final 5 minutes.  The pastry and filling should puff to a height taller than the tart pan.  Remove tart from oven and let rest for a few minutes before removing the rim.  Let rest another 5 mintutes and slice into 3-4 pieces.  Each tart will feed 3-4 depending on what else you serve.  A salad of some sort is highly recmmended.