Ingredients
Serves 4-6Cooking Fresh Snails
24 fresh snails purged and cleaned
½ litre white wine
½ litre stock
1 tbsp (40g) shallot, chopped
½ carrot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf
A few thyme leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Snails Feuilletes with Pistachio Nut, and Mushrooms with a Balsamic Glaze
500g butter puff pastry
1 egg
¼ cup milk
50gr butter
200gr mixed mushrooms; enoke, Swiss brown, oyster
2 tablespoons cognac
500ml cream
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ bunch chervil
½ cup pistachio nut blanched
100ml balsamic glaze
Cooked fresh snails (see recipe above)
Method
Cooking Fresh Snails
Put the 24 shelled snails in a saucepan and cover them with a mixture of equal part of white wine and stock.
Add the shallot, carrot, thyme, bay leaf, garlic clove salt and freshly ground pepper.
Simmer for 90 minutes, then leave to cool in the cooking liquid
Snails Feuilletes with Pistachio Nut, and Mushrooms with a Balsamic Glaze
Puff Pastry Squares:
Cut out six squares measuring 9cm each side. Arrange them on one baking sheet.
Cut out a smaller square inside, but don't remove. This will be used as a lid.
Brush with egg wash,
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 210°C for about 10 minutes.
When feuillette are cooked, cut out the lid and reserve.
Snails:
In a saucepan, melt some butter, and then add the cooked snails and chopped garlic. Sauté them for a couple of minutes.
Add chopped mushrooms and cook for a further two minutes. Add cognac and cream and reduce for few minutes until cream thickens.
Lastly add pistachio nut and chervil.
Place the pastry on serving plates, fill each puff pastry crust with the snail and mushrooms, and place the balsamic glaze around the pastry.
Top with the pastry lid. Finish with some chopped chervil and pistachio nut.
Voila!
Jean Marc Pollett is the Executive Chef with the Grand Mercure Hunter Valley Gardens
www.grandmercurehuntervalley.com.au