Tapas Sourdough Toasts With Mushrooms And Oysters Recipe 475

Steps:

• Heat a cast iron grill pan over high heat until smoking hot, about 8 to 10 minutes. Cut the sourdough bread into thick rustic slices and drizzle both sides with plenty of olive oil. Put on the grill and pressing down gently so they pick up nice even grill marks. Grill until crispy and toasted, about 45 seconds per side.

Steps:

• Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add 3 bread slices and toast until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp. butter to skillet; turn bread and toast until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer toasts to a wire rack; let cool. Repeat with remaining 3 bread slices and 3 Tbsp. butter. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 hour ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Wipe skillet clean. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté, tossing frequently, until lightly colored but still firm, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and transfer one third of mushrooms to a plate. Add 2 Tbsp. butter and cream to skillet. Bring to a simmer; cook until cream is very thick and mushrooms are well coated in sauce, 3-4 minutes. Stir in oysters, if using, and shallots and parsley. Divide toasts among plates; spoon mushroom mixture over. Top with reserved mushrooms. Lay 2 slices lardo over each toast, if using. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Prepare the white sauce by melting the butter over a low to medium heat in a saucepan and adding the flour.
• Cook and stir for a few minutes, then add the milk and wine gradually and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth.
• Season with the salt, pepper, nutmeg (to taste) and cayenne (to taste); although it is recommended to be generous with both the cayenne and nutmeg, it is your choice.
• Remove from the heat and set aside.
• In a skillet, heat the oil until it is very hot; add the mushrooms and saute over high heat for about 2 minutes.
• (I added the dried parsley about 1 minute into the cooking time. If using fresh, wait until the next step.) If the mushrooms give off liquid, cook until it is evaporated before continuing.
• Add the garlic, parsley (if not added before), ham, salt and pepper and turn off the heat.
• Combine with the white sauce, stir in cheese, and mix until smooth and all ingredients are evenly distributed.
• The mixture may be made ahead to this point and refrigerated.
• Toast the bread lightly and cut each slice into two triangles.
• Cover each triangle completely with 1/8 of the mushroom mixture.
• There are a number of ways you can prepare this: Broil until golden, place them face down in 1/2 inch of hot oil to fry, or enclose in puff pastry dough.
• If using puff pastry dough, you will need about 1 pound of pastry; cut the pastry into 3" strips and wrap them around 2 teaspoons of filling.
• Bake at 400 for 8 minutes.
• You can also use the filling for small pastry puff tart shells.