From: estherchaya	Date: September 9th, 2004 06:29 am (UTC)		(Link)

put the filling in the crust. Bake it at 350 until it's done (30 minutes, give or take).

Though I will say that cherry pie filling usually is better with a top crust. I'm not really fond of cherry pie filling, but I have lots of pie recipes that are relatively simple if you're ever interested in the future.

	From: estherchaya	Date: September 9th, 2004 06:26 am (UTC)		(Link)

This comes from a book called Kosher by Design by Susie Fishbein (copyright 2003; Artscroll/Shaar Press). Because kosher laws mandate that I can't mix meat and dairy in the same meal, this recipe is "pareve" (meaning it has neither meat nor dairy) so that I could serve it with my meat meal tomorrow night. However, you can substitute real cream for the non-dairy creamer, which would probably make it creamier. (The truth is, unless you knew what you were looking for, most non-dairy creamers have dairy in them anyway)

• 2 sheets puff pastry or 1 (17.3 ounce) package puff pastry (I used Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry... a 17.3 ounce package was two sheets)
  
• 1/3 cup margarine (you can use butter...probably it would be better)
  
• 1-2 medium onions, finely chopped (I used 2)
  
• 1 1/2 pounds sliced mushrooms, any combination of cremini shiitake, or portobello (I don't care for portobello, but probably it would have been fine in this dish. I used baby bella mushrooms and normal white button mushrooms and it worked well... the bellas probably had a better flavor, but they are more expensive. Mixing them worked well)
  
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (I may have used a little more, but I think I used a little bit more onion and mushroom than the recipe called for. Use salt "to taste")
  
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  
• 1 tablespoon flour (I ended up using about 2 tablespoons because the mushrooms/onions produced SO much liquid that wouldn't thicken otherwise)
  
• 1/3 cup non dairy creamer (you can use real cream)
  
• 1 tablespoon dry white wine (I used about 3 tablespoons maybe...didn't really measure)
  
• 1 egg, beaten
  
• sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out the puff pastry dough into a large square. Ease it into a deep dish pie pan. Let excess dough hang over the sides; use a knife to trim edges. Bake for 10 minutes. It is okay if it's puffy; the mushrooms will weigh the dough back down. Set aside.

Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. In a large pan, melt the margarine (or butter) over medium heat. Add the onions and saute about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add the musrooms and saute for 5 minutes longer.

Add the salt, pepper, and flour. Pour in the non-dairy creamer (or cream). Stir about 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the wine. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust.

Using the second puff pastry sheet, cut long 1/2 inch strips and form a lattice design over the top of the tart (the Joy of Cooking I think has very good directions on how to do a lattice easily, but it's pretty simple). Brush with egg. Springkle with sesame seeds (I don't like sesame seeds, so I say this is optional)

bake, uncovered, on the lowest shelf for 20-30 minutes (I found that after 30 minutes, the filling was still slightly too watery, so I put it in for another 10. It really is important that the tart stay as low in the oven as possilbe so that the pastry doesn't burn before the filling is done.

Yield 8-10 servings.

I wasn't scrupulous in my measurements, but it's obviously a very forgiving recipe and very much "to taste" so play with it a little. I had enough mushroom filling to do one large tart and one medium-sized tart.

Notes that are in the cookbook:
1. In a pinch you can use a package of 2 deep-dish frozen pie shells instead of the puff pastry. After the pie shell is filled, as a decorative touch take the fluted edges from the second drust and place it around the inside of the first crust for a double ruffled effect (personally, I think this is stupid). use the remainder to cut into strips for the lattice.
2. If lattice making is not your thing, you can use cookie cutters to cut out uniform shapes, like leaves or stars and scatter them across the top of the tart. Brush with egg and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. (I did one lattice and one with a leaf cookie cutter. They are both lovely, so either way works. The only complaint I have with the leaves is that I'm not good at scattering randomly and I think it would have looked better if it had been more random. Also, don't be afraid to put them too close together... when they puff up, they shrink in diameter a little)

	From: yarbiedoll	Date: September 9th, 2004 07:01 am (UTC)		(Link)

That's funny! I was just looking at Kosher By Design online a few nights ago. It looked like it might have several good recipes in it. This one sounds delicious. What's your impression of the cookbook as a whole?

	From: estherchaya	Date: September 9th, 2004 07:08 am (UTC)		(Link)

My impression of the cookbook as a whole is that it's excellent. I would also recommend "The Kosher Palette". If you want, next time you're up here you can look through mine and see if you really do want to make the investment. Kosher by Design has lots of filler pages on the various Jewish Holidays, so you're getting fewer recipes for slightly more money than the kosher palette. But the recipes I've looked at are excellent. There's a great musroom and onion soup that I'm going to try next week. And a garlic potato gallette! Mmmmm.

	From: estherchaya	Date: September 9th, 2004 06:27 am (UTC)		(Link)

my response was, of course, too long. here's the rest of it (just my comments):

Hope this helps! In retrospect, I should have made a pie crust instead of using puff pastry, but only because I'm not going to be serving mine right away. If I were serving it right out of the oven puff pastry would be divine. I was also surprised at how easily the recipe came together. I started sauteeing the mushrooms and onions while the first puff pastry was in the oven, and the timing was perfect. If you haven't been able to figure it out, this was the first time I'd used this recipe, but I'm so pleased with it!