Champignons sous Cloche

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch / 30 cm oven-safe sauté pan with a close-fitting oven-safe lid, or a 2½-quart / 2.4-liter shallow covered casserole
• •2-inch / 5 cm round cutter
• •Small mixing bowl and flexible spatula
• •Heavy foil if the lid fits loosely

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the maître d'hôtel

   Heat the oven to 325°F / 165°C with a rack in the middle. Beat the softened butter with the parsley, lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and half the pepper until evenly green-flecked. This is maître d'hôtel butter, a parsley-lemon compound butter whose acidity keeps the cream lively. Divide it into eight hazelnut-sized pieces, about 1 teaspoon or 5 g each, and chill them while you prepare the toast.

2. 2

   Prepare the caps

   Twist the stalk from each mushroom and pare away any ragged fibers so the hollow is clean and the cap can sit steadily. Reserve the stalks for a soup, omelette, or stock. Season the caps inside and out with the remaining salt and pepper. If the mushrooms were rinsed, dry them thoroughly before seasoning; water clinging to the surface dilutes the small quantity of juice this dish works so carefully to preserve.

3. 3

   Fry the toast

   Melt half the frying butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Fry four bread rounds until evenly butter-gold on both sides, about 1 to 2 minutes per side, then repeat with the remaining butter and bread. Keep the color golden rather than dark because the rounds cook again beneath the mushrooms. If the butter begins blackening before the bread colors, lift the pan from the heat, wipe out the bitter specks, lower the flame, and continue with fresh butter from the measured second portion.

4. 4

   Fill and cover

   Arrange the fried rounds in a shallow oven-safe sauté pan or covered casserole. Set one mushroom cap, hollow upward, on each round. Place a piece of maître d'hôtel butter in every hollow, then spoon exactly 1/2 teaspoon of cream over each piece of butter. Cover immediately with the oven-safe lid. The chamber needn't be airtight, but it must be snug; if the lid leaves a clear gap, crimp a band of heavy foil around the rim before baking. Ça se rattrape. Containment is the technique.

5. 5

   Cook under cover

   Bake without lifting the lid for 25 minutes. Open the pan once, lifting the cover away from you, and test the thickest mushroom with the point of a knife. It should be tender with slight resilience, surrounded by glossy butter, cream, and its own clear-brown liquor; the toast center should have absorbed those juices while the edge stays golden. If the cap still feels firm, replace the lid and give it another 5 minutes. Keep the heat gentle rather than raising it, since fierce heat shrivels the caps before their centers soften.

6. 6

   Serve beneath the cloche

   Carry the covered dish directly to the table and uncover it there. Spoon any juices gathered on the dish back over the mushroom hollows and toast, giving each diner two pieces. Serve at once, while the butter still gleams and the toast edges retain their bite. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose cultivated mushrooms with broad, closed caps and short stalks. White buttons give the cleanest flavor and pale juices; cremini are earthier but behave the same way. Technique first: firm caps matter more than an expensive variety.
• •Use only a lid or casserole marked oven-safe. An ornamental serving cloche or drinking glass can break under oven heat. If you have a close-fitting metal lid rather than glass, use it with confidence; transparency was service equipment, while the snug cover is the dish.
• •Heavy cream, not milk, and real butter, not a spread. There is too little liquid here for a thin substitute to hide, and the proper fats gather the mushroom liquor into a sauce instead of leaving watery toast. We don't apologize for butter.
• •A taut dry white suits the butter and mushroom juices. Chablis is particularly fine, though any dry white with good acidity will keep the first course bright.

Advance Preparation

• •The maître d'hôtel butter can be mixed up to 3 days ahead, wrapped, and chilled. Let it soften only enough to divide into hazelnut-sized pieces.
• •Cut the bread rounds and clean the mushrooms several hours ahead, keeping the mushrooms covered in the cold. Season, fry, fill, and cover close to serving so the toast doesn't soften prematurely.
• •Bake this dish to order. Reheating cooks away the contrast between the tender cap, glossy juices, and crisp toast edge.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 100g)