Lapwings’ Eggs au Troubadour

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Eight 2-inch (5 cm) tartlet tins or one mini muffin pan
• •10-inch (25 cm) lidded skillet
• •Small saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Small offset spatula

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the pastry

   Mix the flour with half the salt. Rub in the cold diced butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal with a few small flakes of butter remaining, then add the egg yolk and just enough ice water to bring the dough together when pressed. Do not knead it. Flatten the dough into a disc and chill it for 20 minutes; this rest relaxes the dough and keeps the tartlets tender.

   If the dough crumbles when squeezed, add ice water one teaspoon at a time. If it turns sticky, chill it for ten minutes rather than working in more flour.
2. 2

   Bake the tartlets

   Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Roll the dough about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick and cut eight rounds about 3 inches (7.5 cm) across. Line eight 2-inch (5 cm) tartlet tins, press the dough into the corners, prick the bases, and chill for 10 minutes. Line with small pieces of parchment and baking weights, bake for 10 minutes, then remove the weights and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes, until dry and evenly golden. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes before turning out.

   If a shell cracks while lining the tin, press a scrap of dough over the gap before baking. If a baked shell chips, ça se rattrape: place the damaged side inward on the serving platter and use a dab of foie gras purée to secure it.
3. 3

   Prepare the purée

   Beat the foie gras parfait with 1 tablespoon of the cream until smooth, then press it through a fine sieve. Add only enough remaining cream to make a pale, supple purée that holds a soft mound rather than running. Taste before adding any salt. Cover and keep cool, but not refrigerator-hard, while the morels cook.

   If the purée turns greasy, it became too warm. Chill it for five minutes and whisk again. If it is too firm to spread, beat in cream half a teaspoon at a time.
4. 4

   Stew the morels

   Trim the stalks flush with the caps. With the tip of a small knife, widen each base opening just enough to accept a peeled quail egg without splitting the cap. Brush away grit, rinse the morels briefly only if necessary, and dry them well. Melt the butter in a lidded skillet over medium-low heat, add the morels, and season with the remaining salt and the white pepper. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, turning once, then uncover and cook for another 4 to 6 minutes. They must be tender, dark, and glossy, with no raw firmness; morels are never served undercooked.

   Keep the heat gentle enough that the butter stays golden. If a cap tears, lay it on its side at assembly and anchor it with the purée. Ça se rattrape.
5. 5

   Soft-boil the eggs

   While the cooked morels rest in their butter, bring a small saucepan of water to a full boil and prepare a bowl of iced water. Lower in the cold quail eggs and boil for exactly 2 minutes and 45 seconds. Transfer them immediately to the iced water for 2 minutes, then crack and peel them under water, beginning at the broad end. The whites should be set and the yolks fluid.

   Peel with the pads of your fingers, not your nails. If a white tears slightly, turn that side toward the morel; if a yolk has set hard or escaped, ça se rattrape: use one of the spare eggs.
6. 6

   Assemble the circle

   Spread each tartlet with a generous spoonful of foie gras purée. Hold a buttered morel point-down with its widened opening facing upward, gently nestle a peeled egg inside, and set the filled morel onto a tartlet, using the purée to hold it upright. Repeat with the remaining tartlets, spoon a little of the warm morel butter over the caps, and arrange all eight in a circle on a platter. Serve at once, two tartlets per person. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Do not seek wild lapwing eggs. Farmed quail eggs are the honest equivalent here, and their small size allows the source preparation to work with large morels. The name records the dish; the ingredient list records what belongs in your kitchen.
• •This dish truly needs large, intact morels. Dried morels keep their fine woodland flavour but often soften or split after soaking, which makes them poor cups for the eggs. If only dried morels are available, save them for an omelette aux morilles and wait for this dish's season.
• •Buy cooked foie gras parfait or terrine with a clean, firm texture. Raw foie gras requires an entirely separate preparation, and chicken-liver mousse changes the dish plainly, pleasant though it may be.
• •Soft quail eggs carry the same food-safety consideration as other lightly cooked eggs. Use pasteurized eggs when available for guests who are pregnant, elderly, very young, or immunocompromised, or cook their eggs until the yolks are set.
• •Pour a dry Champagne or a mineral white Burgundy. The wine needs enough freshness to meet the foie gras and butter without trampling the morels.

Advance Preparation

• •Bake the tartlet shells up to one day ahead. Cool them completely and keep them airtight at room temperature; refresh them for 3 minutes in a 325°F (165°C) oven before filling.
• •Prepare the foie gras purée up to 4 hours ahead and refrigerate it covered. Let it stand for about 15 minutes before assembly so it becomes spreadable without turning greasy.
• •Clean and trim the morels earlier the same day, then refrigerate them between dry towels. Stew them and boil the eggs only when the tartlets and purée are ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 130g)