Individual mushroom and chicken mousse bombes

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These individual pastry bombes are little domed pies, bursting with a delicious filling of mixed mushrooms and a creamy chicken mousse. Andy Waters serves them with a rich Madeira sauce, making them perfect for an indulgent Sunday lunch. There are a few steps involved, but the processes are simple and the resulting pies are worth the effort!

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Bombes

Chicken mousse

Herb pancakes

Madeira sauce

Equipment

  • Blender

Method

1
To make the sauce, sauté the chopped chicken wings in a large pan with a little olive oil until golden brown, then drain and reserve. Add the button mushrooms and shallots to the pan and allow to soften before adding the garlic. Once lightly coloured, deglaze the pan with the vinegar, then add the Madeira and let the liquid reduce by half
2
Return the chicken wings to the pan with the stocks and herbs and cook gently for an hour. Strain the liquid into a clean pan, return to the heat and simmer until reduced by half. Whisk in the cream, butter and some seasoning and keep warm
3
For the pancake mixture, in a large jug, whisk the egg into the plain flour, then whisk in the milk, chives and some seasoning. Cover and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes
4
While this rests, make the chicken mousse by blitzing the chicken with a hand blender until smooth. Add in the egg whites and blitz again until the mixture is glossy, then season with salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Add the cream and continue to pulse until combined and smooth. Transfer to the fridge until needed
5
Cook the pancakes by pouring a thin layer of the mixture into a hot pan. When the base has set, flip the pancake and lightly cook the other side. Repeat to make four pancakes and set aside, separated by layers of baking parchment
6
For the filling, trim the stalks off the field mushrooms and sauté in a pan until softened, then allow to cool on kitchen paper. Repeat with the oyster mushrooms, trimming off the stalks and sautéing in the same pan. Leave to cool, but keep both mushrooms separate
7
Roughly chop the oyster mushrooms and add to a bowl with the chopped chives, truffle oil and 4 tbsp of the chicken mousse. Fold together until combined
  • 1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp truffle oil
8
Place a large spoonful of the mousse mixture into the centre of each pancake, then top with 3 field mushrooms and wrap the pancake around the filling to form a parcel. Repeat for all four pancakes
9
Divide the pastry into four, then roll out each piece to a rectangle of about 3mm thickness. Cut each rectangle in half (so you have eight pieces of pastry) and trim to make eight circles (or use a 10cm pastry cutter). Place a pancake parcel into the centre of one piece and brush the edges with egg yolk. Top with another piece of pastry and press down gently on the edges to seal
  • 500g of puff pastry
  • 1 egg yolk, beaten, to glaze
10
Repeat with the other three parcels, then transfer to a baking tray and place in the fridge to firm up
11
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
12
Bake the pastry bombes for 30–40 minutes until golden brown, then serve with the warm Madeira sauce

Andy Waters helped put the Midlands on the gastronomic map when he won a Michelin star in 2003 for Edmunds. The award came within six months of opening and the restaurant went on to be named restaurant of the year by Harden's Guide.

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