Wild Mushrooms & Bourbon Chive Cream in Phyllo Cups

Well as you may know I work at Iowa Wesleyan College and our season started back on August 8th when our athletes came back for the year. Since then life has been kind of busy and I really haven't had a lot of opportunity to cook much at home or blog even if I did cook. Well finally work has given me the opportunity as we had one of those nice dinners at the presidents house tonight. The menu consist  of an appetizer, salad, entree and dessert. The appetizer was Wild Mushrooms and Bourbon Chive Cream in Phyllo Cups. The salad a Caesar Salad, the entree was a Seared Atlantic Salmon Fillet with a Honey Soy Glaze accompanied by a Wild Rice Cake and Fresh Asparagus Tips. The dessert was a Chocolate Divine Lava Cake with Fresh Raspberries. Tonight I am posting the appetizer and will attempt to blog the rest during this week. The dinner was for 14 people so the recipes to follow will be for that amount. The first thing we need to do is make Phyllo cups. Phyllo pastry is a paper thin pastry that is used in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisine. It has many applications and you should be able to find it in the freezer section at the store. The Phyllo that I am using comes in 1 pound packages and the sheets are 14x18 inches. To make the Phyllo cups you will need some muffin tins, pan spray, a stick of melted butter, a pastry brush and of course Phyllo dough. First thing is to spray the muffin tins with the pan spray. Phyllo is very delicate so take care in handling it. You should cover the sheets you are not using with a damp cloth or film wrap while you are working with the other to make the cups. Peel off 1 sheet at a time and lay it out on a cutting board, brush it with the butter and cut it in squares that are approximately 4x4 inches. I cut my sheets 4x3 giving me 12 squares. This will give you 2 cups using 6 squares for each cup. Stack the squares alternating the corners so that you have 8 points. Once you have the squares stacked pick up the Phyllo and form it into the muffin cup pressing it down inside so to form a cup and flatten out the edges even with the top of the muffin tin. You will need to alternate cups in the muffin tin and usually get 4 or 5 cups in a 12 cup muffin tin. These can be made a day or two ahead and be stored at room temperature in an air tight container. Once you have all the cups made bake the Phyllo cups in a 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Now that you have the cups made it's time to make the mushroom filling for them. Here's what you will need:

Butter, melted                                                                        1 stick (4 ounce)
Crimini mushrooms,rinsed and sliced                                      3/4 pound
Shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, rinsed and sliced           3/4 pound
Shallots, minced                                                                     1/2 pound
Garlic fresh, minced                                                                8 cloves
Salt                                                                                         to taste
Black pepper, fresh ground                                                     to taste
Heavy whipping cream                                                            2-3 cups
Bourbon                                                                                 1/2 pint
Fresh Chives, Chopped                                                           1/2 cup

I made this in a wok but use what ever pan you have that works for you. Melt the butter and add the shallots and garlic, saute until the shallots are translucent and the garlic begins to turn a little golden in color. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are tender. Add 2 cups of cream and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the cream has thickened. Add the bourbon and simmer another 10 minutes or so until the cream has reduced to a desired thickness. It should cling to and cover the back of a spoon. If you should happen to get it too thick just add a little more cream to get the thickness you desire. Check the flavor and adjust the seasonings as needed. Time to serve. Set your Phyllo cup up in the middle of a plate, you could use a salad size plate or an entree size which ever you prefer or have. Spoon about a 1/4 cup of the mushroom mixture into the Phyllo cup allowing some to go onto the plate also and garnish generously with the fresh chives. If you can't find crimini or shiitake mushrooms you can use any fresh mushroom you like for this dish, it's all good. If you like mushrooms I'm sure you will find this to be a dish that is well worth the effort and that you will really, really enjoy!!!