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11/25/2001 Archived Entry: "Mushroom Strudel"

My sister, Andrea, got this recipe from “Love For Cooking,” a wonderful cookbook and memoir written with style and warmth by the great actress Uta Hagen in 1978. The book is long out of print, although I see that there is occasionally (like right now) a used copy available on Amazon.com.

Andrea used to make this appetizer strudel all the time for holiday gatherings and special family dinners. I wondered why she hadn’t for the last few family feasts, and found out when I asked her for the recipe after I couldn’t find my well-worn copy of the book. “The strudel is so rich that Milt (my brother-in-law) has asked me not to make it.”

I don’t know. This has not stopped us from eating many other rich things. But Milt has a sweet tooth, and he’d much prefer to take his calories in dessert. The same goes for Andrea, which is why they usually put out what amounts to a Viennese Table, their long dining table cluttered with umpteen dessert choices.

Let them eat cake. This is more my speed, and I think it is an excellent item for passed appetizers, for a buffet table, or as a plated first course at a sit-down dinner. For the record, I have reduced the amount of butter that Uta Hagen uses to sauté the mushrooms and to form the strudels. It’s still a splurge.

Mushroom Strudel
Serves 8 or 9 as a plated first course,
more as a passed appetizer

For the filling:
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 pound mushrooms, finely chopped (may be done in the food processor)
2 tablespoons Madeira
1 tablespoon tarragon (or a pinch of dried tarragon)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup sour cream

For the strudel:
4 to 6 tablespoons butter, melted
3 cups dry white bread crumbs
6 leaves of phyllo

To prepare the mushrooms:
1. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat and sauté the shallots for about 2 minutes.

2. Add the mushrooms. Adjust the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms start to exude their liquid. Add the Madeira, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid from the mushrooms has almost evaporated and the mixture is slightly mushy. Let the mushrooms cool to room temperature, then stir in the sour cream.

To form the strudel:
3. Brush a baking sheet with a little of the melted butter. Set aside the remaining butter.

4. While working with the phyllo, keep the leaves that you are not actively working with spread on your work surface covered with a sheet of plastic wrap. Each strudel will be composed of 2 sheets. Place a sheet of waxed paper on your work surface, the short end toward you.

5. Place one sheet of phyllo on the waxed paper, the short end toward you. Brush the phyllo liberally with melted butter. Use a light touch with a soft brush. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the crumbs across the surface of the buttered leaf. Spread another leaf evenly over the first, brush it with butter, and sprinkle with another 1/2 cup of crumbs.

6. Spoon 1/3 of the mushroom mixture at the shorter side of the top leaf, about 1/2 inch in from the edge. Shape it like a thin sausage, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

7. Take the short edge of the waxed paper closest to you and lift it slightly. Use it to help you enclose the mushrooms in the phyllo, forming a tight roll. When the roll is at the opposite short end of the waxed paper, use the waxed paper to lift the roll and roll it onto the buttered baking sheet.

8. Make two more strudels in the same way and roll the onto the baking sheet without touching each other. Use the remaining butter to brush the tops of the strudel.

To bake and serve:
9. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until crisp and golden. Serve hot.

10. To serve as an hors d’oeuvre, slice carefully with a serrated knife into 1 1/2 to 2-inch pieces. To serve as a plated first course, cut into 3-inch pieces with a lightly dressed salad of herbs and/or tiny greens.

To prepare ahead: The strudels can be prepared in the morning, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated until baking time. It can also be frozen, then thawed and brought to room temperature before baking.

Note: You can, if desired, build a strudel with more pastry layers. Use another leaf or two of phyllo, a couple of tablespoons more butter, but the same amount of breadcrumbs, distributed between the additional layers.