Vol Au Vent Cases Recipes

VOL AU VENT CASES

Steps:

• For this Vol au Vent Cases recipe, start rolling out the puff pastry. Although puff pastry is quite technical, I invite you to follow my easy, step-by-step recipe for a home-made flaky pastry. You won't be disappointed! For best results, I recommend using extra dry butter.
• Roll the puff pastry to a thickness of 4 or 5mm. Using an Exoglass round pastry cutter Ø 10cm (I used a fluted cutter for this recipe), cut the pastry into discs...
• ... and slightly twist the cutter on your floured worktop to make sure the disc is cut in a perfectly neat shape. The pastry disc will detach easily from the puff pastry slab.
• Cut as many discs as you need. 500 grams of puff pastry yields 12 discs of Ø 10cm, for a total of 6 bouchées.
• Arrange 6 pastry discs on a Silpat baking mat, placed on top of a Silichef XL perforated baking sheet.
• Using a pastry brush, glaze the discs with eggwash (a beaten egg yolk with a little water).
• With the 6 other pastry discs on your floured worktop, cut a hole in the centre with a smaller pastry cutter. I used an Exoglass round fluted cutter with a diameter of 6cm.
• Repeat the operation for all discs. You should now have 6 pastry rings.
• Carefully arrange the rings on top of the pastry discs. The rings will adhere to the glazed pastry discs easily.
• Glaze the pastry rings...
• ... and store in the fridge for about 2 hours before baking. Ideally, start the recipe the day before and refrigerate overnight to prevent the pastry from shrinking during baking.
• Remove from the fridge and apply another brush of eggwash along the rings.
• Place small dariole moulds (height 5 or 6cm) in the four corners of the baking sheet. This will help control the rise of the puff pastry shells while baking...
• ... and place a baking sheet on top of the dariole moulds. I recommend using a heavy baking sheet, such as black steel. An aluminium baking sheet might not be heavy enough.
• Bake in a fan-assisted oven at 170°C (gas 3) for 20 to 25 minutes.
• 20 minutes later, the pastry cases should have risen to a regular height. Remove the baking sheet on top.
• Bake for a further 5 or 10 minutes. At this stage, there is no more risk of the pastry cases collapsing. Make sure the base of the pastry shells is well cooked. Gently lift the vol au vent cases to check.
• When cooked, remove from the oven...
• ... then place the tray on your kitchen worktop and leave to cool.
• Your home-made vol au vent cases are now ready to be filled with the filling of your choice (chicken and mushroom sauce for traditional bouchées à la reine or seafood sauce).

CREAMY CHICKEN VOL-AU-VENT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, unfold 1 puff pastry sheet. Using a 3-1/4-in. round cutter, cut out six circles. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet., Unfold the remaining pastry sheet. Cut 6 more circles out with the 3-1/4-in. round cutter; with a 2-1/2-in. cutter, cut centers out of the circles. Place the rings on top of the circles that are on the baking sheet. Place the center circles also on the baking sheet. In a small bowl, whisk egg and water; brush over pastries. Chill 15 minutes. Bake until dark golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack., Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain. Discard all but 1 tablespoon drippings. Add leeks and pepper to drippings; cook and stir over medium-high heat until tender, 5-7 minutes. Reduce heat to low; stir in bacon, chicken, cream cheese, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until blended; remove from heat., When cool enough to handle, hollow out pastries with a small knife. Fill with chicken mixture. Sprinkle with parsley and pepper. Serve with small center pastries on the side.

VOL AU VENTS

Steps:

• Put the stock and bay leaf in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and turn off the heat.
• Melt the butter in a saute pan and fry the onions for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until shrunken, dark and golden. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle over the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until it disappears. Pour over the stock, add the chicken and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Stir in the creme fraiche and mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the parsley.
• Spoon the chicken mixture into the vol au vent shells and serve.

PARTY VOL-AU-VENTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut into 30 x 6cm squares, trimming any edges. Score a smaller square inside each one, leaving a 7.5mm border, taking care not to cut the pastry all the way through.
• Put the squares on the tray, lightly brush with egg glaze and bake for 15 mins until puffed up and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. When cool, carefully remove and discard the central piece of pastry from each one. To serve, fill with the fillings (see 'goes well with'). The vol-au-vent cases can be kept in an airtight container for up to a day before filling and serving.