Vol Au Vent

There are few dishes that so effortlessly bridge the gap between homely comfort and outright elegance as the vol-au-vent which literally means: "fly through the wind''. It is, at its heart, a simple concept: a vessel of puff pastry, baked until it achieves a sublime, golden architecture of a hundred buttery layers. Yet, to present one to a guest is to offer a small, edible treasure chest, promising a rich secret within. I imagine mine served not as a mere canapé, but as a generous, individual portion—a culinary crown. The pastry case is impossibly light, shattering at the slightest pressure from a fork to reveal its bounty. The filling is a medley of earthy wild mushrooms— They are joined by a confetti of fine vegetables enveloped in a velvety sauce suprême. The secret touch? lemon confit! To eat it is to experience a perfect bite: the crisp, airy pastry giving way to the savory, deeply comforting, and impossibly elegant filling. It is a dish that whispers of Parisian bistros and confident skill, guaranteed to draw a murmur of impressed delight from any table.

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Elegant vol-au-vent with mushroom medley wrapped in supreme sauce

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Supreme Sauce

Cook chicken legs in chicken stock for 45 min. Remove chicken, cool for 10 minutes on tray, and shred off meat. Continue to cook to reduce chicken stock further to one third. Trim, clean and give a quick bath to the mushrooms. Drain on paper towels and chop. Throw mushroom trimmings in the reduced chicken stock. In a hot skillet, sweat shallots, carrot and celery with butter for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes more. Sprinkle over the flour and cook for a minute. Add the reduced and strained chicken stock along with the heavy cream. Stir well and cook for 10 minutes on low heat; covered. Add the shredded chicken, the blanched English peas. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Add the chopped lemon confit. Add some chopped parsley and cheese like gruyère if desired. Keep the sauce warm. The chicken supreme sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Puff Pastry for Vol-Au-Vent

To make vol-au-vent, the traditional, the inverted, and the quick puff pastry can be used. Dust work surface with flour and roll out puff pastry into a generous 1/4inch (1cm) thick rectangle. (If using store bought puff pastry, superimpose 2 sheets of pastry in order to match the desired thickness, moisten with water to seal them. Gently flatten it to readjust its thickness. Refrigerate pastry for 30 minutes to relax before cutting it into circles. Divide pastry into nine 4-inch/10cm rounds using the fluted cookie cutter. Save scraps for later use. Gently moisten the baking or silicone mat with water, and arrange pastry disks onto it. Using a plain 2.4-inch/6cm diameter cookie cutter, create an incision almost all away through the round pastries. Egg wash tops and chill vol-au-vent pastries for 30 minutes. Brush with egg wash again and score if desired.

Unbaked Vol-Au-Vent Storage

Unbaked vol-au-vent can be refrigerated for up to 48 hours. To freeze vol-au-vent accordingly: Freeze them first, and store frozen vol-au-vent in air-tight sealed freezer bags or best vacuum-sealed. Freeze for up to 6 months.

Baking

Preheat fan oven to 330ºF/160ºC. Place two 1.75''/4.5cm height pastry rings or similar devices that can hold an upside down cooling rack. Its allows vol-au-vent to rise evenly. Bake for 40 minutes. Turn off oven and leave the pastries inside for 15 minutes more. Let cool.

Montage

Carefully, slice off top from each vol-au-vent following the round mark. Fill each vol-au-vent generously with the reheated supreme sauce mixture. Put tops back on and serve – Bon appétit!

Vol-Au-Vent Storage

The key to perfect frozen vol-au-vents is to freeze the pastry cases (raw) and the filling separately. Freezing them assembled will almost guarantee a soggy, disappointing result upon reheating. Then let thaw the filling overnight in the refrigerator, and reheat slowly – Meanwhile, bake the pastry shells as directed. Fill them up - done!

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