Chicken Vol Au Vent Food

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.

CHICKEN VOL-AU-VENTS

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven at 180oc.
• Saute garlic, spring onions, tarragon and seasoings in the butter for 2 minutes.
• Reduce heat, add sliced chicken and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Add wine and cream and bring to the boil.
• Combine cornflour with water, then add to the chicken and stir until thickened.
• Spoon into the vol-au-vent cases
• Heat in the oven for 5 mintes.
• Serve it hot.

BELGIAN CHICKEN FRICASSEE (VOL-AU-VENT)

Steps:

• Cook the chicken breasts or the chicken in the chicken stock, until tender (breasts should take about 30 minutes, a whole chicken 45 minutes or more). Drain, but keep the stock. Let the chicken cool down a bit.
• In the meanwhile, make tiny meatballs (max. 1 cm across) from the minced meat. Cook the meatballs in chicken stock or water until they are done -- this usually takes just a few minutes, the meatballs will drift to the top when ready. Drain them as well.
• Make a "blonde" sauce: melt most of the butter in a medium-sized pot (don't let it become brown), add flour and mix well. Keep the pot on medium heat. Then, very gradually, add splashes (think 2-3 tablespoons) of chicken stock to this mixture. Each time you added some stock, stir very well so that the mixture doesn't become lumpy. You can start adding increasing amounts of stock when your sauce becomes liquidish. Make a sauce that is somewhat thicker than cream; you will probably use most of your chicken stock in this process. This is fine.
• Quickly add the raw egg yolk, the lemon juice and the grated cheese to your sauce.
• In a large pot, melt the remaining lump of butter and add the mushrooms. Stir-fry the mushrooms on medium heat until they start to "sweat" (release their juices). Season with salt and pepper.
• Add the sauce and the ham dices to the mushrooms. Add the meatballs as well. Put on low heat.
• With your hands or a knife, pull apart the chicken and make bite-sized pieces (about 1 inch long, 1/2 inch across, or smaller). Add the chicken pieces to your mixture as well.
• Ready! Do check if the dish needs a bit more salt or pepper. You can eat the Vol-Au-Vent as it is, with potatoes or rices; you can also pour it in Vol-Au-Vent shells (puff pastry) or even make a chicken fricassee pie (in a puff pastry pie shell).

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.

VOL-AU-VENT WITH CHICKEN, MUSHROOMS AND PEPPER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven at 160°C.
• Prepare all your ingredients ready.
• Heat in the oven the vol-au-vent about 12 minutes (if you are not ready with the filling after this time reduce the heat).
• Fry the onions in the margarine for 2 minutes.
• Reduce heat, add the chicken and cook until golden, about 8 minutes.
• Add 1dl wine, herbs, mushrooms, preserved pepper and cream.
• Combine corn starch with water and the remaining wine, then add to the chicken and stir until the sauce thickens. If it is too thick add some tablespoons of water or wine.
• Season it with salt, pepper, soy sauce and Worcestershire at your taste.
• Fill into the vol-au-vent cases and serve hot with some vegetables.
• Note: sometimes I add some vegetables (not only the mushrooms!) like carrots or peas directly to this dish.
• Note: alternative to vol-au-vent cases are fillo baskets. Instructions: Cut fillo sheets into quarters and layer diagonally in greased ramekins, spraying or brushig with olive oil in between layers - 4 squares for each ramekin dish if the sheets are very thin (like fillo for baklava) or 2 squares if they are thicker (like fillo for boureki). Spray or brush again before cooking at 250°F/180°C for in the oven for more or less 8-10 minutes.
• Note: For a vegetarian version skip the chicken and use more veggies. For example the double quantity of mushrooms. Chanterelle mushrooms are wonderful for this recipe (see photo).

CHICKEN LIVER VOL-AU-VENTS

Steps:

• Bake the pastry according to package directions.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet. Add the chicken livers and saute gently for 3 to 4 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the skillet.
• Add the onion to the skillet and saute until softened.
• Add the mushrooms and saute for 1 to 2 minutes.
• Stir in the flour, then the broth. Simmer, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the chicken livers.
• Remove the "lids" from the pastry shells and spoon the filling into the shells.
• Sprinkle with the cheese.
• Replace the lids and serve.