Elegant Chicken vol-au-vent is filled with grapes, almonds, cooked chicken and mayonnaise.
ingredients
serves 3
puff pastry made with 1/2 pound flour (see Below)
1/2 pound cooked chicken (breast meat)
2/3 cup green grapes, de-seeded and halved
3/8 cup blanched almonds, lightly toasted
mayonnaise to bind
3 tablespoons heavy cream
salt and pepper
method
1. Preheat oven to hot, 220°C (425°F).
2. Roll out the pastry to the size of a bread and butter plate; the pastry must be at least a 1/2 inch thick. Cut around plate to give neat shape.
3. Using a smaller plate, mark a round in the centre of the pastry, but do not cut right through, just to about a 1/4 inch.
4. Put the pastry on a wetted baking sheet.
5. Bake, in centre of preheated oven, for 15-20 minutes.
6. Remove the pastry lid and any soft bits in the centre.
7. Leave to cool.
8. Chop the pastry lid and put it in the base of the vol-au-vent.
9. Cut the chicken meat into small pieces.
10. Mix chicken with grapes and nuts.
11. Add enough mayonnaise to bind the mixture then stir in the cream. Season.
12. Spoon into the vol-au-vent case and serve at once, with potato croquettes, if liked.
PUFF PASTRY
Makes 8 ounce pastry
Keep everything including hands very cold for this pastry.
2 1/4 cups All purpose flour
1/2 level teaspoon salt
1 cup sweet butter in a block or 1/2 cup cooking fat and 1/2 cup margarine mashed and formed into a block
2 teaspoons lemon juice
6 - 8 tablespoons very cold water
1. Sift flour and salt into a bowl.
2. Chill the fat if soft. Rub 1 tablespoon fat into flour.
3. Mix to a dough with lemon juice and water.
4. Roll out dough to twice the length of the block of fat. Place fat on dough and fold dough down over it, sealing edges well with a rolling pin.
5. Give pastry one half turn and roll gently out into a long strip.
6. Fold dough in three, envelope style, and leave, covered, in a cold place for 30 minutes.
7. Repeat turning, rolling and folding six times.
8. Leave pastry to relax for 30 minutes between rollings and before use.
more information
One large vol-au-vent looks very handsome but if you wish to make your pastry case early or freeze for future use, then make individual pastry cases. They would be easier to store and less likely to be damaged than one large one. This recipe is very suitable for frozen puff pastry if time for preparation is short.
