Now this may not seem like that much of a novelty to you at first glance, but make no mistake, it is not the same Anglo-Indian vol-au-vent filled with chicken & mushroom in white sauce that was ubiquitous at our ancestors dining tables …
… believe me when I say you will turn into a singer- song-writer the day you taste this version, for which you are not obliged to make your own puff pastry but instead order it online from swissgourmessa.com, the same vendor I touted in my cooking lesson of the modern French millefeuille.
But before I get to teaching you how to execute this recipe, I want to tell you a little story around the dish that inspired this variation, for it is quite endearing, even if I say so myself … in the event it bores you, you can always scroll down to the recipe.
Above: Vol-au-vent of Veal Sweetbreads in mushroom cream sauce at Café des Ministeres, 83 rue de l’universite, Paris 75007
In October 2023 I spent ten days in Paris, during the course which I paid a visit to a specialty wine store that is not only exclusively for collectors, but also by appointment only … it was a New Delhi based Indian gentleman by the name of Rajiv Kehr, who is not only a wine connoisseur but also a big promoter of French wine (with emphasis on Burgundy) in India. When I mentioned to him, before my trip, that I was looking for a particular vintage of Chateau Climens, a wonderful sauternes that my mother loves, he suggested I bring her back a Chateau de Fargues 1996 sauternes to try instead, and arranged an appointment for me at the aforementioned store called ‘Le Livre de Cave’ (i.e. book of wine), an utterly charming place, brimming with fine, old and rare wines, located in the most prestigious district of Paris, where the owner, Frederic Beal had a couple of bottles waiting for me.
Above: Entrance to ‘Le Livre de Cave’ Wine collectors store, Paris 75007
Well suffice to say that when a connoisseur of wine meets one of food, a profound friendship is immediately born, and upon hearing of my love of sweetbreads, Frederic suggested we have lunch a few days later at a restaurant called Le Café des Ministeres, (café of ministers), and forthwith telephoned the Chef to reserve a table.
I then decided to ask another friend of mine to join us, a New Zealander by the name of Linden Wilkie, who I hadn’t seen for fifteen years since I left London; he had gone on to become one of the great wine authorities in the world, and what ensued was a memorable lunch amongst ardent lovers of food & wine, culminating in my discovery of a dish that inspired the recipe I am gifting to you today … a most magnificent vol-au-vent spilling over with sweetbreads in a cream of mushroom sauce, which I have both downgraded to chicken and upgraded to morel and porcini, thus emerging at an almost perfect equivalent … and on that self-congratulatory note, onto the recipe I go.
Above: Post lunch Chartreuse and wine tasting at ‘Le Livre de Cave’ Wine collectors store, Paris 75007
Method
First, I am going to teach you how to construct the vol-au-vents, since ideally, you will do that the day before and refrigerate them overnight, or at least for 5 hours.
Ingredients
YIELD: 4 Vol-au-vent shells
- 300g puff pastry from Swiss gourmessa.
- 1 whole egg whisked with one tablespoon of water for egg wash.
Start with preparing your egg-wash by breaking one whole egg into a bowl, adding 1 tablespoon of cold water to it and whisking lightly with a fork (STEPS 1 TO 4). Then you will line a plate (or thali as I have done, with some butter paper, and set aside (STEPS 5 & 6).
Next, take the pastry out of the fridge (it will be delivered frozen in a 500g piece, so let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator), cut off the amount you need, and refrigerate the rest; it will last at least another 5 days (STEPS 1 & 2).
Lightly flour your surface with ordinary white flour, and begin rolling out the pastry, first length ways, then width ways and continue alternating until you have a rectangle of a thickness of 2 mm (STEPS 3 TO 7).
Then transfer your pastry to a chopping board (STEP 8), and get two open ring molds, one with a diameter of 4 inches and one with a diameter of 3.25 inches. In this case the height of the ring molds is not important. Then you will cut 3 circles using the 4inch mold out of the pastry for each vol-au-vent, and with two of the circles, you will use the mold of 3.25 inches to cut out two rings (STEPS 9 TO 14).
Then brush the full circle lightly with egg wash (STEPS 15, 16 & 17), and prick all over with a fork (STEPS 18 & 19).
Then layer one ring over as shown (STEPS 20 & 21), brush the ring with egg wash and layer over the second ring on top of the first (STEPS 22 & 23). Place on the butter paper lined plate (STEP 24), cover with another layer of butter paper and refrigerate (STEP 25).
Now with all that scraps that remain, you can gather them together, roll them into a ball and knead quickly to homogenise and then roll out again for use (STEPS 1 TO 5), and repeat process … that shown, let’s move on to the chicken in morel and porcini cream.
Ingredients – Chicken in Morel & Porcini Cream
YIELD: 4 COVERS
- 30 g dried local morel mushrooms
- 30g dried local porcini mushrooms
- 1 litre chicken stock (two chicken stock cubes dissolved in 1 litre of boiling water; preferably use ‘Knorr’ or ‘Kallo’ chicken stock cubes (image below left) … I had run out, so I used ‘Maggi.’
- 1 large red onion finely chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves finely chopped
- 35ml brandy (any imported or local brand will do – image below left)
- 35ml white wine (any imported or local brand will do – image below left)
- 300ml imported double (aka whipping) cream – image below left
- 500 g boneless Chicken thighs.
(Please note that I buy my morels from Pindi Fruit Mart, 28-A, Main Market, Defence Colony, New Delhi 110024, and the dried porcini, brand ‘The Mushrooms Hub’, from Nature’s Soul, 27, Ground floor, Defence Colony Main Market, New Delhi.)
First gather your ingredients together (STEP 1). Then dissolve 2 chicken stock cubes in 1 litre of hot water and soak the morels and porcini in the stock until they have rehydrated i.e. softened (STEP 2). This will take approximately 30 to 45 minutes. Then strain the mushrooms and reserve the liquid (STEP 3), which by this stage is a mixture of mushroom and chicken stock. It will be relatively muddy so strain it twice more (STEP 4), allowing the mud to settle at the bottom of the pot, and stop your second strain before you reach the bottom. Then thoroughly wash and scrub the mushrooms under running water to remove mud and grit (STEP 5). Then finely chop your shallots and garlic (STEP 6).
Once the soaked mushrooms have dried (you can dry them either by letting them sit in a strainer, or by squeezing the liquid out using your hands and then wrapping them in a cloth), chop them into approximately ½ inch pieces (STEP 7). Do not finely chop or else you will end up with mushroom mash. Then melt some butter on low heat in a pan, saute (i.e stir fry) the onions and garlic until translucent, add the mushrooms and saute for about 2 minutes (STEP 8), then add the cognac and white wine, increase the heat and boil the alcohol until it has reduced down to a syrup (i.e. almost evaporated completely) then add the mushroom-chicken stock, lower the heat to a strong simmer (STEP 9) until reduced by 2/3, approximately 25mins to 30mins
At this point, while the mushroom stock is reducing, you will saute your chicken thighs , which you will have cut into ¾ to 1 inch pieces, removing the bits of fat as shown in the image (STEPS 1, 2 & 3). Simply melt about 30g of ordinary amul butter in a pan, add 15g of ordinary cooking oil (STEP 4), add the chicken and shallow fry for approximately 10 mins until golden. (STEPS 5 & 6). Lift the out with a slotted spoon and set aside (STEPS 7 & 8).
Now, return to your mushroom stock which will have reduced by 2/3 (STEP 1), turn down the heat to a bare simmer, add the cream (STEP 2), then turn up the heat to a strong simmer again, and let reduce for about 10 minutes (STEP 3), then add the chicken (STEP 4), and let simmer another 10 minutes (STEP 5) until it has thickened to a nice coating consistency i.e. it will spread only a bit on a plate, like a lava (STEP 6).
And now finally onto the baking of the vol-au-vent, followed by the final assembly of the dish.
First turn your oven on to 170 celsius, top & bottom fan setting (STEPS 1 & 2), line the baking tray with a silicone baking mat (they are available on Amazon) (STEP 3), and place it on the second slot from the top of the oven, and let heat for 10 mins. Then place your vol-au-vent (I am showing you only one sample) in the oven (STEP 4) and let it cook for 20 to 25 minutes (STEP 5).
Then remove from the oven (STEP 6), run a knife around the centre lightly to remove the cap (STEPS 7 & 8) … practice will help! Set aside (STEP 9) and before serving, flip the case and place back in oven (STEP 10), pre-heated to 150°C fan, if there is a gap between the first bake and re-heating, or else stick with 170°C fan – as well as the cap golden side up, reheat and dry out for approximately 3 minutes (STEP 11).
And now finally, putting it all together … reheat your chicken in morel and porcini cream, place the re-heated Vol-au-Vent case just off the centre of your serving plate, fill generously with the chicken mixture (STEP 12), letting it spill out from one side onto the plate with a tiny spread (STEP 13). Garnish the spread with a few washed and dried micro-herbs, place the cap at an angle on top, and there you have one helluva delicious and handsome main course! (FINAL IMAGE)
Above: Final Image