Recipe: Michel Roux' chicken & mushroom vol-au-vent

If anyone knows about french cooking, it's Michel Roux.

Roux opened his first restaurant Le Gavroche in London in 1967 with his brother Albert, and then went on to create The Waterside Inn in Bray on the River Thames, where he has held on to three Michelin stars for 31 years.

• North By Northwest Cooking Club
• Browse all CBC's B.C. recipes

"I'm 74 years old and I've cooked french cooking for 60 years, so if anyone can talk about the subject, I believe I know my subject now," he told North by Northwest host Margaret Gallagher.

The award-winning chef has released new cookbook The Essence of French Cooking, a collection of classic French recipes and the traditions behind them, along with his own updates.

All the recipes are described in exacting details, so they can be made by "any lover of food with very little knowledge."

Roux shared one of his classic recipes from his new book with the North by Northwest cooking club.

Chicken & mushroom vol-au-vent

​All the components of this classic dish can be prepared several hours in advance and assembled at the last minute. You can add lamb's or calf's sweetbreads to the filling, cooked and cut into large dice, or slivers of black truffle, when in season.

Vol-Au-Vent Ingredients:

• 1 ½ lb (750 g) quick all-butter puff pastry
• Flour, for dusting
• 1 egg yolk, mixed with 2 tsp milk and a pinch of salt, to glaze

Filling Ingredients:

• 3 medium boneless chicken breasts (skin on)
• ½ lemon
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into rounds
• 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced in to rings
• 1 bouquet garni (bundle of tied herbs)
• 5 ¼ oz (150 g) button mushrooms, clean
• 1 quantity sauce allemande (following)
• 7 oz (200 g) pickled beef tongue, cut into strips (see Chef's notes below)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place in the refrigerator to chill. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 30 x 9 ½ (75 x 24 cm) inch rectangle, 1/16 to 1/8 (2.5 x 3 mm) inch thick. Using the tip of the small knife, and a tart ring as a guide, cut out 3 rounds of pastry, 9 inches (22 cm) in diameter. Using a palette knife, transfer them to the chilled baking sheet and chill for 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F.

Transfer one pastry round to a small baking sheet and brush light with egg glaze. Place a 6 ½ inch (16 cm) tart ring on another pastry round and cut through the pastry, following the ring.  Remove the inner round of pastry. Using a palette knife, lift the outer ring onto the top of the first glazed pastry round. Lightly glaze the pastry ring and cover with the third pastry round. Chill for 10 minutes. 

Score the side of the vol-au-vent all the way round, to a depth of 1/32 inch (1 mm).  Brush the whole surface of the vol-au-vent with egg glaze. Now, with the tip of a knife, mark a 1 ½ (4 cm) border on the top by scoring quarter–circle lines. Score a lattice pattern on the pastry inside the border, which will become the lid. 

Bake in the oven 20 minutes, then lower the oven setting to 340 F and cook a further 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and use the tip of a knife to cut out the lid. Carefully lift it off, then scoop out and discard the undercooked pastry inside.  Transfer the vol-au-vent case to a wire rack and set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 265 F.

Put the chicken breasts in a saucepan with the lemon, carrot, onion, bouquet garni, and a pinch of salt.  Just cover with water, bring to a simmer over low heat and poach gently (at about 175 F) for 6 minutes. Let cool in the liquid.

In a small saucepan, cook the mushrooms in a little of the chicken poaching liquid over medium heat 1 minute.  Set aside, in the liquid. 

Heat up the sauce allemande. Drain the chicken, discard the skin, and cut the flesh into fine slices.  Drain the mushrooms and add to the sauce with the chicken and pickled tongue (or ham). Heat gently, stirring, and adjust the seasoning.

To serve, warm the vol-au-vent case in the low oven 5 minutes, then transfer to a warm serving dish. Spoon the chicken and mushroom filling into the case. You can add the pastry lid, to sit at an angle on top, if you like.

Sauce Allemande

This light silky sauce with its satisfying texture goes very well with poached poultry, sweetbreads, and spinach ravioli. Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz (60 g) shallots, peeled and finely chopped
• 7 Tbsp (100 ml) dry white wine
• 10 white peppercorns, crushed
• 1 bouquet garni, including a savory sprig
• 2 ¼ cups (500 ml) chicken stock
• 3 ½ oz (100 g) button mushrooms, sliced
• 13 Tbsp (200 ml) heavy cream
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper

For the liaison:

• 7 Tbsp (100 ml) whipping cream
• 3 egg yolks
• Juice of 1 lemon

Method:

Combine the shallots, white wine, crushed peppercorns, and bouquet garni in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and bubble to reduce the wine by two-thirds.

Add the chicken stock and mushrooms and cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Pour in the cream and let the sauce bubble for 5 minutes, or until it is thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon.

Meanwhile, for the liaison, lightly whip the cream to soft peaks, then fold in the egg yolks and lemon juice.

Pour the liaison mixture into the sauce, whisking to combine. Immediately turn off the heat, season the sauce with salt and white pepper to taste, and pass it through a fine-meshed chinois. Serve at once.

Chef's notes: If the "odd bits" are not your thing, you could use cooked ham, first sliced thick and then cut into strips instead, or even leave out the second meat altogether – it will still be delicious!  Also, if you don't want to make the vol-au-vents, you can also make toast cups by baking slices of bread in a muffin tin so they create little cups which you can then fill with the chicken mixture. Or just serve the filling over toast and enjoy!