2022 Vuelta - Champion’s Meal.
Congrats to Remco Evenepoel on winning this year’s Vuelta España! Being from Flemish country in Belgium, I decided to make Vol au Vent (flying in the wind), a fittingly named dish for a speedy cyclist. If you’ve not heard of it before, it’s a delicious meal involving poultry, a cream sauce, mushrooms, and puff pastry. Sometimes, small meatballs are included as well, but I omitted them due to the dainty size of these puff pastry cups. This meal is similar to a dish I made for the 2021 Tour de France Culinary Ridealong. However, if you’re not up for sweetbreads, this is more approachable! If you feel like making this a larger meal, use a whole chicken and whole sheets of puff pastry as opposed to the individual cups.
Vol au Vent
Poultry
1 Cornish hen
1 carrot, broken into thirds
1 celery stalk, broken into thirds
1 leek, white and light green part, rinsed
½ lemon
Few sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
Béchamel
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp AP flour
2 cups stock (from poultry prep)
1 cup heavy cream
White pepper
Nutmeg
½ cup grated gruyere
Other
6 frozen puff pastry cups
2 tbsp butter
½ lb mushrooms, diced
Combine the Poultry ingredients in a large pot and cover with water. Season heavily with salt and bring to a boil. Simmer for an hour, then remove the hen to a cutting board and continue to reduce the stock until about half of the original liquid level. Strain the stock and reserve.
When the hen has cooled, remove the skin and pull the meat from the bones into bite-sized pieces. Reserve.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven and prepare the pastry cups per the box’s instructions.
Prepare the Béchamel by melting the butter in a pot, then whisk in the flour and cook for a minute or so while continually whisking. Slowly add in the stock while whisking, followed by the cream. Season with a few pinches of salt and white pepper, and a pinch of grated nutmeg.
Continue to simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened, then whisk in the cheese until melted and keep warm.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tbsp of butter and sauté the mushrooms, with a pinch of salt, until softened and the mushrooms have released their liquid. Stir in the reserved chicken, along with some broth, and a little of the béchamel sauce.
To serve, slice away the top round of the prepared pastry cup and fill with the chicken and mushrooms. Top with the béchamel and pastry top.
______________________________ Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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