5th and 11th of October, technical description of vol-au-vent and moules gratinées

Vol-au-vent:

Ingredients:1. Vol-au-vent: puff pastry and egg yolk.2. Filling: cooked chicken/stir fried tofu, diced carrots, leek, beans, broccoli and mushrooms.3. Sauce: Raw chicken, 2 carrots, 1 leek (white part only), 2 garlic cloves, 1 celery stalk, 1 clove, 1 bouquet garni ( leek, thyme and bay leaf), black peppercorns, water, salt, 150g butter and 150g flour, nutmeg. Vegetarian version, no chicken.4. Preparation: a. We start with filling. We put raw and cleaned chicken in a casserole with cold water. Bring it to the boiling point. Take out the chicken, clean it and throw the water. Put all the ingredients for sauce, except flour and butter, and chicken, in a new casserole. Cover with water, bring to the boiling point. Reduce the heat. Cook for about 45min. b. Vol-au vent: we cut the circles and rings in puff pastry. Brush circles with egg yolk, put the rings on them and brush again. Put them in preheated oven, 190 centigrade. They are ready when they rise up and are golden brown. Take them out of the oven and keep aside.c. Before the chicken is ready, we use the cooking bouillon to cook in it our vegetables for the filling. We cool them and keep aside. Once the chicken is cooked, we take it out of the casserole, discard it, cut in small peaces and keep aside. Keep the cooking bouillond. Sauce: We prepare Roux blanc, it is a thickening agent made of butter and flour, quantity 1 to 1. We heat butter and stir in flour. It should stay white. Cool it. Take cooking bouillon, heat it and stir in roux, bit by bit. It has to have the consistency of light béchamel. Taste it and season with salt, nutmeg. Keep it cover and warm.5. Plating: Reheat vegetables and chicken. Place vol-au-vent on the plate. Put hot ingredients inside, add sauce and serve. 6. For the vegetarian option you pan fry tofu cut in dices just before plating.

Moules gratinées:

1. Ingredients: 2 kg of mussels, 2 small leeks (white part only), 2 celery stalks, 1 big onion, 2 garlic cloves, 300ml of dry white wine, salt, pepper, butter, flour, bread crams, parsley, oil of olive.2. Preparation:a. Clean very well the mussels.b. Roughly chop leeks, celery and onion.c. Prepare Roux like in vol-au-vent (40g of butter and 40g of flour).d. Make persillade: chop parsley, in a pan heat the butter, add bred crams and chopped parsley. Cool it and keep aside. 3. Mussels cooking: put all the vegetables in a big casserole with a little bit of oil of olive. Heat it on the middle heat. Add white wine, salt, pepper and mussels. Cook till

mussels open themselves. Throw closed one. Drain mussels keeping the cooking liquid for our velouté/sauce. Discard mussels from their shells. Keep shells. 4. Sauce: heat the cooking liquid, stir in roux (bit by bit). Sauce has to be smooth and to have consistence of light béchamel. Taste it and season if needed. Keep it cover and warm. 5. Plating: put rough salt on big plate that can go to the oven. Place shells on slat it will prevent rocking. Place mussels in shells. Cover them with sauce and parsillade with bread crams. Put it in hot oven, under grill. When the crams become golden brown take them out.

Bon appetit.