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Chicken Avocado and Mushroom Stuffed Vol-au-Vents
This is so simple to make and very yummy, I usually serve this in the really large vol-au-vent shells, but I could not get any, so I had to serve in medium ones. These are not ideal as you can not get much filling into them, I ended up pouring some of the filling over after taking a photo, so we were not eating just pastry cases with no filling, which is ok but does not look the most appealing. I usually buy the 12.5cm cases just so you can get an idea of the size compared to the ones in the photo.

Ingredients

4 x 12.5 cm Vol-auVent cases (read note above with regards to the ones used in the photo.)
Olive oil
700g Chicken breasts, cut into chunks
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
300g Mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 leek, sliced thinly
1 Packets cream of chicken soup (The one I buy makes up 1 liter)
2 Cups milk
1 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 Teaspoon dried tarragon
1 Avocado, chopped

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

2. Heat oil in a pan cook chicken in batches until browned, remove and set to one side.

3. Heat a little more oil in the same pan, add leeks, garlic and mushrooms, cook until leeks and mushrooms have softened, return chicken to pan and removed from heat.

4. In a saucepan whisk soup powder with milk and stock, bring to the boil to thicken, stir in tarragon. (my packet mix requires one more cup of liquid than I use, so that I end up with a thicker version than a soup, to use as the sauce, so bear this in mind.)

5. Pour soup mix into pan with chicken and mushroom mix, stir to combine, gently stir in avocado.

6. Place spoonfuls of chicken mix into pastry cases, bake in oven for about 5-8 Min’s until hot.

I served our with honeyed carrots and buttered spinach.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Paupiettes De Porc – French Stuffed Pork Fillet Parcels
I made this the other night and it was excellent. A true dinner party meal without the fuss and no one would be none the wiser as it tastes wonderful. You can prepare the pork rolls earlier so you can just put it all in a pan and leave it to cook so you do not miss out on socialising with guests. If you would like to see more photos of this or read more reviews please click here. This can also be made with veal or turkey escalopes but the sauce remains the same.

Ingredients

8 Pork escalopes or thin pork steaks
Salt and pepper
400g Good quality pork sausage
1/2 Onion, peeled and very finely diced
1 Teaspoon fresh mixed herbs or 1/4 teaspoon dried herbs
1 Teaspoon olive oil
4 Shallots, peeled and finely diced
2 Tablespoons plain flour
2 Tablespoons sun-dried tomato paste
750ml Medium sweet white wine
500g Fresh mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 Teaspoon dried orange peel or grated fresh orange zest

Bouquet Garni

Bay leaf
Parsley
Thyme
Sage leaf
Kitchen string

Method

1. Flatten the pork escalopes or pork steaks with the flat of a large knife. Salt and pepper generously.

2. Mix the finely diced onion with the sausage meat and add the herbs – mixing well with your hands. Season with black pepper.

3. Place a spoonful of the seasoned sausage meat on each pork escalope one-third of the way down the scallop. Roll the escalope around the sausage meat, tucking the meat around the stuffing until well rolled. Taking about two feet of string, place the bundle in the middle of the string, and tie; turn one-quarter turn and tie again; turn again and tie again. When you have a neatly tied packet of pork and stuffing, clip off any excess string and proceed to tie up the rest of the pork escalopes.

4. Place pork parcels in a single layer in a hot, deep sauté pan with olive oil. Brown on all sides and remove from the pan.

5. Sauté the chopped shallots in the oil left in the pan. Stir until they start to colour, then add the flour and the tomato paste. Continue to cook and stir until the mixture starts to colour then add nearly the whole bottle of wine, reserving a glass for yourself if you wish!

6. Place the pork paupiettes back in the pan with the bouquet garni and the sauce, cover, and simmer slowly for forty-five to sixty minutes.

7. Add the sliced mushrooms and orange zest to the sauce and cook uncovered for another fifteen minutes.

To freeze: Place them in a plastic container with greaseproof paper in between them, or in a ziplock bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Serve 2 paupiettes per person,I served mine with potato dauphinoise or you could serve with seasonal vegetables or rice or pasta.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.