Recipe Vol au vent

[valedevento]

Another classic dish from Belgium is Vol au vent, it is made with chicken and mushrooms in a thick, white sauce. It is normally served with fries and a salad.

Ingredients:

- one big, whole chicken
- 250 grams parisian mushrooms
- 300 grams minced meat
- 1 liter chicken stock
- 60 grams butter
- 60 grams plain flour
- pepper and salt
- some lemon juice

method:

Boil the chicken in the chicken stock until cooked. Take it out and let it cool down, keep the chicken stock! Pick all the meat from the chicken and set aside. Make a 'roux', melt the butter and add the flour, let it sit on the stove for a minute to dry out the roux. Add the chicken stock and stir well, keep on stirring to make a tick sauce. In the mean time, make little balls from the minced meat and fry them up in a pan, add the mushrooms. When the sauce is almost thick and creamy, add the chicken, meatballs and mushrooms and heat everything well. Season with pepper and salt and add a little bit of lemon juice. Serve with fries, mashed potatoes and a salad.

 

[L_B]

I have never heard of such a thing but it does sound interesting and quite tasty. I will have to check and see what parisian mushrooms are because I have never head of them before.

 

[winterybella]

Chicken is my go to protein so I always tend to gravitate towards most things that call for it. I've never given consideration to Belgium dishes until now and I'm here trying to sprain my brain to remember what I ate when I there more than 20 years ago. Mince meat with chickens sounds quite interesting. @valedevento. Do you have any pictures? Everyone knows I am a sucker for an image.

 

[Morning Glory]

I have never heard of such a thing but it does sound interesting and quite tasty. I will have to check and see what parisian mushrooms are because I have never head of them before.

Parisian mushrooms are just the usual white mushrooms that we get everywhere. See Marvellous Mushrooms for all the various other names!

 

[Morning Glory]

Chicken is my go to protein so I always tend to gravitate towards most things that call for it. I've never given consideration to Belgium dishes until now and I'm here trying to sprain my brain to remember what I ate when I there more than 20 years ago. Mince meat with chickens sounds quite interesting. @valedevento. Do you have any pictures? Everyone knows I am a sucker for an image.

You were in Belgium 20 years ago? I'm intrigued. Can you remember what you ate? I'd like to see what this dish looks like too!

 

[winterybella]

You were in Belgium 20 years ago? I'm intrigued. Can you remember what you ate? I'd like to see what this dish looks like too!

I don't remember what I ate. I know it wasn't Vol Au Vent. I went on a European tour and Belgium was one of the stops. Holland, 'Germany, Paris and Switzerland were the other stops.

 

[valedevento]

I have never heard of such a thing but it does sound interesting and quite tasty. I will have to check and see what parisian mushrooms are because I have never head of them before.

Yeah, these are the normal, smaller, white mushrooms, we call them parisian in Belgium and I just translated

 

[valedevento]

Chicken is my go to protein so I always tend to gravitate towards most things that call for it. I've never given consideration to Belgium dishes until now and I'm here trying to sprain my brain to remember what I ate when I there more than 20 years ago. Mince meat with chickens sounds quite interesting. @valedevento. Do you have any pictures? Everyone knows I am a sucker for an image.

It is often served with a puff pastry, here is a picture

vol au vent

• valedevento
• 1 Feb 2016

 

[winterybella]

Lovely @valedevento. I looked it up online and I found it to be quite lovely. I am yet to find mushrooms around here. Sadly one of the supermarkets where I thought I would find some closed its doors on Saturday. I will continue my search.

 

[Morning Glory]

It is often served with a puff pastry, here is a picture

vol au vent

• valedevento
• 1 Feb 2016

I was going to reply saying that I was puzzled by the recipe title, because in the UK, ' Vol au vent' is a puff pastry case (as shown in your picture) and your original recipe doesn't contain puff pastry. Then you posted the picture saying it was often served with a puff pastry case!

Vol au vent is from the French meaning 'flight of the wind' and refers to the lightness of the pastry case. So, the Belgium use of the term Vol au Vent to refer to chicken and mushrooms in white sauce is a kind of corruption of that, I suppose. All quite fascinating.

Anyway, what I really found intriguing about your recipe is the little meatballs alongside the chicken and mushroom. I've never come across that before. What kind of meat would you use? Veal or pork would be my guess...

 

[Lullabelle]

I was going to reply saying that I was puzzled by the recipe title, because in the UK, ' Vol au vent' is a puff pastry case (as shown in your picture) and your original recipe doesn't contain puff pastry. Then you posted the picture saying it was often served with a puff pastry case!

Vol au vent is from the French meaning 'flight of the wind' and refers to the lightness of the pastry case. So, the Belgium use of the term Vol au Vent to refer to chicken and mushrooms in white sauce is a kind of corruption of that, I suppose. All quite fascinating.

Anyway, what I really found intriguing about your recipe is the little meatballs alongside the chicken and mushroom. I've never come across that before. What kind of meat would you use? Veal or pork would be my guess...

At 1 point vol au vents were all the rage and the 'must have' on most tables, then they seem to go out of fashion. Prawn cocktail is a particular favourite of mine, tuna & sweetcorn traditional but tasty. An empty pastry case is a joyous thing, so much to fill them with.

 

[valedevento]

I was going to reply saying that I was puzzled by the recipe title, because in the UK, ' Vol au vent' is a puff pastry case (as shown in your picture) and your original recipe doesn't contain puff pastry. Then you posted the picture saying it was often served with a puff pastry case!

Vol au vent is from the French meaning 'flight of the wind' and refers to the lightness of the pastry case. So, the Belgium use of the term Vol au Vent to refer to chicken and mushrooms in white sauce is a kind of corruption of that, I suppose. All quite fascinating.

Anyway, what I really found intriguing about your recipe is the little meatballs alongside the chicken and mushroom. I've never come across that before. What kind of meat would you use? Veal or pork would be my guess...

You are completely right, morning glory, we still call it Vol au vent if it is served without the puff pastry, so I guess we are doing it wrong The meatballs are probably a Belgian addition to, Belgians love their meatballs! We usually use a mix of beef and pork, but of course you can use whatever you want, even chicken mince