INGREDIENTS:

= 2 lb. (1 kg) ready-made puff pastry (preferably, made with butter)

= 1 lb. (500g) cleaned raw shrimp (not too big)

= 4 lb. (2 kg) cooked crawfish – clean, remove the meat from tails

= 1 large leek – only white and pale green parts – finely sliced

= 1 egg – whip with 1 table spoon water

= freshly squeezed juice from ½ lemon

= 1 tablespoon olive oil

= ½ cup white wine

= 1 tablespoon flour

= 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

= 1½ cup thick cream

= 2 cups chicken stock

= Salt and freshly ground black pepper

= 1 bunch of fresh tarragon

COOKING:

1. First, we need to bake the vol-au-vent nests. Following the instructions on the package thaw the puff pastry. Roll out the puff pastry ½ inch thick on a slightly floured surface. Cut out 12-14 circles about 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter. I use special cookie cutters – they have a big selection of different sizes. In the half of the cut circles we need to cut out the centers about 1¼ inch (3 cm) in diameter.

Whip 1 egg with water.

Using a fork, prick a few times the centers of the base-circles, to prevent them from raising in the oven.  Brash the base-circles with the whipped egg. Put the circles with cut out centers on the top of the base-circles. Brush with the whipped egg once again and put the vol-au-vent nests in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃). Lay a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Take the vol-au-vent nests from the fridge and brush them with the whipped egg once again. Put the nests on the prepared baking sheet, place it in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until they raise and become golden. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and set aside.

2. In a large frying pan with a thick bottom heat the olive oil. Add finely sliced leeks and sauté for a few minutes until soft. Add ½ cup of white wine and boil over low heat for a couple of minutes to reduce the wine slightly. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock, bring to the boil and boil over low heat for 8 minutes.

3. Put the cleaned raw shrimp and cooked and cleaned crawfish to the frying pan with the leeks. Add salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Add ½ cup thick cream and bring to the boil. Add shopped tarragon and fresh lemon juice. Combine all the ingredients well.

4. In a separate small saucepan with thick bottom, fry 1 tablespoon flour until fragrant. Add 1 table spoon butter and mix together. Add 1 cup of chicken stock and stirring constantly with a whisk let the mixture boil until reduced and thick. Add 1 cup of hot cream.

Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper if necessary. Pour the sauce over the shrimp and crawfish, mix well and let it boil for 2-3 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 325℉ (160℃). Place the baking sheet with vol-au-vent nests in the oven and reheat it for 5-8 minutes.

6. Spoon the shrimp and crawfish mixture into the vol-au-vent nests and place them on a serving platter. Place some tarragon leaves on each vol-au-vent and serve.

Ingredients for vol-au-vent with mushrooms and chicken:

= 14 oz. (400 g) boiled chicken breasts

= 1 lb. (500 g) shitake mushrooms or any other available mushrooms

= ½ cup white wine

= large bunch of dill – wash and keep a small amount for serving, the rest – finely chop

= 1 onion – chop and sauté until golden 

= 2 oz. (50 g) unsalted butter

= olive oil for sautéing onions

= salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cooking:

1. Finely chop chicken breasts. Chop the onions. Slice the mushrooms.

2. Sauté the onions in olive oil until golden – about 5-7 minutes.

3. In a separate frying pan fry the mushrooms in butter for about 10 minutes. Add the chopped chicken breasts and sautéed onions and cook together for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and cook together for 5 minutes. At the very end of cooking, add chopped dill.

4. Spoon the chicken and mushroom mixture into the vol-au-vent nests and place some dill sprigs on each vol-au-vent and serve.