September 2009 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Vols-au-Vent

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

So, I made a pie crust the other weekend for a Hoosier sugar cream pie. I had made pie crust in the past, with decent results. But this recipe, for this pie crust, turned out like warm, mealy sand. It was absolutely foul. Being a Hoosier and never having sugar cream pie also seemed like an atrocity, but if what I tasted in that pie was the genuine taste, texture and flavor, count me out. It was super sweet pudding gone wrong. Baked ice cream. Death on a sand cracker.

If I can't pull that off, how in the heck did I make puff pastry? Granted, it is not the most tender puff pastry I've ever had, but it rose, held its shape, and was quite tasty. Take that, Pepperidge Farm, I don't need your trans-fat puff pastry. I will relish in the calories that 4 sticks of organic butter contributed to the flaky layers of my vols au vent.

This is a square, right? Apparently I failed "shapes" in kindergarten.

Rolling out the flaps to hold the pound of flattened butter.

And there they are, all cooked and golden brown and flaky! They didn't rise nearly as high as some of the other DB's, but I'm okay with that. Now, what to fill them with? After spending 7+ hours refridgerating and rolling out and making a floury mess, I wa s not in the mood to concoct some sort of fancy filling for these little guys, so I used what was on hand!

Which just so happened to be local barbecue pulled pork, some fresh green onions from my micro-garden, and some crumbled Stilton and Gloucester cheese. Divine.

I had just a smattering of goat cheese left, so I added that to the base of the vols au vent and topped it with a freshly roasted Italian red pepper and a few leaves of basil. And I proceeded to eat both of them for dinner.

I have 2/3 + scraps left of my puff pastry from this trial, and am excited to try out some sweet applications. Apple pastry, you're up next!