Paschtéit (Bouchée à la Reine)

Paschtéit, also known as Bouchée à la Reine, is puffy, large pastry casings filled with chicken and mushrooms and topped with a creamy or béchamel sauce. The case and contents are prepared separately. To prepare the pastry, cut two circles out of rolled-out puff pastry, cut a hole in one of them, and stack the ring-shaped piece on top of the disc-shaped piece. After that, you cook it and stuff it with a selection of sweet or savory ingredients before topping it with a small pastry lid. Bouchée à la Reine is generally a classic French beginning for a special event, but some people in Luxembourg enjoy it as a main dish.

Ingredients:

• 2 sheets puff pastry
• 1 ea egg, beaten
• 200 g mixed wild mushrooms
• 1 ea onion
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 25 ml white wine
• 5 sprigs parsley
• 50 ml white wine
• 500 ml good quality chicken stock
• 550 ml whole milk
• 1 sprig thyme
• 5 g porcini mushrooms
• 60 g unsalted butter
• 50 g flour
• 50 ml double cream

Instruction:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
• Per vol du vent, cut two 10cm squares of puff pastry (or use a cutter to create a different shape). Cut another square from within one of them to make a 1cm 'frame.' The bottom square should be egg washed first, then the frame should be egg washed again. Bake the vol au vents for 10 minutes on a prepared baking sheet. Allow the dough to cool somewhat before delicately removing the 'lids' from the center with a small knife.
• Chop the mushrooms roughly. Peel and dice the onion. In a frying pan, melt the butter over high heat until it begins to froth. Fry the onion and mushrooms until the mushrooms are caramelized and tender. Reduce the wine till almost dry, then add the parsley and blend.
• Reduce the wine for the sauce by two-thirds and taste. It should be sweet with a hint of acidity. In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock for the jus. Bring to a boil, then lower to a low boil. Reduce for about 1 hour, or until the jus thickens somewhat (not too syrupy, but you can always let it down with a little more water). Season with salt and pepper to taste after adding the reduced wine.
• Put the milk, thyme, and porcini mushrooms to a boil in a separate small pot. Simmer for a few minutes, then remove from the heat and set aside for 30 minutes to infuse. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, then mix in the flour and cook for a minute. Remove the thyme and mushrooms from the milk and slowly pour in the milk, a little at a time, stirring until smooth before adding more. Finish by adding the cream and seasoning to taste. Remove the thyme and keep the mushrooms. Toss them with the fried mushroom mixture after they've been roughly chopped. Stir in the mushroom mixture as well as 2 tablespoons of the chicken juices to the béchamel.
• Warm the pastry shells in the oven for a few minutes, then remove and fill with the béchamel mixture, finishing with a drizzle of jus and serving.