Vol-Au-Vents / Bite Sized Canapés

Canapés…they signal a party.

Good food, great friends, great chatter and a good time. Hubby dear has been extremely busy, and to be politically correct, so too have his colleagues. The scene to party has been bleak.  Even a small reason to celebrate is welcome. Even if it as small as a promotion.

That is reason enough to bring out the canapés and party.

And when the canapés are homemade and handmade- they really up the wow factor.

Wow, is a necessary evil...so yours truly sets out to wow!

Simple little bite sized morsels made with puff pastry from the freezer, baked for only 6-7 minutes and a power packed filling. You can’t really go wrong with that.

I made two fillings one with baby corn and the other with mushrooms and garlic. Since my pictures of the mushroom filling were better, we’ll stick to that. You can of course go your own way and stuff a small bit of chicken salad into the Vol-Au-Vents, maybe a spoonful of flavored rice….endless possibilities.

After I made the canapés I was hit with some memories too. If you are from Jammu and Kashmir, India, you will be familiar with Bakarkhani, made with puff pastry and poppy seeds and had warm every morning, fresh with a glass of kahva or desi chai or just simply chai.

Next time we make Bakarkhani. Let’s stay with the Vol-Au-Vents for now.

For the

Vol-Au-Vents / Bite Sized Canapés...

You need

250 Gms puff pastry

1 tsp poppy seeds/khus khus/Pashto

I tbsp milk

Flour to dust work surface

Before you start, pre heat your oven to 230C/450F or the highest setting, the one that you use for breads. Line the baking tray with AL Foil. No greasing needed, the canapés lift off easily.

That’s the puff pastry.

On a flour dusted work surface. Rolled out ¼ ^Th inch thick

Cut circles with a cookie cutter.With a metal cap or a bottle cut lightly into the circle, just superficially, this will give you a hole for the filling in the centre.

Place the discs on the tray and brush them with a little milk.

Now sprinkle the poppy seeds/khus khus/Pashto generously and pop the tray y to bake.

When you cut out the discs you will be left with some dough. Just neatly fold the dough. If you gather the dough into a ball, you won’t have flaky pastry, so be careful in layering the remaining pastry, reroll out the dough to cut more discs and repeat the process.

Now when you are left with dough, you really can’t do much with it, just practice your basketball skills and shoot the leftovers into the bin.

You can, of course make square Vol-Au-Vents / Bite Sized Canapés, but then the wow factor majorly diminishes.

Now out of the oven, they stayed only 7 to 8 minutes.

Take a sharp pointed knife and run over the cut in the center. You’ll get a nice cap for your canapé. This has to be done while they are warm; when cold the canapés don’t cut so clean.

Place about a spoonful of the filling and place the cut disc as acap...there!

For the

Mushroom and garlic filling…

You need

200 Gms button mushrooms

1 tsp olive oil/butter

1-2 garlic scapes chopped fine

1 small onion-diced fine

Salt and red chili flakes/paprika/black pepper to taste

1 tsp cream

Simple, just wash and slice the mushrooms thinly.

The olive oil/butter into the pan.

Now the garlic and then the onions.

Add in the mushrooms and salt. You need them to sweat and get rid of all the water content, or else it will seep into the Vol-Au-Vents / Bite Sized Canapés.

Check and adjust the seasoning by spicing it up, and with a total flair…blend in and cook the cream off.

Let this cool a bit before you plate your Vol-Au-Vents / Bite Sized Canapés.

If the canapés are cold, a quick nuke should warm them up, cold puff pastry is unappetizing. One tiny spoonful of the filling et voila…your canapés are ready to serve.

Be ready to receive the compliments and wee looks of jealousy from your female guests.

You deserve them, you slaved so hard remember?

Did you?

So what are you baking today???