Salad

Stir-Fried Chili Black Tigers With Cucumber Salsa On Iceberg Hearts In Lime Vinaigrette, Tzatziki

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Now that I am back in Germany, seafood is much harder to come by for me than back in Miami, and the variety does not even come close. At least, some of the folks who complained in the past about too much seafood on ChefsOpinion can now be more entertained with a wider variety of meat dishes, since the variety of dishes prepared with meat is so much larger here than there 🙂
However, just like I lusted over the past few Decades for familiar meat dishes from my original home, I now miss the seafood that was so readily available to me on my travels through the Caribbean, South East Asia, South America, the Orient, Alaska, Florida and so many other places along or close to the coasts´ of the World, especially at my other home Florida, where one can always count on ones friendly ?? neighborhood Asian market with their endless fresh/ live seafood selections.
So now, every so often, I will still splurge on a big portion of good-quality seafood for Bella and me, to make sure we don´t lose our touch with that part of happy eating. 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Click here for Tzatziki Recipe
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Stir-Fried Chili Black Tigers With Cucumber Salsa On Iceberg Hearts In Lime Vinaigrette, Tzatziki

Tzatziki

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Bellas Portion
Initial portion I should say, of course she got more of my tigers (and lettuce with tzatziki, which she loves) 🙂
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: after removing the cooked shrimp, I added a bit of chicken stock to deglaze the pan with the shells

: to serve, she got another tiger on top of the shells

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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: 16 oz headless fresh black tigers

: peel (tail on), remove black vein,

: season with sweet Thai chili sauce, garlic paste, kosher salt to taste

: stir-fry in 2 tblsp very hot peanut oil until tigers are nearly cooked through, remove tigers, drizzle with lemon or lime juice (finish Bellas portion according to the instruction below)

: for the salsa, mix 1/2 cup diced cucumbers with 1 tblsp chopped onions, 1 tblsp cilantro, chili flakes, garlic paste, kosher salt and lime or lemon juice to taste

: spread some iceberg hearts on a serving plate

: drizzle with Lime Vinaigrette, to with the tigers ; Serves one mein course or 3 appetizers

: Stir-Fried Chili Black Tigers With Cucumber Salsa On Iceberg Hearts In Lime Vinaigrette, Tzatziki

: Stir-Fried Chili Black Tigers With Cucumber Salsa On Iceberg Hearts In Lime Vinaigrette, Tzatziki

: Stir-Fried Chili Black Tigers With Cucumber Salsa On Iceberg Hearts In Lime Vinaigrette, Tzatziki

: Stir-Fried Chili Black Tigers With Cucumber Salsa On Iceberg Hearts In Lime Vinaigrette, Tzatziki

: Tzatziki

: after removing the cooked shrimp, I added a bit of chicken stock to deglaze the pan with the shells

: to serve, she got another tiger on top of the shells

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Steak Salad # 2153

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While I crave for steak at least once or twice a week, I can´t say the same for salad, although I absolutely love a good salad. However, STEAK SALAD (or SEAFOOD SALAD) I can happily eat daily.
Of course, the meat/seafood must be combined intelligently with ingredients which enhance the dish, not just be a cheap filler. In the average restaurant these days, too many times the combinations appearing in front of you are less than fortunate, and the concoction of a tiny bit of inferior meat/seafood and a bunch of “rabbit food” ( mostly the outer leaves of greens) and some crappy bottled “dressing” does nothing to justify the (usually) premium price of most restaurants steak/seafood salad.
So, as usual, if I want the good stuff, I pretty much have to prep it at home. 🙂
Yes I know, there ARE great restaurants out there, but unfortunately, they are harder to find by the day. 😦
The overwhelming reasons are not only the lack of education, talent, pride and practice by the cooks and “chefs”, but the lack of food education and common food-sense by the customers, which makes education, talent, pride and practice to produce decent food for an acceptable price mostly obsolete. 😦
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Click here for Seafood Salad on ChefsOpinion
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Click here for some great and some not so great Steak Salads on the Net
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Click here for some great and some not so great Seafood Salads on the Net
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P.S.
Obviously, the quantities for this dish are clearly visible in the pics. This amount makes one generous main course or four appetizers/snacks. However, if you have a beloved dog, you might want to double the amount of meat. 🙂
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Steak Salad # 2153

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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: fresh-grated carrots, romaine, tomatoes; dress with honey/mustard dressing

: leftover steak, chopped parsley, sliced onions; dress with oil/vinegar vinaigrette

: good enough to eat……….

: plate the veggies, top with the meat, sprinkle with sliced scallions

: Steak Salad # 2153

: Steak Salad # 2153

: Steak Salad # 2153

: Steak Salad # 2153

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Pork Nirvana – “Schweinebraten Mit Kartoffelsalat & Bratensaft” – (Roast Pork With Potato Salad & Jus)

Schweinebraten Mit Kartoffelsalat & Bratensaft – “Roast Pork With Potato Salad & Jus”

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First of all, a word of warning:
This is NOT your typical American-or Latin –style, super-long cooked roast pork.
This is German / Bavarian-style roast pork, very juicy (no need to drown it in sauce to be able to swallow it), very delicious pork with a wonderful texture, more like a perfectly cooked steak than a stringy mess that falls apart when you barely touch it.
While I enjoy both versions (as you know from previous posts), today´s version is by far my favorite one. Assuming you have pork of perfect quality, roasting it this way outshines the “cooked-to-death” variation by a mile. 🙂
While the pictures seem to show pork which is still a bit undercooked, I can assure you it was fully cooked, extremely juicy, had the texture of a very tender steak and, surprise surprise, had a pure, unadulterated pork taste which was further enhanced with the slightly thickened pork jus which collected during the cooking in the drip pan beneath the roast and was enhanced with a generous jug of good quality Merlot.
In other words – Pork Nirvana. 🙂

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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Click here to see what happened to this particular Knuckle
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Schweinebraten Mit Kartoffelsalat & Bratensaft – “Roast Pork With Potato Salad & Jus”

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
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: cut the knuckle off the butt, use for another dish (see link on this pge)

: remove the meat from the bone towards the middle of the butt

: turn to the other side of the butt, repeat.; pull out the bone, roast together with the butt for the jus

: boneless butt without the knuckle

: score the skin halfway through the fat, either lenghtwise or cross wise

: season liberally with kosher salt, and white pepper to taste

: place on a rack over a drip pan filled with 2 cup water

: cook the pork at 375 F until an instant thermometer reads 155 F at the center / thickest part of the roast , remove the roast to a clean rack to rest for 15 to 30 minutes before carving: (the carry-over heat should take the temperature to 162 F in about 15 minutes; (162 F is my personal preference for pork to be served)

: please note that at this point, there is still un-rendered fat between the meat and the crisp skin (again, this is a personal preference)

: there should be about 1 cup of pork jus at this point (adjust with more stock or by reducing the jus at this point)

: add red wine or white wine according to your taste (I used 1 cup jus to 1 cup wine)

: strain, then thicken LIGHTLY with a cornstarch slurry, check / adjust the seasoning

: cut the roast as thick as you prefer, serve each portion with a few strips of crisp skin (chicharon)

: oh my………..

: nice and juicy………………

: drizzle with a bit of jus, serve with potato salad and mustard of your choice and / or grated horseradish

: Schweinebraten Mit Kartoffelsalat & Bratensaft – “Roast Pork With Potato Salad & Jus”

: Schweinebraten Mit Kartoffelsalat & Bratensaft – “Roast Pork With Potato Salad & Jus”

: Schweinebraten Mit Kartoffelsalat & Bratensaft – “Roast Pork With Potato Salad & Jus”

: Schweinebraten Mit Kartoffelsalat & Bratensaft – “Roast Pork With Potato Salad & Jus”

: Schweinebraten Mit Kartoffelsalat & Bratensaft – “Roast Pork With Potato Salad & Jus”

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Seafood Salad….(Worthy Of The Holidays)

Romaine Lettuce With Shrimp, Mussels, Crab Claws, And Fruits, Dressed In Avocado Salsa

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Before I went to get some last-minute shopping done this morning, I contemplated my probable food-intake for the next two days. It downed on me that if I don’t want to gain at least 10 lbs over the holidays, I must offset the gluttony with sensible breakfasts and luncheons, so I started today with this simple and light salad;
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“Romaine Lettuce With Shrimp, Mussels, Crab Claws, And Fruits, Dressed In Avocado Salsa”
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P.S.
For seafood salads, I always like to “refresh” refrigerated seafood in a mixture of room temperature-water, lemon juice, garlic paste, kosher salt and cayenne pepper. (Keep in liquid for ten minutes)
For all hot dishes, I like to “refresh” refrigerated seafood in a mixture of room temperature-whole butter, lemon juice, garlic paste, kosher salt and cayenne pepper. (Keep in butter for ten minutes)
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Mix romaine lettuce, cucumbers and rainbow grape tomatoes with a simple honey/mustard vinaigrette, plate on serving platter.
Top with pomegranate seeds, blueberries and mango, refresh seafood according to instruction on this page.
Top with seafood.
Drizzle with avocado dressing/salsa.
Serves – well, that depends entirely on you. 🙂 (This one was just the perfect sized meal for Bella and me)
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Avocado Salsa/Dressing Recipe:
In a food processor, blend 1 cup honey/mustard vinaigrette and juice from 1 lime with meat from 1 to 2 ea Hass(Haas) Avocado (depending on size) until smooth, stir-in 1 tblsp finely chopped cilantro.
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Romaine Lettuce With Shrimp, Mussels, Crab Claws, And Fruits, Dressed In Avocado Salsa

I could eat just the salad on its own……….

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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: bring liquid to a boil, cool to room temperature

: add the seafood for 10 minutes, drain

: dress romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers with honey/mustard vinaigrette

: plate the salad

: top with fruits, top with seafood, drizzle generously with avocado salsa

: Romaine Lettuce With Shrimp, Mussels, Crab Claws, And Fruits, Dressed In Avocado Salsa

: Romaine Lettuce With Shrimp, Mussels, Crab Claws, And Fruits, Dressed In Avocado Salsa

: Romaine Lettuce With Shrimp, Mussels, Crab Claws, And Fruits, Dressed In Avocado Salsa

: Romaine Lettuce With Shrimp, Mussels, Crab Claws, And Fruits, Dressed In Avocado Salsa

: Romaine Lettuce With Shrimp, Mussels, Crab Claws, And Fruits, Dressed In Avocado Salsa

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P.S.
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This dish is part of my upcoming meal plan # 2 –
“HANS’ LIGHTER, HEALTHIER COMFORT FOOD” – MONTH TWO
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Click here for
“HANS’ LIGHTER, HEALTHIER COMFORT FOOD” – MONTH ONE
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Panierte Frikadelle Mit Schweizer Käse (Breaded Meat Patties With Swiss Cheese)

Panierte Frikadellen Mit Schweizer Käse (Breaded Meat Patties With Swiss Cheese)

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” WHY ARE MOST AMERICAN BURGERS CRAP ? “

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Easy boy’s and girls, just trying to get your attention here. 🙂
But………..

For many years the American style burger was a complete mystery to me.
You see, when I came to America for the first time in 1970, my “burger”
senses were still completely in love with our German version, which go
by the names of:

Frikadellen, Buletten, Hamburger, Fleischpflanzln.

To this day I can not understand how one can forgo the deliciousness
and texture of a “proper” Frikadelle for a limp , skinny, mostly dry and
tasteless meat patty made of low-grade, unseasoned and uninteresting
ground beef.
( Notice friends, I said “most’ American burgers, not “all” )
Of course, the principle of having a good piece of meat layered with lettuce,
tomatoes, pickles, mayonnaise and a variety of other goodies is a wonderful
idea. But, if this is such a standby and tradition for so many folks, why on earth
do most people treat it like crap ? Crappy buns, crappy patties, crappy condiments. No love 😦 .
So here is what I suggest to the American public :
Let’s LOVE and RESPECT our food from here on, even a simple burger ! 🙂
I will throw the first coin by giving you all the simplest and best recipe for
a plain, good old frikadelle. There are many variations and once you have
mastered the basics, you should experiment until you find your personal favorite.
A frikadelle is a very versatile dish. It can be served as a snack, cold with mustard
to dip and a slice of sour dough bread on the side. Or as a lunch or dinner dish,
with mashed potatoes and mushroom sauce, roast potatoes and fried onions,
french fries (fritten) and salad or any other side dish, condiment and sauce
which would go well with a steak or regular beef burger. Just make sure that if you go the
few extra steps to make a wonderful frikadelle instead of a measly, skinny patty,
don’t destroy the good stuff by adding lesser sides and condiments.
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If you are a burger fanatic, you want to read : History of the Hamburger

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Ingredients:
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1/2 cup finely diced onion
1 tsp. olive oil
1 day-old roll (about 2 oz.), softened in hot milk and squeezed dry.
1 lb. ground meat (half and half; pork and veal)
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 Tsp chopped, fresh parsley
1 Tsp chopped, fresh marjoram
1 oz butter

Method:
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Saute onions in oil until translucent. Cool slightly.
Cut softened roll into little pieces in a bowl, add meat and the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Heat butter and olive oil together in a frying pan.
Shape 4 patties and saute over medium high heat until browned on both sides. Place the patties on a baking sheet and place in a 375°F oven until done.
You may also continue sauteing them in the pan until they are no longer pink inside.

Variation 1: You may want to roll your patties in dried, seasoned bread crumbs before sautéing for a really nice, crispy exterior.
Variation 2: If you have German relatives, they might tell you to add some Maggi Seasoning. In my house we use Maggi as a table side condiment.
Variation 3: Meat Patties with caraway. Substitute 1 teaspoon caraway and 2 teaspoons prepared mustard for the parsley and marjoram.
Variation 4: Add 4 ounces of finely chopped bacon to the meat .

Find your own best burger or fricadelle recipe by experimenting and giving them the love they deserve ! 🙂

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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Click here to read all about
Frikadellen, Buletten, Fleischplanzerl, Fleischküchle, Faschierte Laibchen, Fasírt, Faširanci, Perkedel, etc…….

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Panierte Frikadellen Mit Schweizer Käse (Breaded Meat Patties With Swiss Cheese)

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures>
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: mix 1 lb ground veal and 1 lb ground pork with2 ea whole eggs, 2 tblsp chopped parsley, 1 tblsp dijon mustard, 1 tblsp ketchup, 1 cup diced sauteed onionsm 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs, 2 tblsp sweet paprika and kosher salt and cayenne pepper to taste

: add 6 oz diced swiss cheese

: form 4 ea large patties

: use standard breading method

: sautee in half olive oil and half whole butter until medium well, (the carry-over heat will do the rest), serve with griddled thick lemon slices and a small leaf salad

: Panierte Frikadellen Mit Schweizer Käse (Breaded Meat Patties With Swiss Cheese)

: Panierte Frikadellen Mit Schweizer Käse (Breaded Meat Patties With Swiss Cheese)

: Panierte Frikadellen Mit Schweizer Käse (Breaded Meat Patties With Swiss Cheese)

: Panierte Frikadellen Mit Schweizer Käse (Breaded Meat Patties With Swiss Cheese)

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Butter Lettuce & Marinated Octopus

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Butter lettuce has to be my all time favorite lettuce – perfect texture, a color that can only be described as translucent and pearly, and a delicate flavor that is heavenly. While I love all leaf salads, especially frisee and baby arugula, butter lettuce is always at the forefront of my mind when I lust for salad 🙂
I eat it as often as possible, but unfortunately, most of the time the quality available around here is very low, and in case there is good quality available (as when I found the one for this meal), the price is usually at least quadruple the price of iceberg, romaine or frisee. 😦
As with so many other foods, when I grew up, I could not stand butter lettuce, because it was the cheapest salad available and therefore it showed up during many meals, at least three or four times a week. My Mom used to dress it with a simple vinaigrette with onions, which made the whole affair even more disgusting for me. Since my Dad did not allow us to remove items from our plated food, my Mom used to give me (secretly from my Dad) 10 Pfennig, which was but a few cents in today’s money, to ease my pain eating the onions in my salad. 🙂 How times have changed…………..
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Butter Lettuce & Marinated Octopus

Butter Lettuce

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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: wash and drain lettuce, pat dry with papertowels, dress with a simple lemon vinaigrette

: make a dressing with lemon vinaigrette, green peas, chopped cilantro, red onions and chopped yellow bell peppers, add the cooked octopus, mix well

: plate the dressed lettuce, top with the marinated octopus

: Butter Lettuce & Marinated Octopus

: Butter Lettuce & Marinated Octopus

: Butter Lettuce & Marinated Octopus

: Butter Lettuce & Marinated Octopus

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Sautéed Salmon With Arugula, Strawberries & Walnuts In Raspberry Vinaigrette

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Once in a while, my neighborhood fishmonger receives an overnight delivery of fresh-caught, never frozen salmon. He usually leaves me an e-mail message the same morning, so by noon I’ll have salmon in my kitchen which happily swam in the ocean or stream just one or maybe a couple of days before that. Ahhh, the wonders of our modern times 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Sautéed Salmon With Arugula, Strawberries & Walnuts In Raspberry Vinaigrette

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: from a side of salmon, cut a 8 oz portion

: remove the skin (if you plan to eat the skin, scrape it clean of all fat and meat particles; this one was for Bella, so I omitted this step)

: season with salt and cayenne pepper, saute in peanut oil until golden on one side, about 4 minutes

: turn the fish and skin, cook until 162F in the center (or less if you prefer, but please remember food-safe temperatures are strongly suggested for a reason, and required by law in commercial establishments ! )

: to 1 cup baby arugula add 8 ea quartered strawberries, 1/2 cup very finely sliced red cabbage, 1/4 cup walnuts and 1/4 cup raspberry vinaigrette, mix, place salad on a serving plate, top the salad with the salmon filet, drizzle the salmon with the juice from a caramelized lemon

: Sautéed Salmon With Arugula, Strawberries And Walnuts In Raspberry Vinaigrette

: Sautéed Salmon With Arugula, Strawberries And Walnuts In Raspberry Vinaigrette

: Sautéed Salmon With Arugula, Strawberries And Walnuts In Raspberry Vinaigrette

: Sautéed Salmon With Arugula, Strawberries And Walnuts In Raspberry Vinaigrette

: Sautéed Salmon With Arugula, Strawberries And Walnuts In Raspberry Vinaigrette

: Sautéed Salmon With Arugula, Strawberries And Walnuts In Raspberry Vinaigrette

: Sautéed Salmon With Arugula, Strawberries And Walnuts In Raspberry Vinaigrette

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Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

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This was such a pleasant salad to enjoy early in the day.
The colors, flavors and lightness of its ingredients brightened the rest of my day and gave me a wonderful, guilt-free lunch. (I am still working on losing some of the many pounds I added while in Argentina.
So far it’s going well, 13 lbs in about one month, while always eating good and plenty. 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

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Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

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Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

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Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: score 12 ea drumsticks all the way to the bone

: marinade with 1 tblsp chili paste, 2 tblsp thai chili sauce, 1/2 cup hoisin sauce, 1 tblsp garlic paste, 1 tblsp sweet paprika (for extra bright color), 2 tblsp Greek yogurt, kosher salt to taste, mix well

: marinate overnight

: next day, place the drumsticks on a rack, roast at 385F until cooked through but still juicy, 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the drumsticks

: cover the chicken lightly, let cool to roomtemperature

: wash and cut 1 large head of endive

: add 5 ea sliced raddishes, 1 medium sized, julienned onion and 2 tblsp chopped Italian parsley

: mix the salad with 1/3 cup honey/mustard dressing, plate on a large serving dish, pull (or cut if you prefer) into bite-size pieces, place on top of the salad, garnish with fresh basil

: Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

: Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

: Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

: Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

: Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

: Salad Of Endive & Chili Chicken

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P.S.
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This dish is part of my upcoming meal plan –
“HANS’ LIGHTER, HEALTHIER COMFORT FOOD” – MONTH TWO
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Click here for
“HANS’ LIGHTER, HEALTHIER COMFORT FOOD” – MONTH ONE
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Torta De Milanesa De Res – A Dainty Little Sandwich ( NOT ! )

Torta De Milanesa De Res – A Dainty Sandwich ( NOT ! )

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And here we go – another beautiful, tasty example of what a sandwich can be if you love food and take it serious 🙂
(If you wonder about the name “Torta”, click the link below to learn all there is to know about this great Mexican sandwich 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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P.S.
Because I used a double layer of beef, I did not use standard breading (flour, egg, and breadcrumbs) for the beef, instead, I just dipped the beef slices in a mixture of 50/50 flour and panko. However, if you use a single layer of beef, I suggest you employ the traditional breading method.
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Click here to read all about Mexican Torta on ChefsOpinion
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Torta De Milanesa De Res – A Dainty Sandwich ( NOT ! )

avocado, radish, and cucumber salad

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: thinly sliced beef round, ciabatta, avocado, tomato, cucumber, radish, cilantro

: cut veggies into large dice, add garlic paste, lime juice, cayenne pepper, olive oil and kosher salt to taste, mix well; let marinade for 30 minutes, then add diced avocados and tomatoes, mix carefully

: avocado, tomato, radish and cucumber salad

: mix 1 cup panko crumbs,1 cup a/p flour and kosher salt and cayenne pepper to taste, dredge 2 ea beef svallops

: saute the beef scallops until medium well, remove to absorbent paper, keep warm

: cut a 5 inch piece fresh-baked ciabatta horizontally in half

: top the bottom half of the ciabatta with 1 ea beef scallop, top with a generous amount of the salad, repeat

: ciabatta bottom, 2 layers of beef and 2 layers of salad, top with the top part of the ciabatta

: Torta De Milanesa De Res – A Dainty Sandwich ( NOT ! )

: Torta De Milanesa De Res – A Dainty Sandwich ( NOT ! )

: Torta De Milanesa De Res – A Dainty Sandwich ( NOT ! )

: Torta De Milanesa De Res – A Dainty Sandwich ( NOT ! )

: Torta De Milanesa De Res – A Dainty Sandwich ( NOT ! )

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Vol Au Vent Aux Blancs De Poulet

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About a week ago I read in a “respected” magazine that one should NEVER eat Sauce Hollandaise or one of its derivatives in a restaurant because hollandaise is NEVER made fresh to order, but rather before the service and then kept warm during the whole service.
What a load of crap !!! 😦
Admittedly, some restaurants may do this, but many restaurants who have one or two dishes with hollandaise on the menu will not waste the ingredients if there is no order for a particular service. It takes a professional cook or chef maybe 1 or 2 minutes to produce 2 portions of fresh hollandaise, so to do it “a la minute” (to order) is no problem at all.
When I was an apprentice and later as a young cook, we ALWAYS made hollandaise a la minute during a la carte service.
– The moral of this? always double-check before you take a story/advise for granted. 🙂
– Also, hollandaise is one of the easiest and quickest sauces to prepare.
– Have I mentioned that Sauce Hollandaise is one of the French mother sauces?
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When I prepare a whole roasted whole chicken for Bella and myself, I usually eat both tights and all the scraps from the bones, including the neck, wings, and back, while Madam enjoys the two breasts (one per day). However, yesterday she kept begging for food while the chicken was still a while before being done, so I gave her a full portion of her own food (usually she gets only half that amount because she’ll eat some of my food later).
After I ate my usual part of the chicken, I removed all the skin and bones from the breasts, submerged it in salted water and kept it in the fridge until today, when I used it to prepare this Vol Au Vent Aux Blancs De Poulet.
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P.S.
Please note that both mushrooms and sauce hollandaise are optional in this classic dish.
P.P.S.
Nowadays, in most commercial venues, because of safety issues, hollandaise is made from powder or ready-made from a can, which eliminates the danger of eggs served at unsafe temperatures.
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Vol Au Vent Aux Blancs De Poulet

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: bake 6 small frozen puff pastry shells according to package instructions

: meanwhile, reduce 1 cup of heavy cream until thickened

: add 1/3 cup sauce veloute

: cut the breast meat into cubes

: add the chicken, heat through

: melt 1/2 stick butter (clarify the butter if you prefer, otherwise, when you pour the butter into the egg, just leave the milk solids on the bottom of the pot behind)

: while the chicken heats up and the butter melts, (see next step), whisk 1 egg yolk, 1 tblsp water, 1 tsp lemon juice (or vinegar), white pepper (I prefer sriracha, so you could call this a “Sriracha Hollandaise), and kosher salt to taste in a water bath until the egg mixture becomes creamy

: add the warm butter in tiny increments; if the sauce becomes too thick, add more water, if the sauce is too thin, add more butter

: check/adjust seasoning

: remove the top of the pastry shells,, fill the cavities with the chicken salpicon, serve with a small salad (optional) ; makes 6 appetizer or 2 main course