Vol au vent (Chicken and mushrooms in puff pastry), Succès praliné (Praline Dacquois) – France

My friend, James, had asked me what I was planning to make for France on our cullinary tour du monde. Actually, I had planned to skip France as I cook French food all the time. But his question got me thinking…hmmmm, what would I like to make, that I have never made before? The answer…vol au vent for the main course and for dessert…succès aux noix. Both tasted as I had hoped, but the succès with a dacquoise base and a praline moussline was definitely an experience. Decided to make my praline paste from scratch….mistake…food processor did not process it…kept getting stuck on the sides, managed to get a rough sandy texture. so I proceeded to put small quantities in my smaller 200 watt mixer which was powered by my immersion blender. 1st batch worked…but the motor heated up. let it cool. Batch 2…smoke stared coming out…and then …it stopped working. boo hoo. saved it today by mixing the smooth stuff with small batches of the sandy stuff in the food processor. oy vey. Quite the adventure. The dacquoise seems to have worked and the mousseline went as planned Yeah. Always good to challenge oneself. AND…the best plus is I found a dessert which is too rich for Eva! Woo hoo! Presentation needs a bit of work, but not bad for a somewhat complicated recipe and assemblage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h1x087_sUY I had a bunch of cream left so I figured, why not also make a Paris-Brest which has also been on my bucket list. And while I was at it, why not try my hand at chouquette, which I adore, and which are also made from choux pastry. So excited. Always wanted to make chouquettes and Paris-Brest. Yup, mine came out flat and not puffy like they are supposed to be, except for the little ones, but they tasted great.

Recipe sources – I will update recipes as some were not super clear. Will put them in English too.