and a vol-au-vent is that the latter is always made
with puff paste, and is allowed to rise to the fullest
capacity of the paste ; whereas, for a timbale, short
paste is used, well pricked to prevent its rising, and
is made in a mould, in which the timbale crust is
kept till the last minute. For the paste take |lb.
of fine sifted flour, 4oz. butter, half a teaspoonful
of salt, the yolk of an egg and about a gill of water✪ Vol-au-Vent
(this depends a good deal on the flour) ; make a
well or hollow in the flour (technically called a
“ bay ”), and into this put the egg, salt, butter, and
two-thirds of the water, and with your fingers work
this all to a rather firm dough; next dip your
fingers into the flour to free them from the paste
sticking to them, sprinkle a little more water over it,
and work it up till it comes clear away from the
sides of the basin in a ball ; then throw a doubled
cloth over the basin till the paste is wanted, when
you roll it out, and with it line a well buttered
mould, pressing the paste well to take the shape
sharply (one of the jointed moulds with hinged
sides, is the nicest for this, as the timbale when
cooked can be more readily and safely turned out),
prick it well all over, put a sheet of paper inside
and fill this with rice, &c., and bake; a cover to
match should be prepared from puff paste, and
cooked with the timbale. Formerly, a timbale was
cooked in a stewpan, and, indeed, properly it is a form
of pie, mostly served cold. Another method is to line
a mould with the crust, as described above, then pack
it with whatever you mean to fill it with, generally
a rich ragout of chicken, macaroni, cream, Parmesan
TIMBALES, VOL-AU-YENT, PATTIES, &c. 8?
cheese, Ac. ; make a small hole in the paste with
which, you cover it, and bake ; then turn it out and
serve with or without rich gravy round it. In
France meat pies, called tourtes bourgeoises, are
made in this way, only differing from English
pies by their delicacy and lightness, as the meat is
always cooked first, so that only the time used to
bake the crust nicely is required. Little china or
metal ramequin cases lined with paste and filled
with a dainty ragout make particularly attractive
entrees with a minimum of trouble, as any odds and
ends can be used for the filling, and any scraps of
paste may be used for the pastry, only remember a
tiny vent hole must, in every case, be made, and a
corresponding tiny rosette of pastry baked with itr
to hide it when served.
Where, however, the cook cannot make the paste
properly, a baker will always supply the required
vol-au-vent, or patty case. But really it is far
better to get the cook to make it, as it encourages
her to be allowed to make the smart parts of the
dinner as well as the more common place portions.
While on the subject of substitutes for the home-
made dainty, I may mention that nothing surpasses
in delicacy one of the croutes, in which pate de foie
gras is nowadays so often served, needless to say,
after its first contents have been consumed. On one
occasion I encountered a pate which looked wonder-
fully familiar to me, though its contents were not
what I expected. Later on my friend confessed to
me that, having used the inside of a pork pie for
sandwiches, her economic instinct had urged her to
88
ENTRIES.
Page 42 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
and a vol-au-vent is that the latter is always made with puff paste, and is allowed to rise to the fullest capacity of the paste ; whereas, for a timbale, short paste is used, well pricked to prevent its rising, and is made in a mould, in which the timbale crust is kept till the last minute. For the paste take |lb. of fine sifted flour, 4oz. butter, half a teaspoonful of salt, the yolk of an egg and about a gill of water (this depends a good deal on the flour) ; make a well or hollow in the flour (technically called a “ bay ”), and into this put the egg, salt, butter, and two-thirds of the water, and with your fingers work this all to a rather firm dough; next dip your fingers into the flour to free them from the paste sticking to them, sprinkle a little more water over it, and work it up till it comes clear away from the sides of the basin in a ball ; then throw a doubled cloth over the basin till the paste is wanted, when you roll it out, and with it line a well buttered mould, pressing the paste well to take the shape sharply (one of the jointed moulds with hinged sides, is the nicest for this, as the timbale when cooked can be more readily and safely turned out), prick it well all over, put a sheet of paper inside and fill this with rice, &c., and bake; a cover to match should be prepared from puff paste, and cooked with the timbale. Formerly, a timbale was cooked in a stewpan, and, indeed, properly it is a form of pie, mostly served cold. Another method is to line a mould with the crust, as described above, then pack it with whatever you mean to fill it with, generally a rich ragout of chicken, macaroni, cream, Parmesan
TIMBALES, VOL-AU-VENT, PATTIES, &c. 87
cheese, Ac. ; make a small hole in the paste with which, you cover it, and bake ; then turn it out and serve with or without rich gravy round it. In France meat pies, called tourtes bourgeoises, are made in this way, only differing from English pies by their delicacy and lightness, as the meat is always cooked first, so that only the time used to bake the crust nicely is required. Little china or metal ramequin cases lined with paste and filled with a dainty ragout make particularly attractive entrees with a minimum of trouble, as any odds and ends can be used for the filling, and any scraps of paste may be used for the pastry, only remember a tiny vent hole must, in every case, be made, and a corresponding tiny rosette of pastry baked with itr to hide it when served.
Where, however, the cook cannot make the paste properly, a baker will always supply the required vol-au-vent, or patty case. But really it is far better to get the cook to make it, as it encourages her to be allowed to make the smart parts of the dinner as well as the more common place portions. While on the subject of substitutes for the homemade dainty, I may mention that nothing surpasses in delicacy one of the croutes, in which pate de foie gras is nowadays so often served, needless to say, after its first contents have been consumed. On one occasion I encountered a pate which looked wonderfully familiar to me, though its contents were not what I expected. Later on my friend confessed to me that, having used the inside of a pork pie for sandwiches, her economic instinct had urged her to
Records on this page
Vol-au-VentTimbale