Bouchée a La Reine

Does anyone remember your parents in the late 70s and early 80s throwing down with this easy recipe? I don't speak French and can't remember why this was popular but it was, Flavor bomb! Basically a chicken and mushroom Vol-au-Vent, easy style. No cream of mushroom soup though or American junk, it's just easier to do it real anyway.

Take store-bought puff pastry shells ice cold, bake them off.

Saute mushrooms briefly in butter and Herbs de Provence, set aside.

Boil diced chicken and onions in water and cheap white wine (like a Chardonnay). Set aside and save the juice.

Throw the leftover juice back in the pot, and boil down until it reduces a bit. Add a bit more cheap white wine, just for the hell of it.

Grab a saucepan, melt a nice big slab of butter on low and make a roux until it makes a paste & add flour to make gravy (I prefer cornstarch mixed with flour- easier and faster).

*It is my sincere belief that only French or Southerners or maybe Midwestern folk know how to make a damn good gravy. Use a good golden butter, like an Irish Kerrygold or a golden butter like something from Wisconsin. If you use gluten-free flour, this will take a lot longer than normal. Add the leftover juice and make gravy.

Mix your chicken and mushrooms back in, stir, and serve inside the little pastry cups with a ton of dried Tarragon.

You could make this and serve on plain toast instead of any puff pastry.

Sometimes the 70/80s meet 2025.

#BouchéeaLaReine