With their light, crispy layers of buttery pastry, vol-au-vents are best eaten in the great outdoors. You can start from scratch with the cases but no one will judge you for using shop-bought ones (though sadly these often don’t come with the pastry ‘hats’). When taking these coronation pheasant vol-au-vents to a picnic I tend to assemble them in situ as I like to be generous with the filling, which makes them more challenging to safely transport. Any leftover filling can be used in a sandwich or as a great topping for a jacket potato. Serves 12.

Coronation pheasant vol-au-vents

Ingredients

• 12 x 4-5cm-sized cooked vol-auvent cases
• 2 pheasant breasts
• 2 tsp medium curry powder
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 25g mayonnaise
• 100g crème fraîche
• 6 tbsp double cream
• 1 heaped tbsp apricot jam or mango chutney
• 3 tbsp toasted almond flakes, roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp lime juice

To serve: A few extra sprigs of coriander

Method

1. Season the pheasant breasts with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the curry powder.
2. In a frying pan on a medium heat add the rapeseed oil then sear the pheasant breasts on both sides until brown.
3. Add a small splash of water (or you can use dry sherry) to the pan then place on a lid – it just needs to be big enough to fit over the breasts.
4. Turn the heat down a little and cook for a few more minutes or until the meat is just cooked through. Remove to a plate to cool completely.
5. In a bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, crème fraîche, double cream, apricot jam, chopped toasted almond flakes, chopped coriander and lime juice with a little salt and pepper.
6. Finely chop the cooked pheasant, then stir into the bowl. Check for seasoning and balance, and feel free to add more curry powder for even more of a kick. Keep chilled until ready to use.

To assemble: Give the filling a stir, then pile a spoonful into each of the pastry cases. Top with a sprig of coriander and a pastry hat.

You might also like to read: The Field’s 10 best pheasant recipes

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