Coq en croûte

When my daughter saw this dish come from the oven, she said it looked like Beef Wellington. The idea was spot on, but this is about a rooster, not a bovine.

This recipe is based on things I had on hand and what I hoped would work. ON HAND:

Breasts of a large old rooster marinated in red wine for 48 hours. (Part of a Coq au vin i was preparing but not destined for the long braise of that recipe.)
Puff pastry that I had made for the Tourtière limousine.
Tomato paste with Italian spices.
Emmental (“Swiss”) cheese

Coq with elements of the marinade: red wine, fresh rosemary, bay leaf, thyme, garlic, celery, carrots.

Breasts after 48 hours in the red wine marinade (in the refrigerator); split with emmenthal cheese inside).

The breasts of any fowl would work fine – chicken, turkey, Guinée hen or rooster, etc. I would suggest some kind of marinade. It doesn’t have to be the one I used. Lots of other flavor profiles are possible. A marinade is meant primarily to guarantee a moist and tender breast.

One recipe of quick puff pastry (Bruno Albouze) divided in thirds – I still have 1/3 left for another “something” to come.

With the breasts ready to be tucked away in their flaky, buttery bed, take the puff pastry from the fridge, roll it out (generously using flour to prevent sticking) and spread your paste all round, leaving the edges clean so that the pastry sticks together when folded. I used an herbal tomato paste. A pesto would also be an amazing choice.

After applying the paste (plus adding salt and freshly cracked black pepper), wrap each breast in the pastry. You should wet the edges of the pastry so that it holds together.

Brush the pastry with an egg wash (one egg with yolk and white) and score with a knife with a design of your choice)

Place in a a preheated oven at 375-400 F / 200C. Check at about 20 minutes. Cover with foil and let bake 10 minutes more. Thirty minutes total should enough for this moist, buttery, flaky dish. It certainly was for us.