Cauliflower Mushroom Vol au Vente

Serves 2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Warm the stock, add the saffron, crumbled. Let steep. Pat the puff paste smooth and square, cut in half and layer (fold, then cut along the fold) then cut in half lengthwise to produce two 5-6 inch squares. Make a cut a half inch in from the edge of the puff paste, about halfway through. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until appetizingly brown. In the meantime, heat the butter and garlic in a midsized frying pan over medium heat, saute the shallots for a minute or two, add the garlic, and continue cooking until the shallots are transparent. Add the flour, stirring to combine well. Allow to simmer for a moment, then add the stock, allow to boil, reduce heat to low. Five minutes before serving, add the peas and carrots, and continue to simmer. (If it gets very dry, add additional water, or see note 2) When the puff pastry is done: First, stir the mushroom and cheese into the sauce, cover, and remove from heat. Remove the puff paste cases from the baking sheet with great care and place on the serving plates. Use a spatula to gently remove the cut-out cap and set aside, then with a fork gently remove the wet pastry from inside the cases. Salt and pepper the mushroom mixture to taste (I think rather more than the usual pepper goes well with the flowery mushroom, but I've been reading a lot of ancient recipes lately) and spool generously into the cases, put the covers on. Serve with a nice green salad, and roasted carrots and potatoes (note 1, again). Notes: 1) Quartered new potatoes and peeled baby carrots sprayed with garlic oil take 40 minutes in a 400 degree oven.The puff paste should be put in 15 minutes after the vegetables are started. When the vegetables are done the carrots can be added to the sauce aong with the peas, which gives about seven minutes of gentle simmering while the puff paste is finished. When you dress the salad is entirely up to you. 2) I'd intended to add about 1/8th cup of sherry, which I still think would have been excellent. 3) A dash or so of tabasco, and (for people who can remember to take it out of the freezer to defrost) a few tablespoons of pureed roast garlic would certainly not be amiss.