I think everyone should keep a package or 2 of puff pastry in their freezer, ready to use at a moments notice. I’m not talking about homemade puff pastry, but the stuff you can find in most grocery store freezers. Sure, the store bought stuff doesn’t compare with the rich, buttery flakiness of homemade, but let’s face it, making puff pastry is a time consuming process. Don’t get me wrong, I think everyone should try their hand at making puff pastry, but let’s face it, going out and buying it is much more convienent.

There seems to be this feeling that puff pastry is some “fancy” food. Sure, beautiful gastronomic delights can be created using puff pastry, but I like because it makes a quick and flaky crust to wrap around all sorts of everyday fillings. Wrap it around a couple pieces of Hershey’s dark chocolate and a teaspoon of raspberry jam for a quick and tasty dessert. Fill it with thick chili for a latin inspired “empanada” or fill it with a mixture of browned ground beef and vegetables for a British inspired “pasty.” The ideas are endless and definitely need not be high cuisine.

I wrote up this recipe to help use up some stuff from our CSA box. We’ve gotten a little behind in using up the stuff as we were gone on vacation for a week and the vegetables started to pile up. We had plenty of kohlrabi to use up and half a head of Napa cabbage that was starting to get a little limp. Because I wasn’t particularly in the veggie mood I decided to cook them up with a bit of ground beef making a great filling for individual “pies.”

While these taste great on their own you could serve these with some sort of dipping sauce. An herbed sour cream, horseradish sauce or even applesauce would make a companion to these little “hot pockets.”

Individual Beef and Vegetable Pies
makes 8 pies ( usually serve 2 per person although paired with a salad 1 would make a nice light lunch)

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 head Napa Cabbage, shredded
1 1/2 cups kohlrabi, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dried thyme
salt
pepper
1 box (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, thawed per directions on box

Blanch the kohlrabi in boiling, salted water until tender but not mushy (anywhere from 1-5 minutes depending on how tender it is). Shock in ice water to stop the cooking then drain. In a large skillet brown the ground beef along with the onion and the garlic, seasoning with salt and pepper. Once the beef is cooked drain off all the fat. Return beef mixture to skillet and add the cabbage along with 1 cup of water. Cook until the cabbage is tender and all the water has evaporated. Add the kohlrabi, dried thyme and worcestershire. Cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Check seasoning and adjust. Place in the fridge to cool completely.

Once the meat mixture is cool, unroll 1 sheet of puff pastry and cut into 4 equal squares (they will not be exact squares but don’t worry). Preheat the oven to 375°F. Working with 1 piece at a time, place 1/2 cup of the meat mixture into the center of the square.

Lightly brush the edges with a bit of water to dampen, then bring up 2 corners to form a triangle. Pinch the sides closed then use a fork to crimp the sides together to ensure that they don’t separate during baking.

Repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of pastry then unroll the other sheet and repeat the process until you have 8 pies. Place onto 2 greased baking trays and place in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes then rotate the trays and bake 10 minutes longer or until the tops are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cook for 5 minutes before serving.

Anyone watching the Olympics this year? I don’t know what it is, but for some reason I just can’t get into them much this year, which is strange for me as I am usually glued to the TV for the Winter Olympics. I did catch the opening ceremonies, which I thought were outstanding and I’ve caught a bit of the skiing events but not as much as I normally do. I’ve always been a big fan of the downhill events, especially the Super G and Downhill. I also love all the slalom events. I guess I’m kind of “old school” that way, though I don’t mind the newer “freestyle” events and snowboarding. I’ll watch the hockey events, but I have to admit, I’m bored mindless by all the other skating events. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they shouldn’t be included, I just don’t personally find them all that captivating, though I know many people do. So are you watching them this year? What are your favorite events?

In my last post I made chicken breasts wrapped in puff pastry. Since I had bought the pastry and used only 1 sheet of the dough I had another one left (they come 2 to a package) and thought I would create this simple dessert. The filling for this galette is frangipane, an almond filling made with ground almonds, sugar, eggs and a few other ingredients. I didn’t have almonds but had a block of marzipan around so based this frangipane off of that.

It’s hard to beat this combination of flavors. Chocolate complements both the almond and the banana flavors well and helps bring the galette together. Serve slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or cold the following morning as an excellent breakfast pastry.

Banana Almond Galette with Chocolate

5 oz. marzipan
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
1 egg
2 Tbsp. sugar + more for sprinkling on top
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 bananas, peeled and sliced 1/4″ thick
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

Pre heat oven to 400F. Break up the marzipan and mix with the cream and egg until smooth. Lay out puff pastry sheet on a lightly greased baking tray. Spread marzipan mixture over pastry leaving a 1 1/2″ border.

Sprinkle with the chocolate chips.

Finally arrange the banana slices over top, in a decorative fashion. I just created overlapping rows.

Sprinkle granulated sugar over top of the bananas and bake for 17-20 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden brown and the almond filling has puffed slightly. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

For added texture you could skip the step of sprinkling the sugar over the bananas before baking. Instead wait until the pastry has come out of the oven and cooled slightly. Sprinkle with sugar and use a blow torch to caramelize the sugar over top.

Puff pastry should be a staple in everyone’s freezer nowadays. It can be found in virtually every grocery store, in the freezer section so there’s no excuse to not keep some around. Of course, if you are feeling ambitious you can make your own, but it is a time consuming endeavor. Making your own is well worth the time as anything you would make at home will always trump the stuff that you can buy, but in today’s age it can be hard to find the time, and it is certainly something you can’t do “at the last minute.” I encourage everyone to try their hand at making puff pastry once in their lives, but until then buy a box or 2 and keep them in the freezer.

Puff pastry is a very versatile product. It is used in many desserts, from traditional Napoleons to various tarts and galettes. It can be used to create edible “bowls” to place various foods or small shells that can be filled with an endless array of foods to make little hors’doeuvres, or it can be used to wrap various ingredients in flaky, buttery crust.

One of the best things about puff pastry is the way it can elevate a rather simple dish into something elegant and special. The recipe I offer up today is the perfect example of this. Without the puff pastry I’ve offered up a simple chicken breast topped with mushrooms, ham and swiss cheese. Wrap the whole thing in puff pastry and you have an elegant dish that you can impress friends and loved with.

A couple of things to keep in mind when working with puff pastry, either store bought or homemade. When working with it don’t allow it to get too warm or the butter will begin to melt prematurely. This is no good as you want the butter in there when it bakes. As the butter melts it produces steam and this is what gives puff pastry its puff. It shouldn’t be cold or it will crack, but should remain cool to the touch. When cutting puff pastry use a sharp knife and make sure you make clean cuts and don’t mash the edges as you cut. This will inhibit rising. Also when using an egg wash to help get a nice shiny golden color, try not to let the egg drip onto exposed cuts, this will also inhibit its rise.

Poulet En Croute

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless (about 5-6 oz. each)
4 oz. white mushrooms, very finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 slices prosciutto
2-4 slices Swiss cheese, Emmentaler, or Gruyere, thinly sliced
1 sheet puff pastry, store bought
4 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 egg, beaten

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat a saute pan, add half the oil and sear the chicken breasts until cooked 3/4′s through.

Remove the chicken, add the remaining oil and the mushrooms. Cook for 3 minutes then add the garlic. Lower the heat to medium and cook until the mushrooms have given off most of their liquid and it has evaporated. Add the cream, season with salt and pepper and cook until the cream thickens and most of the liquid has reduced. Allow both the chicken and the mushrooms to cool to room temperature. Cut the puff pastry sheet in half. On each half layer, in order, the cheese, the ham, the mushroom mixture and finally the chicken breast, laying everything lengthwise along the pastry sheet, and leaving as much of a clean border around the pastry as possible.

Brush the exposed puff pastry with the beaten egg, just to moisten the pastry. Gently pull the pastry up over the chicken so that the pastry completely encloses the chicken. Don’t worry about making it look pretty, just make sure that it is well sealed and that you didn’t tear any holes in the pastry. If you did tear a hole just rip off a bit of the excess and use that to repair it. Flip the package over so that all your seams are on the bottom and gently smooth out the pastry.

Don’t worry about them looking perfect, once they puff up in the oven many of those small imperfections will disappear. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the pastry to set up again. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375F. When the pastry has chilled brush the top and sides and the beaten egg and place package on a slightly greased baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes. Lower the heat and bake for 20-25 minutes longer or until a thermometer, stuck into the middle of the chicken breast reaches 165F. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 7-8 minutes before serving.