Mushroom and Goat Cheese Pastelillo

18 Jan

I have an “obsession” with puffed pastry…  I admit it.  It’s super versatile and easy to use, particularly when you’re cooking for company.  Just add your favorite filling and you have a nice dish.

This time around I decided to mix together the ingredients of my favorite appetizer of the Xmas season and make it into a meal… balsamic mushrooms and goat cheese.  Envelope everything inside squares of puffed pastry, add a great green salad and you have a complete meal for a girl’s night together.  Here’s how I did it…

 

MUSHROOM AND GOAT CHEESE PASTELILLO

1 sheet of puffed pastry, thawed in the refrigerator since the night before
½ recipe for Balsamic Mushrooms
4 oz package of goat cheese
2 tbs butter, melted
A bit of flour or cornstarch to roll out the puffed pastry
  1. I’ll be honest… I do not measure a lot.  So I do not know how large I roll out the puffed pastry, but just enough to make 4 medium sized squares to make into these pastelillos.  Each pastelillo serves one not so big eater.  
  2. So before you start rolling out, dust your surface and rolling pin with some whole wheat flour or cornstarch so the pastry does not stick to either one.  Cut the pastry into 4 squares as even as possible.
  3. Lay one of your squares in a diagonal with one corner facing you directly.  Add about 1 ounce of the cream cheese and about ¼ of you mushroom mixture in the half of the square closest to you, leaving about ¼ inch clearance around the edges.   Now, overlap the free side of the square on top of the mixture and pinch all the open sides with a fork to close tightly. Repeat with the 3 remaining squares.
  4. Lay them flat on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the fridge for a few minutes, while the oven preheats to 350F.  I do this because the climate in PR is too hot and usually my pastry tends to give me a bit of trouble by the time I get to the last few squares.  This way the pastry kind of cools off and we make sure it will turn our flaky in the end product.
  5. Brush them with a bit of melted butter on top to help them brown nicely.  Bake the pastries in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.  The smell will tell you when they’re done.

 

Enjoy them with a great salad on the side for a light lunch or a light dinner. 

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Hash Brown Casserole

15 Jan

I mentioned to you how much I love the Hash Brown Casserole from Cracker Barrel.  It’s one of my favorite things to eat when I travel in the US.  If I see a Cracker Barrel sign on the side of the road, I immediately salivate.   Very Pavlovian…

So skimming thru this same internet, I found a bunch of recipes that looked awesome and reminded me of the hash brown casserole I usually have at Cracker Barrel.  Most of them included bacon or other stuff that you and I do not eat anymore, so I came up with my adaptation…  Here are the results:

 

HASHBROWN CASSEROLE

1½ lbs (about ½ a bag) of frozen hash brown potatoes, somewhat thawed
½ medium onion, chopped finely
4oz of sour cream
½ can of condensed cream of mushroom soup – I use the reduced sodium version
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup corn flakes, crushed
Freshly Cracked Black Pepper to taste
1 tbs melted butter

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together all the ingredients, except the cornflakes and butter. 
  3. Place the mixture in an oven-proof dish and top with the crushed corn flakes and drizzle melted butter over the corn flakes.
  4. Bake in oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the potato is fully cooked and the top is golden brown.

 

This version does not taste really like the casserole at CB, but it’s definitely mighty tasty.  It’s those kind of recipes I love…  where you just assemble the ingredients, place them in the oven and you can then leave it alone, while you shower, check your email, meditate and it’s ready.  Just serve it with a salad on the side and you have a complete meal.

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Surprise!!!!

9 Jan

I love it when I get a nice surprise when I cut up fruit… a perfectly ripe avocado, a luscious pulpy mango, a gorgeous passion fruit.  God knows that fruits and vegetables might look pretty on the outside sometimes, but they can be a gamble.

And this week… the surprise was a papaya without seeds to clean – YEAH!!!

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Red Bell Pepper Sauce

5 Jan

I make this sauce to prepare my Sweet Red Bell Pepper Dip… but you can also enjoy it alone as a sauce to enjoy with other dishes, like my Cordon Bleu Quesadillas. 

RED BELL PEPPER SAUCE 

1 red bell pepper, cut in pieces
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

 

  1. Place all the ingredients in a blender.  It might seem there’s little liquid to blend, but it will.  Believe me.
  2. Transfer the mixture to a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and as soon as it reaches a boil, reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes.
  3. Let it cool.

 

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Cordon Bleu Quesadilla

3 Jan

Why anything that has ham and cheese inside gets called Cordon Blue???  I tried to search for the answer but I couldn’t find anything definitive.  So basically, I have no idea…  And because the name “ham and cheese” quesadilla is not as sexy-sounding, I will borrow the Cordon Blue term for this dish. 

Of course we’re using vegetarian “ham”… another reason why I did not want to use this word in the dish’s name…  I buy mine in NYC’s Chinatown, in a small store that sells vegetarian/soy based goods.  We have come to learn that some brands are better than others, but if you have a Chinese neighborhood in your town, seek out the freezer section with many of these vegetarian/soy based goodies.

Here is a picture of the brand we buy- just in case you’re in the NYC area… it’s kind of big and expensive to buy for just one person.  But it keeps super well in the freezer.  I defrost a bit in the fridge and separate a small batch to keep handy with the rest of the sandwich fixings.  I do not eat this frequently, but it really tastes good when you want to recreate some recipe you made in the past with boiled ham.

This is a great snack or quick lunch…

 

CORDON BLEU QUESADILLA

1 whole wheat tortilla
2 slices of vegetarian “ham”
1 tsp olive oil
¼ cup shredded cheese – I use an Italian cheese blend with Asiago, Mozzarella, Parmesan, etc.
About 1 oz of goat cheese, like 1/2” slice crumbled into pieces
¼ cup of Red Pepper Sauce to dip

 

  1. First we cook the “ham” a bit… take a medium skillet over medium heat and drizzle the olive oil (remember these are soy based, so not a lot of fat in these slices).  Place the slices of ham and cook a bit so the slices get some nice color.  Turn to cook on both sides and set aside.  After the slices have cooled a bit, slice into ¼ inch pieces.
  2. In the same skillet, heat the tortilla to make it somewhat pliable.  On one half of the tortilla place the pieces of goat cheese, pace the slices of “ham”, top with the shredded cheese and fold the tortilla to create a half circle/half moon.
  3. Flatten the quesadilla with a spatula a bit to make sure the cheeses melt well and the tortilla browns a bit.  Flip to warm up the other side.

 

Serve alongside Red Pepper Sauce to give it a nice sweet touch…  you can dip it or you can drizzle on top of the quesadilla.  It’s your choice…

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