I once made puff pastry from scratch. That's why I now buy it at the store.
When done right, puff pastry is almost supernatural. You take a thin, flat piece of dough, bake it, and it puffs up into a work of art many times its original size, with hundreds of the thinnest, flakiest, most delicate layers of pastry suspended ethereally in its buttery goodness.
All that, and it's delicious, too.
Making it at home takes time, dedication and not an inconsiderable amount of effort. And until you develop the right touch for it, you can end up (as I did) with a flat, leaden plank of pastry. Mine was buttery, but it wasn't puffy at all.
So I take the store-bought shortcut, and I am not ashamed.
The question isn't what you can do with puff pastry, the question is what can't you do with it. It's good for sweet dishes and for savory, you can use it for appetizers and desserts, and Beef Wellington just wouldn't be Beef Wellington without it.
I used it for four dishes and could not have been happier about the way they turned out. Whether the recipes were ridiculously simple (ahem, doughnuts) or somewhat more complicated (chicken pot pie), the store-bought puff pastry made making them easy.
And they all tasted great.
Chicken Pot Pie
1/2 (17.3-ounce) package (1 sheet) frozen puff pastry, thawed and unfolded according to package directions
5 tablespoons butter, divided use
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups chicken broth, heated and divided use
1/2 teaspoon salt, if needed
1 pound chicken breast meat, cooked
1/4 cup leek (white part), washed and sliced thin
1/2 cup carrots, cut in 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup cooked peas (frozen is fine)
1 (8.75-ounce) can sweet whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Use the individual casseroles you will be serving the pot pies in as you would a cookie cutter to cut out circles of puff pastry dough (if you won't be able to get all 4 out of a single sheet of pastry dough, roll it out first with a rolling pin until the dough is large enough to accommodate all 4 circles). Place circles on prepared baking sheet and bake until the pastries turn golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Melt 41/2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add flour and stir to make a roux, whisking to completely coat the flour with the butter. Gradually whisk in 3 cups of the hot chicken broth, whisking constantly. Cook until velvet-smooth. Taste, and add salt if necessary. Set aside and keep warm.
Dice the chicken into 1/2-inch cubes and keep moist and hot in the remaining 2 cups hot chicken broth. Set aside.
Melt the remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Add the leeks and carrots and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Add the peas and corn and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.
Add the vegetables to the sauce and stir in the pieces of hot chicken (reserve the stock for a future use). Divide filling among 4 individual casseroles, top each with a circle of puff pastry, and serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
Adapted from Marshall Field's Gourmet: A Taste of Tradition
Puffzels
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon garlic powder or dried, minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon onion powder or dried, minced onion
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 egg
2 tablespoons German-style mustard
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 (17.3-ounce) package (1 sheet) frozen puff pastry, thawed
2 cups shredded muenster cheese
7 ounces smoked pork or turkey sausage or kielbasa, coarsely chopped, about 11/2 cups
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix the poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper in a small bowl.
In another small bowl, beat the egg and mustard with a fork.
Sprinkle some of the flour on the work surface. Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface. Cut the pastry sheet into 3 strips along the fold marks, then cut each strip in half lengthwise, making 6 strips.
Roll each pastry strip into a 16-by-3-inch rectangle (this will be easier if you begin rolling lengthwise). Brush half of each strip, lengthwise, with the egg mixture (reserve any remaining), then top with about 5 tablespoons cheese and about 1/4 cup sausage. Starting on the side with the filling, roll up the pastry to form a long rope, pinching the ends and seams to seal. Shape the rope into a pretzel shape (not too tight -- it will need space to puff), brushing a bit of egg mixture on the ends to help them stick. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
Brush the Puffzels with the egg mixture and sprinkle with the poppy seed mixture.
Bake 25 minutes or until deep brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Makes 6 servings.
Recipe from Pepperidge Farm
Doughnuts
1/2 (17.3-ounce) package (1 sheet) frozen puff pastry, thawed
Vegetable oil, for frying
Confectioners' sugar or cinnamon-sugar mix
Cut 4 large circles out of pastry dough, then cut 1 much smaller circle out of the middle of each one.
Pour oil to a depth of at least 2 inches in a large pot and heat to 375 degrees (at that temperature, a small cube of bread will brown in about 35 seconds). Fry the doughnuts, no more than 2 at a time and flipping at least once, until golden brown on both sides. Fry the doughnut holes until golden brown on both sides.
Drain on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar on both sides, or roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Makes 4 doughnuts plus 4 doughnut holes.
Wrapped Pears With Vanilla Bean Sauce
3 cups water, plus more for brushing
3/4 cup PLUS 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided use
1/2 vanilla bean, split
4 Bartlett or Bosc pears, cored and peeled (see note)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 (17.3-ounce) package (1 sheet) frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 cup fresh raspberries
Heat the water, 3/4 cup of the sugar and the vanilla bean in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally.
Add the pears and cook for 10 minutes or until tender, turning occasionally. Remove pears from pan, leaving the sugar mixture in the saucepan. Cover pears and refrigerate 1 hour or until they are cold.
Stir cream into the saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook until the mixture is reduced to about 3/4 cup, stirring often. Remove the vanilla bean pieces; if desired, scrape their seeds into the sauce.
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Cut the sheet lengthwise into 8 strips. Brush the strips with water and sprinkle with about half of the remaining 1/2 tablespoon sugar.
Press the ends of 2 pastry strips together. Starting at the top, wind 1 pastry strip around 1 pear, slightly overlapping the edges of the pastry and tucking the end under the pear (if necessary, use a toothpick to hold the strip in place). Repeat with the remaining pears and pastry strips. Place the wrapped pears onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tablespoon of sugar.
Bake 25 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Spoon the vanilla sauce onto 4 plates. Top each with a pear and garnish with the raspberries.
Makes 4 servings.
Note: Use a melon baller or round, metal teaspoon to remove the core from the blossom end of the pear.
Adapted from Pepperidge Farm
Food on 03/01/2017