Baked Apple Turnovers

These are nice little hand pies, the perfect size for tiny hands.  Big hands too; they pair nicely with Lovey's coffee in the morning.  They are simply apple pie filling inside puff pastry and baked.  You can also make with a regular pie dough crust and also fry them.



Lovey likes flaky and baked and that's how this recipe is made; adapted from Biltmore Estate Specialties of the House cookbook.  I bought this while living in North Carolina during the year of Biltmore's 100th Anniversary.

This particular recipe was used when the Vanderbilt's lived in the estate and was taken from The Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery which is a Victorian cookbook from the Biltmore Estate collection.

This is my favorite kitchen gadget when there are lots of apples to core, peel and slice.

To make the filling combine the 1st seven ingredients in a saucepan.


 

They'll cook, covered until the apples are almost tender.  With a slotted spoon remove the apples to a bowl. 





This is the liquid that the apples produced.  Different apples will produce different amounts of liquid.  Add the preserves to the liquid and mix well.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook down until it is thickened.  You don't want it too runny.  

If your liquid is not thickening up you can thicken it with a corn starch slurry.  Just measure your liquid.  A good rule of thumb is 1 Tbsp. of corn starch to 1 cup liquid.  Dissolve the corn starch in a small bowl or jar with a little water (or some of the liquid).  Bring the liquid to a boil and whisk in the slurry.  Keep whisking until the sauce thickens.

Set aside and allow to cool.  You do not want to put warm or hot filling onto the puff pastry.

I used these.  If you are industrious enough to make your own,  have at it.  Not me.

Roll out the puff pastry to 1/8" thickness.

Cut into rounds with a 4-1/2 inch round cutter.
 
 

Place 2 Tbsp. of the apples in the center of each pastry round.  Top with a little of the preserves sauce.

Moisten the edges of the round with water; fold pastry over and crimp edges with a fork to seal.  Place the hand pies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Brush each pie with the egg and sprinkle each with sugar.

Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to insure the puff pastry is very cold.

Bake for 12 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Apple Turnovers
Adapted from Biltmore Estate Specialties of the House
Yields 1 dozen

Ingredients:
4 small cooking apples (I used Honeycrisp)
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. bourbon (or water)
1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
a few gratings of fresh nutmeg
Puff Pastry
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1 large egg
granulated sugar

Mise en place

• If your puff pastry is frozen, thaw out according to package (you may need to do this the night before)
• peel apples, core and thinly slice
• sift powdered sugar and measure
• measure out butter, water & cinnamon & preserves
• grate lemon rind
• lightly beat the egg in a small bowl
• have some granulated sugar on the side for sprinkling on top of the turnovers

Method:
Combine the first seven ingredients in a medium saucepan; cover and cook over medium heat until the apples are almost tender, stirring often.  Remove the apples to a bowl with a slotted spoon.  Add the preserves to the liquid that remains in the pan and mix well.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook down until it is thickened.  You don't want it too runny.  Set aside to cool.  see note below

Roll pastry to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut into rounds with a 4-1/2 -inch round cutter.  Place 2 Tbsp. apple mixture in center of each pastry round; top each with 1 tsp. preserves mixture.  Moisten edges of pastry rounds with water; fold pastry over apple mixture and crimp the edges.  Place turnovers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Brush with the egg and sprinkle with sugar.

Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to insure the puff pastry is very cold.  Otherwise, it may not puff very well.  Preheat oven to 425°F

Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTE:  If your liquid is not thickening up you can thicken it with a corn starch slurry.  Just measure your liquid.  A good rule of thumb is 1 Tbsp. of corn starch to 1 cup liquid.  Dissolve the corn starch in a small bowl or jar with a little water (or some of the liquid).  Bring the liquid to a boil and whisk in the slurry.  Keep whisking until the sauce thickens.

Artichoke and Feta Tarts with Tomato Salad

This is a recipe from Donna Hay.  It's a nice starter for a small dinner party.  I also think it's suitable for spa food.

 

 

Simply cut a sheet of puff pastry into four 4" squares and score about 1/4" around the edges. 

 

 

Mix the feta and chopped artichoke on each square.  I actually had quite a bit of this mixture left over and it made for a great dip for Lovey.

 

 

While the pastries are baking toss together your salad of peas, tomatoes and mint and dress it with the olive oil and white balsamic vinegar.

 

 

When the tarts come out of the oven top each tart with the salad and serve immediately.

 

My puff pastry didn't puff as much as I thought it should but I'm sure it's because I should have put it back into the refrigerator before putting it into the oven.  It got a little warm while working with it.

 

Bottom line about this recipe is that I did like it.  It was easy to put together.  Had a nice light flavor with the sweetness of the tomatoes & peas are a nice contrast to the cheese and artichoke.  The chiffonade of mint finishes it off nicely..  I think it more appropriate for Spring or summer so I probably won't visit this again until it gets warmer.  All in all a nice starter. 

 

 

Artichoke and Feta Tarts with Tomato Salad

A recipe by Donna Hay

Serves 4

 

 

Ingredients:

1 sheet store-bought puff pastry, thawed

9 ounces marinated Persian feta

4 marinated artichoke hearts

1 egg

3-1/2 ounces mixed cherry tomatoes

1 cup frozen peas

1/4 mint leaves

olive oil & white balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

 

Mise en place:

•  crumble feta
•  chop artichokes
•  lightly beat egg
•  halve tomatoes
•  rinse peas and allow to thaw
•  chiffonade the mint leaves

Method:
Preheat oven to 400° F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Cut the puff pastry into four - 4" squares.  Score  a 1/4" border around each square.  Place on the baking sheet and top each square with the feta-artichoke mixture.  Brush the borders of each tart with the lightly beaten egg.  Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden brown.

In a small mixing bowl toss the tomatoes, peas and mint.  Drizzle with enough oil and vinegar to lightly coat.

Top each tart with the salad and serve immediately.


I'm sharing this recipe at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

 

Potato Stuffed Puff Pastry Squares

If you are looking for a nice side dish, especially for a chicken entree, I think you will like this one.  It would also be nice for brunch served alongside a tossed salad.

It's seasoned to pair well with poultry, it's not difficult to prepare and can be prepared ahead of time, it's filling, and will give your plate an elegant flare.

This clipping was pulled from a Winter of 1997 Penzey's spice catalogue.  The ingredients call for Italian Herb Mix.  If you don't have one already you can always make your own.  You have a wide choice of herbs to pick from; oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme, sage, and rosemary.  You don't have to have all of those in your blend; in fact, for this particular recipe, if your rosemary is not finely ground I would omit rosemary from your blend.  There just isn't enough cooking time and moisture in this to soften the rosemary; you don't want to bite into what feels like tough pieces  of grass.  It's a texture thing with me.

One suggestion might be 2 tsp. each of basil, marjoram and oregano and 1 tsp. of sage.  Blend that together and you'll use 2 tsp. of the blend in the recipe.

A very important step in this recipe is to eliminate the moisture from the potato and broccoli mixture once they are tender.  The last thing you want is an overly moist, runny stuffing.

There are leeks and mushrooms that nicely flavor the stuffing.

Throw the leek & mushrooms in with the potato/broccoli mixture along with the herbs, part of the milk & Parmesan cheese.

Grab a potato masher and take your pent up frustrations out on your stuffing.  I like it somewhat chunky but you can make it as smooth as you like.

Placing the stuffing and fontina on the pastry squares

 Sealed, painted with the egg-milk mixture and ready for the oven.

 Notes:
See how I shaped the mounds of stuffing into a round mound?  You can also make them square.

I had a good 1/2 cup of filling left over.  I could have used a little more in each square but the recipe suggested to err on the side of too little stuffing.  So I erred.

I was afraid the filling was going to be too dry, but the fontina added just the right amount of moisture and flavor.

Make only what you need.  Puff pastry is just not the same as a leftover.

Potato Stuffed Puff Pastry Squares
Adapted from Penzey's
Serves 4


Ingredients:
1 lb. (2 sheets) puff pastry, frozen
1 medium potato
1/2 cup broccoli stems
2 tsp. Italian herb mix
1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
1 Tbsp. water
1/4 lb. mushrooms (a large handful)
1 regular-sized leek
2 tsp. olive oil
4 Tbsp. milk, divided
2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 lb. fontina cheese
1 egg


Mise en place:

• remove puff pastry sheets from the box and inner bag, let thaw at room temperature while preparing stuffing
• peel & quarter potatoes
• peel the stems (also known as 'trunks' when I was a wee lass) of the broccoli and chop into small pieces
• combine the herb mix, garlic & water and set aside
• with a paper towel, wipe mushrooms clean and roughly chop
• slice the leek in half lengthwise.  Peeling back layers, rinse thoroughly to remove any sand.  Slice white part only into thin slices
• measure out 2 Tbsp. milk
• grate Parmesan cheese
• slice fontina in 1/4" thick slices
• beat egg in small dish with remaining 2 Tbsp. milk

Method:
Preheat oven to 400°F.  Cook potato in boiling salted water until tender, about 10 minutes.  Toss the broccoli pieces in with the potatoes during the last 5 minutes of the potato's cooking time.

In a large fry pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and leeks.  Cook, stirring, until the mushrooms and leeks are soft and just a bit golden, (about 4 minutes), remove from heat.

Drain the water from the potato and broccoli.  Cover pan with a lid and let dry over low heat for a minute.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Add the mushroom/leek mixture, the 2 Tbsp. reserved milk, Parmesan cheese, the herb mixture, salt & pepper.

Mash with a hand masher until the desired consistency is reached (a little chunky is nice, but you can make it totally creamy if you like).  Let cool a bit.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper so the pastries don't stick during baking.

Lightly flour a work surface large enough to spread out the two sheets of puff pastry.  Lay the pastry out, sprinkle with flour and roll lightly with a rolling pin just to even out the creases.  Turn the pastries over, sprinkling a bit more flour on the work surface if the dough seems to be sticking.  Divide each large square into four equal smaller squares.

Place a large spoonful of the stuffing mixture in the middle of four of the pastry squares, leaving the outer inch of pastry bare.  Top each mound of stuffing with two slices of fontina cheese each.

Working with one square at a time, brush a bit of the egg-milk mix around the outside edge of the dough (using a pastry brush), and place another square on top, gently molding the square around the top and base of the stuffing.  Run your finger around the outside edge to seal the two pieces of dough together.  The object is to have as much stuffing on the inside as possible, without having so much that you can't get a good seal on the dough and the filling oozes out during cooking.

After filling, topping, and lightly sealing the edges of all four squares, press for tines around the edges in a nice pattern, making a good seal.  Poke a hole in the top with the fork, then brush the entire top sheet with the egg-milk mixture.

Using a spatula, place the pastries on the baking sheet and into the oven for about fifteen minutes, until golden brown.

Remove the pan from the oven and the pastries from the pan, using a spatula, then let cool for a few minutes before serving.