by Julie Hyzy
While the meat is chilling, whisk the egg and the water together in a small bowl and set aside.
Place the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stirring often, sauté the onion until it is clear, then add the mushrooms and sauté until the liquid that comes from the mushrooms has evaporated, leaving the mushrooms and onion cooked through and tender, about 3 minutes.
Roll out the puff pastry sheets. Use the egg wash as a glue to paste the two puff pastry sheets together on their long edges to give you enough pastry to work with. Overlap the sheets together by an inch, after painting the joined edges with egg wash to seal the joint. Make sure that after you roll it out, the finished puff pastry sheet is at least 6 inches longer than the tenderloin piece and 5 inches wider than it needs to be to wrap all the way around the tenderloin.
Spoon the onion/mushroom mixture down the center of the puff pastry. Remove the chilled meat from the refrigerator and place it over the mounded mushroom mixture in the middle of the puff pastry. Fold the pastry up and around the tenderloin, sealing the edges with egg wash.
Place the wrapped tenderloin seam-side down on a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet, and brush with egg wash.
Place the wrapped tenderloin in the 425 degree oven. (I cook my side dishes in it during the interval—or you can reheat it, as you prefer.) Bake 25 minutes for medium rare, or 32 minutes for medium.
Remove from oven. Let rest for 5 minutes to let the juices equalize inside the pastry. Slice and serve warm.
PASTRY-WRAPPED ASPARAGUS SPEARS WITH PROSCIUTTO
Makes 24–30 appetizer portions
1 ½ pounds asparagus
1 (16–20-oz.) package puff pastry
1 (3-oz.) package herbed or garden vegetable cream cheese, well softened
½ pound prosciutto or good deli ham, very thinly sliced
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Wash the asparagus and trim off the tough stems at the bottom. Lay the vegetables on a towel to dry.
Gently roll out the puff pastry sheets to smooth them. Spoon half the softened cream cheese onto each sheet, and spread evenly across the pastry. Divide the prosciutto evenly and place half on each piece of puff pastry, covering the cream cheese in a thin layer.
Cut the puff pastry into long, thin strips, approximately 1 inch wide.
Starting at the base of the spear, wrap the pastry strips—prosciutto and cheese side inward—snugly around the asparagus in a spiral, like stripes on a candy cane.
Place the wrapped asparagus spears on ungreased baking sheets. (You’ll likely need two baking sheets.)
Bake until pastry is golden brown and the asparagus is tender, roughly 15 minutes.
Serve hot.
SUMMER TOMATO TART
When beautiful heirloom tomatoes show up at the farmers’ markets, this is a nice way to showcase them.
Makes 16 appetizer portions
1 (16–20-oz.) package puff pastry
4 tomatoes at the peak of summer ripeness, washed and sliced thin
One small onion, sliced thin and separated into rings
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon herbes de’ Provence
½ teaspoon salt (I prefer kosher salt)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 oz. Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Lay out each sheet of thawed, rolled puff pastry on a baking sheet. Leaving a 1-inch border all around each sheet (this will puff up and form a raised crust), prick the remainder of each pastry with a fork every inch or so.
On the forked portions of the pastry, lay out the tomato slices in a pretty overlapping arrangement.
Top with the onion rings.
Wisk together the olive oil, herbs, salt, and vinegar. Paint the tomatoes and onions with the mixture. Sprinkle the tomato tarts with the grated cheese.
Place the tarts into the oven for 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden, the tomatoes and onions are cooked, and the cheese is browned and bubbly.
Cut each tart into 8 portions, and serve warm.
VOL-AU-VENT
A vol-au-vent is a very traditional application of puff pastry. Essentially you make a case of puff pastry with a lid, in which you can serve all sorts of sweet and savory fillings, everything from creamed shrimp to lobster thermidor to chocolate sauce to fresh berries. You can make small cases for individual servings, or large cases for a multi-serving entrée or dessert. Once you’ve mastered the technique, you’ve got a base for an amazing variety of fancy appetizers, main courses, and desserts.
And, with frozen puff pastry, it couldn’t be simpler. In fact, you can often find appetizer-sized vol-au-vent casings premade in the freezer section of the grocery store. But I like making my own.
INDIVIDUAL VOL-AU-VENTS
1 (16–20-oz.) package puff pastry
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Roll the pastry sheets a couple of times to smooth them out. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter or cutting around a wide-mouthed glass with a sharp knife, cut out as many perfect circles as you can from the sheets.
Arrange half of the circles on a baking sheet and set them aside.
Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter or by running a sharp knife around a small juice glass, cut small circles out of the middles of the remaining half of the puff pastry rounds.
Whisk the egg and water together in a small bowl.
Paint the whole circles on the baking sheet with the egg wash. Gently separate the inner circles from the outer rings of the other puff pastry rounds. Place the rings on the whole puff pastry circles so that you form a cylinder with a central depression. Paint the rims of the rings with the egg wash. Place the small rings on the baking sheet or a separate baking sheet if there is not enough room. These will be your lids. The cylinders will be your containers.
Place all rounds in the oven and bake until brown and crispy, about 20–25 minutes.
Set aside to cool.
Fill with the filling of your choice.
Possible Fillings:
BERRY-FILLED VOL-AU-VENTS
1 pint fresh strawberries, rinsed and picked over
1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and picked over
2 tablespoons confectioners’ (powdered) sugar, divided
1 drop almond extract
Prepared vol-au-vent casings and lids
Sweetened whipped cream and fresh mint sprigs to garnish (optional)
Slice the strawberries into a medium bowl. Add the blueberries. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar, add the almond extract, and mix well.
Spoon the berries equally into the vol-au-vent casings. Top with the lids.
Sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of sugar.
Serve each on a dessert dish with a side spoonful of whipped cream topped with a mint sprig, if desired.
CHOCOLATE SUNDAE VOL-AU-VENTS
1 pint good vanilla ice cream (or some vanilla/chocolate variant like cookies and cream, turtle, fudge ribbon, or other personal favorite)
2 ounces chopped pecans
¼ cup maple syrup
Prepared vol-au-vent casings and lids
1 cup chocolate fudge sauce
The prep work for this should be done in advance, the desserts assembled at the last minute, and served in a jiffy.
Clear out space in the freezer to accommodate a couple of pie plates or a cookie sheet.
Scoop out the ice cream into individual balls that will fit into the vol-au-vent shells. Place the scoops into the pie plates or cookie sheet that fits in your freezer. Freeze solid.
Place the pecans into a skillet over medium heat and toss to toast them—this is fast work and you have to watch to make sure the pecans don’t scorch. Add the maple syrup and stir. Set aside. (You’ll warm the mixture again right before you serve these.)
To assemble, place an ice cream ball inside each vol-au-vent. Top with warm pecan/maple syrup mixture. Place vol-au-vent
top on the ice cream. Drizzle heavily with chocolate sauce.
Serve immediately.
WARM AND SAVORY VOL-AU-VENTS
All you have to do is make a nice cream sauce, add the meat and cooked vegetable of your choice, possibly some wine or sherry, and maybe some melted cheese. Pour the resulting mixture warm into the vol-au-vent and serve. The following recipe can be tweaked to provide endless variations.
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk (or cream, if you want to live dangerously)
½ teaspoon salt
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
¼ cup sherry or white wine
6 ounces cleaned frozen cocktail shrimp, thawed and rinsed (fresh shrimp are great, too, but this is a LOT faster)
4 fresh mushrooms, cleaned and very thinly sliced
½ cup frozen peas, thawed
Prepared vol-au-vent casings
Fresh parsley to garnish (optional)
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until it forms a smooth paste. Very gradually whisk in the milk, until it is smooth. Bring the sauce slowly to nearly a boil, whisking constantly until it thickens. Turn down the heat to a low simmer. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
(At this point you’ve just made a classic French béchamel sauce. From here on in you’re just seasoning it to your taste.)
Whisk in the sherry. Add the shrimp, mushrooms, and peas. Stir until the additions are warmed through.
Place each vol-au-vent on a plate. Carefully fill with shrimp-vegetable sauce. Lean the lid at an angle to the vol-au-vent. Garnish with fresh parsley, if using. Serve warm.
OTHER VARIATIONS
Use cooked cubed chicken instead of the shrimp.
Use peas and carrots instead of just peas.
Use chunks of lobster tail meat instead of the shrimp.
Use cubed ham instead of the shrimp.
I’m sure you’ll think up your own favorites, as well.
APPLE STRUDEL
Makes 12 appetizer portions
4 Granny Smith or other cooking apples (apple varieties can be mixed for richer flavors and textures)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or to taste
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup raisins
1 (16–20-oz.) package puff pastry
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples. Place in a large bowl. Add lemon juice and toss—this will prevent the apples from discoloring.
Add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, salt, and raisins. Toss until the apples and raisins are evenly coated with sugar, flour, and spices.
Roll out the puff pastry sheets. Place half the apple mixture in a line in the center of each sheet. Spread across the pastry, leaving the edges free from apple mixture. Roll the apple mixture up in the pastry, jelly-roll style.
Place the rolled pastry, seam-side down, on a baking sheet.
Whisk the egg and water together in a small bowl. Brush the pastry rolls all over with the egg wash.
Make diagonal slices with a sharp knife into the pastry every two inches down the roll, cutting one-third of the way through the pastry rolls. This lets the fruit filling show through jewel-like in the finished pastry.
Place the pastries in the oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and puffy.
Remove from oven and serve warm. A side of good ice cream or whipped cream topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon is always good with this.
NAPOLEONS
Makes 12
This is such an easy dessert that it is almost like cheating when you use frozen puff pastry. The way the pastry is folded into the box actually gives you a perfect template for cutting the dough.
1 (16–20-oz.) package puff pastry
4 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 cups mixed fruit—sliced peaches, berries, sliced pears, and mandarin orange segments are all fine. Pick what is seasonal and beautiful.
1 tablespoon Amaretto liquor (optional)
1 cup cream, whipped and sweetened with 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar (or you can use the canned stuff or whipped topping, if you’re in a hurry)
½ cup chocolate sauce
Powdered sugar, to garnish
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Unfold puff pastry and scatter 2 tablespoons sugar across the dough. Using the fold marks to guide your knife, cut each piece of the dough into three pieces. Cut each of the six rectangles into six equal-sized rectangles.
Place the pastry, sugared side up, on baking sheets, and bake until brown and flaky, about 15 minutes.
While the pastry is baking, slice the fruit into a bowl. Toss with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and the liquor, if using.
When the pastry is done, remove from oven and let cool.
For each Napoleon, place a bottom layer of cooked puff pastry on a dish. Top with whipped cream and a spoonful of fruit. Repeat this for a second layer. Top with a third layer of puff pastry. Drizzle with the chocolate sauce; sift powdered sugar onto the finished dessert. Serve chilled.
CHOCOLATE NAPOLEONS
To make this variation, add 1 teaspoon cocoa powder to the whipped cream, or buy chocolate whipped cream in a can or chocolate whipped topping.
Use either strawberries or raspberries for the fruit. Proceed as with original recipe.
SPINACH TRIANGLES
This recipe is based on a traditional Greek dish made with phyllo dough called spanikopita. But making the dish this way is much faster and easier.
Makes 32 appetizer portions
1 (10-oz.) package frozen spinach, thawed
3 eggs, divided
½ cup crumbled feta or ricotta cheese
1 small onion, finely diced
¼ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg, or to taste
¼ teaspoon salt
1 small bunch fresh parsley, chopped finely, stems removed
1 tablespoon water
1 (16–20-oz) package puff pastry
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Combine spinach, 2 eggs, cheese, onion, nutmeg, salt, and parsley in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk remaining egg and water.
Roll each puff pastry sheet into a 12-inch square. Cut the squares into 3-inch squares.
Place a scant tablespoon of spinach filling into the middle of each square. Brush around the square with the egg wash. Fold the square into a triangle around the filling. Press the edges of the triangle to seal. Place on a baking sheet. Continue until all the squares of puff pastry are filled and sealed. Brush the triangle tops with the remaining egg wash. Place the pastries in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.
Remove from oven. Serve warm.
INDIVIDUAL CHICKEN POT PIES
Serves 6
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
½ teaspoon salt
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
¼ cup sherry or white wine
½ pound cooked, cubed chicken
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, cleaned and very thinly sliced
1 (10-oz.) bag frozen peas and carrots, thawed
1 (16–20-oz.) package puff pastry
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until it forms a smooth paste. Very gradually whisk in the chicken broth until smooth. Bring the sauce slowly to nearly a boil, whisking constantly until it thickens. Turn down the heat to a low simmer. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Whisk in the sherry. Add the chicken, mushrooms, and peas and carrots. Stir until the additions are warmed through. Leave the sauce to simmer slowly.
Ar
range 6 ovenproof bowls, soufflé dishes, or other individual containers on a baking sheet. Spoon the chicken filling into the containers. Top each container with a piece of puff pastry cut to fit.
Place the pies into the oven. Bake until the puff pastry is brown and puffed, about 25–30 minutes.
Serve warm.
