Cordon Bleu Pastry Pockets

Chicken, ham, and Swiss cheese are wrapped in pastry dough and baked to buttery, flaky perfection. The upcoming Super Bowl was my inspiration, but this hearty appetizer would be great for any party. They’re easy to serve and eat, and believe it or not, the first batch can be ready for the oven in an hour.

The dough is layered, but doesn’t require the trips back and forth to the refrigerator that puff pastry or croissant doughs demand. You simply mix it, roll and fold it four times, and then roll it out into a large, thin rectangle which is cut into 4-inch squares. Fill and bake. The dough resists tearing and stretches obligingly when you pull it over the filling.

I played a little bit and used dark beer in place of the milk in the recipe. It was actually very tasty (The Man was a fan of these), but I didn’t think they were as flaky . . . a little more pie crust than puff pastry. And the color wasn’t quite as pretty, though maybe a lighter beer would have made a difference. Still, you might want to give it a try, just for fun.


Cordon Bleu Pastry Pockets
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Makes 20 Pockets
Ingredients
  • 1 cup finely chopped ham
  • 1 cup finely chopped chicken
  • 1 cup finely chopped Swiss cheese
  • 1-2 tablespoons cream cheese (Optional. Makes the filling easier to handle.)
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into ½ inch pieces
  • 1 cup cold milk
  • Heavy cream OR 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water, to brush on pastries before baking
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, combine ham, chicken, and Swiss cheese. Mix in cream cheese if desired. (This will make the mixture a little sticky, making it easier to fill pockets.) Place in refrigerator.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Toss the butter pieces in the flour and cut in, using a pastry blender, just until pieces of butter are about the size of a large blueberry.
  3. Stir in cold milk until mostly combined. Some crumbs are fine. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and use your hands to shape and press down, forming a rectangle.
  4. *With a rolling pin, roll dough into a 12-inch by 5-inch rectangle. It will be messy and crumbly. Don't worry - just do the best you can. With one short end facing you (dusting surface with flour as needed), use a large spatula or dough scraper to lift the bottom third of the dough and fold it, so the short end is in the middle. Now lift the top third and lay it over the dough so the short end is at the bottom. You should have 3 equal layers of very crumbly dough. Turn the dough to the left so the long open edge is on the right (like a book)*
  5. Repeat from (*) to (*) three more times. Dough should be smooth, with small areas of butter visible.
  6. Heat oven to 425 F. Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment.
  7. On floured surface, roll dough. After trimming edges, you'll need a 20-inch by 16-inch rectangle, so roll it out a little larger than that. Trim edges to make it neat and mark it every 4 inches, then cut out 20 squares.
  8. Mound filling in the center of one square at a time, extending toward opposite corners. Pull the top corner down to the bottom one, tucking in any stray filling that tries to escape. Press firmly all around the edge, then use a fork to go over the edge again. Use a knife or pastry cutter (if desired) to neatly trim and straighten the outer edge. Poke once with the fork on the top of each pocket.
  9. Place on prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between pastries. Coat lightly with cream or egg wash. (A paper towel dipped in wash works better than a brush.) Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove to cooling rack.

Combine finely chopped ham, chicken, and Swiss cheese. (Stir in a little cream cheese if desired, to make it easier to handle when filling pockets.)

Toss chopped butter into dry ingredients and combine with pastry blender.

Stir in cold milk (or beer!) Just until mostly combined.

Use hands to flatten (it will be a crumbly mess) and then roll as best you can to a 12×5-inch rectangle.

Use a large spatula or dough scraper to lift the bottom short end up to the middle, then the top short end down to the bottom to make 3 equal layers. Turn to the left and repeat 3 more times.

By the 4th roll/fold/turn it will look like dough. It’s okay to see blotchy butter spots.

To get a neat, tidy 16×20 rectangle, roll it a little larger, then trim. Throw away the scraps – don’t try to re-roll them.

Add filling to center, extending to opposite corners.

Press the edges firmly. Use a fork to go over them again. Trim the very edge to make it straight and pretty. Coat with cream or egg wash and bake!

Um. I tried making football shapes. It didn’t go too well. Be my guest – if you figure out how to do it, please let me know!

And here’s the beer version:

Dips are good. I used a Red Robin dipping sauce and ranch dressing with mustard and horseradish.

Since (once again) the Seahawks aren’t in the game, I’m not too excited about the Super Bowl. But if you are, and you have a crowd to please, give these a whirl!

Lorinda

Raspberry Rose Cookies

Cookie dough roses are baked right into these raspberry flavored hearts, creating a treat your valentine won’t be able to resist. A thin icing is all they really need, but decorating them was so much fun, I just had to play.

(Humor me . . . just one more picture? It’s excessive, but they were so photogenic, I couldn’t choose!)

Go classy and understated, or let your artistic side run wild. Your choice!

These cookies may look delicate, but they are sturdy enough to be decorated by little hands. Flavored gelatin not only provides the raspberry “zing” and color, it gives the shortbread cookie base a denser, chewier texture.

I tried using half shortening and half butter to ensure a pretty pink color, but they just didn’t have the flavor I wanted. Back to all butter, which gives them a hint of salmon color. You could add a touch of pink coloring if you’d like.

They’ll hold their shape, so any designs you add to the hearts before baking will still be there when they come out of the oven. Cake decorating tips, gum paste tools, cookie stamps or silicone molds all work very well for this.

I used a small heart cutter and gum paste tool to create designs. You could use a straw to cut out holes all the way around to look like lace. A small rose in the center would have been pretty too.

Press hearts with a silicone texture mat for texture, or press dough into a floured silicone mold and carefully ease the shape out onto the heart. Clockwise from upper left: Hand shaped rose on plain heart, rose design made by silicone mold on plain heart, textured heart, textured heart with small rose.

Raspberry Rose Cookies
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Makes approximately 18-20 cookies
Ingredients
  • COOKIES:
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons raspberry flavored gelatin
  • 1 egg white
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup cornstarch
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ICING:
  • 1½ cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons water to make thin glaze
  • Red or pink food coloring (green if you are adding leaves)
  • Royal icing, colored sugar, sparkling sugar if desired
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350 F. Prepare two baking sheets by covering each with a sheet of parchment.
  2. COOKIES:In a large bowl, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, and gelatin for 3 minutes.
  3. Add egg white. Beat for 1 minute.
  4. Mix in the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Dough will be thick.
  5. Work with half of the dough at a time, keeping the remainder wrapped at room temperature. Roll out dough ¼-inch thick. No thicker, or roses will brown before cookie bakes.
  6. Cut out heart shapes using 3-inch cutter. (Mine was slightly smaller.)
  7. Using the base of a large decorating tip or 1-inch round cutter, cut a hole in the middle of each heart. Save the circles. Before gathering scraps, use the round cutter to make more circles; you will use these for rose petals. Place hearts on prepared baking pans, 1 inch apart.
  8. To create roses, Press one small circle into a roughly oval shape. Slowly roll from one end to the other, to create the center of the rose. If dough cracks, just press it gently to smooth. Flatten another circle, and, holding it a little higher than the center, wrap it around. It doesn't need to go all the way around - the idea is to overlap petals. Don't worry about how long the "stem" you're holding is. That will be cut off when you're through. Repeat until you have a rose you like. I prefer 5 petals: the center, 1 around the center, and then 3 around the outside. As you work, gently pat the top edge of the petals to smooth if they crack, and roll the top edge back slightly on a few petals. When finished, use a knife or scissors to cut off the excess at the bottom (or pinch it off with your fingers) and place the rose in the hole in the heart, carefully pressing at the base to secure. Shape some leaves, if you wish.
  9. Bake 9-11 minutes, depending on the thickness of your cookies. The bottoms should be just starting to brown a little, but don't overbake or the roses will brown. (If this happens, a little icing and colored sugar on the edges will cover it nicely.) Cool completely on a rack.
  10. GLAZE: Whisk together the powdered sugar and water. In a small cup, combine 2 tablespoons of glaze and a drop of red or pink coloring. Do the same for green, if you added leaves to your roses. Brush a smooth, thin coating of the white glaze on each cookie, avoiding the rose. With a paintbrush, lightly paint the roses red or pink and the leaves green. Let cookies dry for at least 1 hour before storing or decorating.

Cut out hearts Use a large decorating tip to make a hole in each. Keep the circle of dough for rose petals!

Flatten the 1-inch circle into a rough oval shape. Start and one side and roll up, smoothing top edges if it cracks.

Add second and third petal, overlapping.

I like to stop at 5 petals. But each rose is a little different; follow your instincts!

Pinch or cut off excess dough on bottom of roses. Settle each rose into a heart, pressing gently into the hole.

Bake on parchment 350 F. for 9-11 minutes.

You can use a small decorator tip to put design on outer edge.

You can also make tiny roses and leaves. Use a straw or large tube tip to make the hole to set the rose in.

Brush the cookie with white glaze, then paint the roses and leaves.

Once the cookies are dry, decorate to your heart’s content. I used royal icing and some colored sugar.

XOXOXO

Lorinda