I didn't know TJs had puff pastry - thanks for the heads up Ann.

There's this delicious recipe from Oly that we learned at Filo camp:

Chicken Rolls with Avgolemono Sauce

Filling

3 Tbsp butter
2 ½ cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery

6 cups, cooked, diced chicken
¼ cup copped parsley
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Avgolemono Sauce

½ cup butter
½ cup flour
5 cups hot chicken stock
Salt and Pepper to taste
6 egg yolks, beaten
½ cup fresh lemon juice

Phyllo

2 pounds (48 sheets)
1 pound unsalted butter, clarified

Note: The original recipe calls for poaching bone-in chicken breasts in water with onions celery, bay leaf, parsley, salt and pepper. I cheat, and poach boneless breasts in chicken stock.

Filling: In a skillet, melt butter and sauté onion until soft. Add celery and sauté until
tender.

In a large bowl, combine cooked chicken, parsley, nutmeg, cheese, salt and pepper. Add
onions and celery from skillet, and mix well.

Avgolemono sauce: In a saucepan, melt butter and add flour. Cook gently, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Gradually add stock, stirring until sauce thickens and bubbles. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a little sauce to the beaten egg yolks and lemon juice, to temper, then stir the yolk mixture into the sauce. Simmer over low heat a few minutes, stirring constantly. Add 1 ½ cups sauce to the chicken mixture, mix well. Reserve remaining sauce - it will be used at serving, refrigerate.

Phyllo Preparation: Brush one phyllo sheet with butter, layer second sheet on top and brush with butter. Spread 2 rounded Tbsp of chicken filling at one end of sheets, 3 inches from end and 2 inchs from each side. Fold phyllo up over filling, to form a roll.
Fold side edges in to enclose. Roll up, jelly roll fashion, to end of phyllo sheet. Seal with butter; brush outside with butter. (Rolls can be frozen at this point)

Makes approx. 24 rolls.

Place rolls on baking sheet and bake at 400° F for 25-30 minutes, or until golden. Reheat reserved sauce and serve with rolls. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Adapted from: Greek Cooking in an American Kitchen
St. Demetrios Church, Seattle, Washington

Oly

Oops sorry -a correction to the chicken recipe. We put a little more filling in our rolls than the recipe calls for, so you will only get about 15 rolls from this quantity of filling. You'll need less phyllo, about 30 sheets (about 1 lb)

Oly

I second that recipe from Oly but it uses phyllo

Spacific how hysterical I was in TJs today thinking of making a salmon in puff pastry for tomorrow night's dinner. I would use the TJs frozen WILD salmon (I'm not touching farmed anymore), and come up with a dill cream sauce.

Hey Gina,
I might just try the chicken with the puff pastry anyway. Unless TJ's starts offering phyllo dough...

Jessy,
I've been using creme fraiche in my sauces... maybe for the salmon, use a base of clam juice, white whine, dill. I like the traditional kulebiaki with rice and mushrooms and leeks with the salmon, but I've also made it with TJ's roasted red peppers and goat cheese and salmon wrapped in the pastry. But that's a bit overwhelming for the dill.

A

Phyllo... puff pastry... Ack!!

Monique taught us how to make caged pears. Her's were much prettier than mine, but it got me to try puffed pastry, and they were delicious...

A, How much was the Puff Pastry in TJ's? I wanted to buy some yesterday, but it was 5.29 a box at my store. Is that the usual price?

Kathleen, gee, now you're going to make me go back to TJs tomorrow (grin) to check.

Do you have the sales slip?? I was just wondering....if it is cheaper than the super market. I only made it once and dh went to get it for me, so I don't know what he paid. One pkg made about 8 sm pear halves...

I like to use it on the top of chicken pot pie instead of using regular pie crust.

This recipe of Diane's is a regular in my appetizer arsenal.

Palmiers With Honey Mustard And Prosciutto (Craftyrn)

1 sheet puff pastry -- 18 x 11"
3 Tbl honey mustard
4 Ounces prosciutto -- thinly sliced
1 Cup Parmesan cheese -- freshly grated
1 egg
2 Tsp water

Place the puff pastry on a work surface and spread the mustard over the top.

Arrange the prosciutto evenly over the mustard to cover all the pastry, and then sprinkle with the Parmesan. Lightly press the cheese into the prosciutto with a rolling pin. Starting at one long edge, roll up the puff pastry like a jelly roll just to the middle of the dough; then roll up the other side in the same fashion,making two rolls that meet in the center. Using a serrated knife, cut the rolls crosswise into 1/2" slices. Place the slices on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and press lightly with your hands to flatten.Refrigerate for 15 minutes.(Importsant step)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.~

Beat the egg and water together in a small bowl. Brush the top of each palmier with the egg wash. Bake until puffed and lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Servings: 20

Trader Joes 'Artisan' (hah) puff pastry $5/lb box

Thank you Jessy! Better than making it, takes too long!

I buy it now too since it is so readily available.

Beef Wellington is an oldy but goody in my opinion. I also like Salmon in pastry.

Ack the TJs puff pastry has butter (the Peppridge Farm does not use dairy and is 'vegan')

Thats a good thing for some people, but not when I'm trying to do the kosher separation of meat and dairy

oh well I'll go to Jewish h3ll for this (keeping my eye on the skies for them lightning bolts)

Hey Jessy, you got to TJ's before me. I'm trying to keep to a routine of grocery shopping only once a week. So I haven't been back. So since the pastry is made with butter, does that mean you'll just need to make more desserts instead? Sounds like a fair trade!

Kathleen, those pears look really lovely. Is the dough just over the top or all around? Are the pears poached first? A few details please.

Dixiedog, I was thinking about doing a pork tenderloin wellington-style. Thanks for reminding me to look up the recipe as a starting base.

This one calls for phyllo pastry but I don't see why you couldn't use puff pastry instead.

Apple, Raisin & Quark Tart

Recipe as recounted to me by Resi, the owner of our favourite neighbourhood Austrian restaurant.
This is how she makes it and I took the photo as she served it to us.

1 pkg frozen phyllo pastry
1 egg
1 or more apples - peeled and diced
sugar to taste - guess I'd start off with 1/3 cup ?

1. Open out a square/rectangle of the defrosted pastry
2. Beat together 1 egg, quark and sugar. Spread it over the pastry.
3. Sprinkle with chopped apple and raisins to your taste.
4. Fold over one side of pastry to close and press edges with fork to seal.
5. Brush with the 2nd beaten egg & milk mixture
6. Bake 350F (180C) about 20 minutes or until top is browned.
7. Slice the same as a strudel.
*********************************************

SharonCb

A, you poach the pears in sugar water, and fill them if you like, I didn't.
Cut a shape of the pear for the bottom. Brush with preserves, then the pear sprinkled with sugar and cinn, or you can brush with preserves.
You have to have a tool to make the lattice. It is a roller and it cuts the pastry. Some people found them in stores, I had to mail order mine.
I will look for the exact recipe for you.

Can't remember who posted this, but I tried them (I left out the caraway seeds because I don't like them). They are really good.

ONION BRIE PALMIERS

2 medium onions, thinly sliced
3 Tblsp. butter or margarine
2 Tblsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
4 oz. Brie or Camembert, rind removed, softened
1 to 2 tsp. caraway seeds
1 egg
2 tsp. water

In a large skillet, cook the onions, butter, brown sugar, and vinegar over medium-low heat until onions are golden brown, stirring frequently. Remove with a slotted spoon; cool to room temperature. On a lightly floured surface, roll puff pastry into an 11- x 8-inch rectangle. Spread Brie over pastry. Cover with the onions; sprinkle with caraway seeds. Roll up one long side to the middle of the dough; roll up the other side so the two rolls meet in the center. Using a serrated knife, cut into 1/2-inch slices. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets; flatten to 1/4-inch thickness. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, beat egg and water; brush over slices. Bake at 375° F. for 12 to 14 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Serve warm. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.

Another we really liked:

SPINACH AND ARTICHOKES IN PUFF PASTRY

1 (10-ounce) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 (17.3-ounce) package frozen puff pastry

Drain spinach well, pressing between layers of paper towels. Stir together spinach, artichoke hearts, and next 5 ingredients.
Thaw puff pastry at room temperature 30 minutes. Unfold pastry, and place on a lightly floured surface or heavy-duty plastic wrap. Spread one-fourth spinach mixture evenly over pastry sheet, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Roll up pastry, jellyroll fashion, pressing to seal seam; wrap in heavy-duty plastic wrap. Repeat procedure with remaining pastry and spinach mixture. Freeze 30 minutes; cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. (Rolls may be frozen up to 3 months.)
Bake at 400° F. for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 4 dozen.

Source: Southern Living, Top-Rated Recipe, November 2000".

I had to google Quark as I have never heard of it before but now I wish we had it in the US. It sounds good!

Quick Napoleons

Cut puff pastry into small rectangles ( 2 X 3 or so ), bake till nicely browned.

Make some vanilla pudding and a thin chocolate frosting.

Split the baked pastry into two halves.

Place some cooled pudding on the bottom half of the pastry, cover with the other half and drizzle some frosting on top, refrigerate for a few hours and eat.

Rita

bumblebeez (and others), sometimes you can buy 'quark' under the name of farmers cheese ... just be careful, I've seen too kinds of things called farmer cheese. one is a regular cheese like e.g. monterey jack or what ever, another one (the quark type) is sold in containers and looks more like cottage cheese with a little different consistency. I bought one last week, made by Lifeway, it was at the store's organic/healthy section. also, if you live in larger cities, check your polish stores, you should find some.

Here you go..

Here is a link that might be useful: Caged Pears

Sharon I had made that recipe a long time ago, when you first posted it. We loved it! Thanks for reminding me.