Are you thinking party food?

If for pastries, you're thinking along the lines of quiches, then I love egg and bacon for picnics, or Cornish pasty, an artichoke and greens torta, Provençal pumpkin torte, Brioche filled with a sausage like in Nantes,

For steamed buns, I love the pork/prawn filling;...

Dumplings in a stew - I like herbs

Rolls...for parties,snacks? then egg salad, a slice of grilled aubergine without the skin to act as the butter then hummous, or good tomatoes in the summer, or tuna mousse with a nice dose of garlic, or a Coronation chicken filling,

Strata

I'm never sure if we're talking about the same things LOL

Not really party food, but could be. Probably would be because we eat pretty simple stuff when not entertaining. I have this dumpling press which I got just because it was cool and I've never used it. It's for things like wonton or potstickers, I think -- triangles anyway. I also want to start making more scratch pasta and I have a similarly unused ravioli attachment. :) It's probably a lot harder to use than just rolling the dough and cutting them out, but I love square ravioli, so I'd like to give it a go. And I do keep trying to think of new things to stuff into choux puffs and empanadas (sort of like a small pasty, but Central American).

LOL on the same things. :) G. B. Shaw said, "The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language." Add that to your French ingredients and my American ones, and sometimes we're not, but I often do understand you, IC. :) And your ideas are quite useful to my filling question. I've been trying to expand my mind or get out of a rut or something, because the filling is the flavor. Like artichokes and greens. I haven't done that. It sounds good! Thanks for all the suggestions.

Shrimp, cabbage, onion, ginger..that sort of thing. Also leek, onion, bread crumb, mace.

This is a favourite. A Spanish Tapa.

Mushrooms And Pimientos In Puff Pastry

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The Foods and Wines of Spain

1 package puff pastry

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon minced onion

1 clove garlic minced

2 tablespoons minced pimiento

preferably homemade

1/4 pound mushrooms, chopped fine

1/2 dried red chili crumbled or 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper

flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons grated parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the onion and garlic until

onion is wilted. Add the pimiento and cook for a minute, then the

mushrooms, chili pepper, salt, and pepper and saute until

mushrooms are softened. Remove from the heat and stir in cheese.

Roll the puff pastry to 1/8 inch. You can cut Cut into 1 3/4 inch

circles and place 1 teaspoon of filling on half of the circles.

Moisten the edges with water, cover with the remaining pastry

circles, and press with the tines of a fork to seal.

I prefer to make them triangle shape,by cutting the pastry into 2

1/2 inches squares, add filling on one half and then folding over

corner to form a triangle.

(May be prepared ahead and refrigerated) Place on a dampened

cookie sheet and bake at 425 F on the upper rack of the oven for 7

to 10 minutes or until golden.

( To cut down on work you could make this appetizer in a larger

size and Bake for about 20 minutes.) Then cut into wedges.

I would say spinach phyllo triangles, but they have cheese in them ;)

Not mine, Smitten Kitten's version. Still looks good!

How about a mushroom duxelles?

OOOO Lobster pastries for Christmas. Sounds lovely!

I like to fill ravioli with a filling of butternut squash and dress them lightly with some sage and browned butter. You could go the way of the Rueben with corned beef and sauerkraut, or lean toward a Michigan Upper Peninsula pastie with beef, potato and rutabaga. I do have a recipe for venison potstickers, but I'm sure you could sub another meat or poultry.

Venison Potstickers

• Potsticker Filing:
• 1lb. ground venison
• 4 c. water
• 1-1/2 c. shredded or finely sliced cabbage
• ½ c. finely chopped green onion
• 1-1/2 Tbs. freshly grated ginger
• 2 Tbs. oyster sauce
• 2 Tbs. salt (for softening cabbage)
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. fish sauce (aka patis)
• Other Ingredients:
• 50 wonton wrappers
• bowl of ½ c. water (used as glue for sealing potstickers)
• ½ c. canola oil

Instructions

1. Combine cabbage, 4 c. water, and salt in medium bowl and let sit for 15-20 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes to make sure all cabbage is softened. In larger bowl, combine all other filling ingredients. Drain and rinse cabbage, and add to meat mixture. Mix in thoroughly. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to hold raw dumplings.
2. Assembling Potstickers: Place about 2 teaspoons of filling in center of wonton wrapper. Dip finger into water bowl, then line two adjacent sides of wrapper with water from finger. Fold the two dry sides of wrapper on top of the two water-lined sides and pinch closed (NOTE: make sure potsticker edge is completely sealed, otherwise the juices may run during cooking and your potstickers may dry out). At this point, your potsticker should look like a pudgy triangle. Fold each corner of the triangle in toward the center of the potsticker, using a little dab of water to ‘glue’ the corners down. Place assembled potsticker on parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
3. Cooking Potstickers: Pour about ¼ c. canola oil into the bottom of large sauce pan and bring to medium high heat. When pan is nice and hot and evenly coated, line the bottom of the pan with one layer of potstickers. We were able to fit about ½ of the batch into our pan at a time. Fry potstickers over high heat until the bottoms look golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. Once bottoms of dumplings look nice and crispy, add enough water to submerge the bottom half of the potstickers. Cover pan with lid tilted so that steam can escape. Continue to cook until all water evaporated from pan and you hear the dumplings start to sizzle again, which can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and serve with either tongs or a spatula. If you are going to cook the whole batch in one go, place potstickers on foil-lined try (photo below), wipe out the bottom of pan with paper towel to get the crusty bits out, then add remaining ¼ c. of canola oil and start process again.
4. Saving Potstickers: If you’re not going to eat all of the potstickers in one sitting, put the tray of raw dumplings in the freezer overnight. Make sure potstickers are not touching, otherwise they will freeze together. Once they are completely frozen, place them in a large zip-lock bag (or portion into smaller bags) and keep in freezer for up to a month.

Dipping Sauce for Venison Potstickers

¼ cup light soy sauce

• ¾ tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 minced garlic clove, or more
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 teaspoon green onion ( thinly sliced)

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Use as dipping sauce.

Annie

Oh, cool! Venison potstickers! I don't know if I can get venison easily, but I bet they're good.

Thanks to all for the interesting ideas! And to see so many versions of bourekes! The dumpling maker is really more for Asian, dumplings (wonton skins), but I can (and have) made them from filo or puff in my sleep! And the fillings are transferable.

I'm short on time just now, but each of you has given me a great idea to ponder on, and I'm very grateful!

Also, chicken and almond Moroccan filling.

I have made both of these multiple times in phyllo dough triangles but they should work fine with other doughs. I can also see those cinnamon rolls filled with a mixture of corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese.

HONEYED LAMB AND RAISIN FILLING

1/4 cup dark raisins

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cups finely chopped onions

1 Tbs. minced garlic

1 pound lean ground lamb

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. Pepper

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/8 tsp. Cayenne pepper

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 cup chopped fresh tomato (drained)

1/4 - 1/3 cup honey

Cover the raisins with hot water, let sit 10 minutes, then drain and set aside. Heat oil in skillet. Add onion and garlic, sauté over med. heat until tender and golden. Tranfer to a bowl and set aside. Add lamb to the skillet and cook until no longer pink. Drain off any excess oil. And rest of ingredients, including raisins and sautéed onion-garlic mixture. Mix thoroughly and then sauté 5-7 minutes over medium-high heat to blend flavor and evaporate any liquid. Cool to room temperature and proceed with phyllo packets, using about 2 tsp. of filling for each. Makes about 30 triangles.

CRAB AND BRIE FILLING

1 Tbs. butter

2 Tbs. minced shallots

1/2 lb. crabmeat, well picked over for shell

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Pepper

2 tsp. Minced parsley

opt. Tabasco to taste

1/2 lb. Brie cheese, cut into thin slices

Melt butter in skillet. Add shallots and sauté until golden. (Sometimes I add a slice or two of diced prosciutto the last minute or two of sautéing the shallots.). Add the crab and heat through. Sprinkle with seasonings and parsley. Spread the slices of Brie over the crab and keep over low heat without stirring until the Brie softens enough to be stirred in without breaking up the pieces of crab. When the mixture is fairly homogenous, set aside and let cool a bit. Makes about 25 to 30 phyllo triangles.

I use this filling in pastry, potstickers or ravioli:

Brown butter and sage goes well with this or a Dijonnaise dipping sauce (mayo & Dijon mustard)

Savory Pork

2 lbs. fresh ground pork

5 oz. salt pork, minced very fine (I've also used pancetta)

1 large shallot, minced fine

1 small yellow onion, minced fine

6 large garlic cloves, microwaved 30 seconds, peeled then minced fine

2 tbs. dry vermouth

¼-½ tsp. ground sage

1 tsp. herb de provence, rubbed in your hand until very fine

1 bay leaf

2 cups of water

½ cup very strong chicken stock with fat or add 1 tsp butter

In stock pot, slowly brown salt pork until crisp. Remove from pot, cool and mince fine (Yes again. I like it very fine.). Add onions, garlic, and shallot to pot and sauté slowly until just cooked. Add sage and Herb de Provence and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground pork to pot, breaking up with your hands as you add it to the pot. Add vermouth, water, bay leaf and chicken stock, stirring to gently break up pork. Bring to a boil reduce heat to a simmer add crisp salt pork. Simmer about 45 minute then remove bay leaf, continue simmering until all the water is gone.

I have a nice ravioli filling with minced chicken, garlic, ricotta, parsley and a little lemon zest. Delish with a light tomato sauce.

Another is minced langoustine or prawn, ricotta, garlic served with butter and crispy sage leaves.

This all sounds good. Thank-you, All!

IC, can you think of a good non-cheese carrier?

I'm putting off my filling adventure for a couple of weeks and getting a jump on filling the freezer for the December party, but I promise to get back to the dumplings and ravioli once that's done with.

Squash works well as a carrier in ravioli. For the chicken one, add some livers and an egg. Chicken stuffing for ravioi can be as simple as chicken, egg and herbs. I make chick ones small so the meat cooks in the short cooking time.

For prawn ones, just leave out the cheese - perhaps add a little beaten egg white to firm it all up.

Cream can act as the carrier too, just not too wet once mixed in or you'll have leaking ravioli! Almost as bad as a soggy bottom LOL

Another good one is hazelnuts, chopped and fried in a little butter, this is your sauce. mushrooms chopped and cooked as you like in the ravioli. Lovely for this time of year.

Thanks, IC. I love quash ravioli, but have never tried it as a base for other ingredients. That opens up a whole bunch of possibilities! Eggs make sense, of course, but I'd use ricotta over cream. :) The point is to move away from the extra fat. (I'm not in the fat is the enemy camp, just trying to keep balance.) I've never had anything like hazelnuts in them. That sounds awesome. And I'd do a little butter. :) Lots of good things to try. Thank-you!