Chicken Puffs

    My friend Janet is very, very, very good at taking care of people.  Any time someone she knows is sick, has had a baby, or is simply stressed out, Janet is right there to offer a helping hand.  More often that not, that helping hand means Janet showing up with a delicious homemade meal.  My own family has benefitted numerous times from her generosity; in fact, the night before I was scheduled to deliver my second daughter, Janet brought my family a delicious meal.  It was so thoughtful and so tasty that I didn't want to waste a single bit of it so there I was at 4:45 am wrapping up what was left of our meal to put in the freezer right before I headed for the hospital!

   One of my favorite recipes from Janet is her chicken puff recipe.  These little pastries are amazing because they are so simple to assemble and yet are so elegant when served.  They freeze perfectly and can then be prepared in whatever quantity you need.  In fact, because they use puff pastry, they actually bake up even better straight out of the freezer.  When I make enough to freeze, I always just lay them on a baking sheet lined with Reynolds Release Foil and place the whole sheet in the freezer.  Once they have frozen solid I then just pop them into a freezer bag.

  Janet's original recipe calls for cans of cream of chicken, celery, and mushroom soups, but I like to make my own "cream of" for this recipe.  I actually use this pretty basic white sauce for any recipe that calls for canned soups but I leave out the mushrooms for most other recipes.  My homemade "cream of" also freezes and can easily be defrosted in the microwave with a small amount of milk.  It is then ready to go into a casserole or any other dish that calls for the soup.  I originally found the recipe for this as a filling in Chicken Pot Pie IX on allrecipes.com but have modified it slightly.  I usually double the recipe for the "cream of " and then have plenty to freeze.  You can certainly just stick to the original recipe with the canned soups and will still have a delicious meal.

Chicken Puffs

1 box of frozen Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets
3 cups of chopped or shredded chicken (I always use rotisserie chicken for this)
1 can each cream of mushroom soup, cream of celery soup, cream of chicken soup (or substitute my "Cream Of" recipe from above)
4 oz. cream cheese

Homemade "Cream Of" Soup

1/3 C. finely chopped celery
1/3 C. finely chopped onion
1/3 C. finely chopped mushrooms
1/3 C. butter
1/3 C. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 t. celery seed
1/4 t. poultry seasoning
1 3/4 C. chicken broth
2/3 C. milk

In a large pot or skillet, sautee onions, celery, and mushrooms in butter over medium heat until soft.  Add flour and seasonings.  Stir and cook for 1 minute.  Slowly stir in broth and milk.  Whisk over medium low heat until mixture has thickened.

To prepare puffs:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine canned soups (or homemade "cream of") with softened cream cheese.  I often soften the cream cheese in the microwave first.  Remove half of the mixture and set it aside to pour over baked puffs.  Add chicken to remaining soup mixture.

Thaw puff pastry overnight in the refrigerator or on the counter for about 1/2 an hour.  Once it is thawed enough to roll, use a rolling pin to roll out into larger sheet.  Cut each sheet into 4 squares.  Place 1/8 of the chicken mixture on each of the puff pastry squares.

Pull opposite corners of the squares up to meet in the middle.  This will create a little bundle.  Seal completely at the top by twisting all the corners together.  Take care not to rip the pastry.

Bake for 20-30 minutes in the oven until the bundles are golden and puffed.  Warm remaining soup mixture on the stovetop and pour over the baked puffs.