Chicken and Mushroom Puff Pastry Pie #FoodieExtravaganza

Flaky puff pasty and a delectable filling make this chicken and mushroom puff pastry pie the perfect luncheon or brunch fare. It’s delicious warm or at room temperature.

I am a fan of savory pies in any form. They are not only a great use of leftovers, transforming them into a whole other meal. In fact, I have been known to make extra roast beef/chicken/lamb just so I’ll have enough for pie. In the case of this chicken and mushroom puff pastry pie, I used a store-bought rotisserie chicken.

Every year that I have lived in Dubai (my seventh will start in November!) the local produce available in the grocery stores and farmers’ markets has grown and grown. This year for the first time, much to my delight, I’ve started finding mushrooms from the UAE and our neighbor Oman on the refrigerated shelves. Consequently, prices are more reasonable as well and we’ve been eating a lot of mushrooms.

This month my Foodie Extravaganza friends are celebrating the lowly but delicious mushroom with recipes in honor of National Mushroom Month. Don’t miss the link list with more wonderful mushroom recipes near the bottom of this post.

If you are a fan of mushrooms, you'll want to check out my Wild Mushroom Soup, Mushrooms Provençal and Beef Short Rib Bourguignon. That last one has only five ingredients but is probably the best beef Bourguignon I've ever put in my mouth!

Chicken and Mushroom Puff Pastry Pie

This special pie will generously serve 4-6 people. Serve it alongside some freshly steamed vegetables or a crisp green salad.

Ingredients
For the filling:
1 lb 10 oz or 750g fresh baby or button mushrooms
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into tiny cubes
4 tablespoons plain flour
2 teaspoons whole grained mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 cup or 240ml chicken stock
1 lb or 450g cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
1/2 cup or 120ml double or whipping cream
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Optional: cayenne pepper

For the crust:
2 packages (8 oz or 230g each) puff pastry (preferably all butter, if you can find it!)
1 egg, beaten

Optional to garnish:
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
tarragon sprigs

Method
Wash the mushrooms thoroughly making sure to remove any dirt that clings to them with a brush. Cut off any hard ends on the stems and discard.

In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and add in the mushrooms.

Cook covered over a high heat for several minutes, until the mushrooms have released their water.

Continue cooking, uncovered, until all of the water has evaporated and the mushrooms begin to turn golden.

Transfer them to another vessel and return the skillet to the stove.

Reduce the heat to medium low and add one tablespoon of the butter. Sauté the onion and carrot until they soften. Add in the last tablespoon of butter. Once it has melted, add in the flour and stir until you have a thick paste. Cook for a minute or two to get rid of the raw flour flavor.

Remove the pan from the heat.

Add in the minced tarragon and mustard, then gradually whisk in the stock to form a smooth sauce.

Return the pan to the stove and then cook over medium low heat for several minutes until thickened.

Remove from the heat and add in the chicken, mushrooms and the cream. Stir well.

Season to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne if using. Stir well. Leave to rest in the skillet until cooled, stirring occasionally.

Once your filling has cooled, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. Line a large baking sheet with parchment and unroll the first circle of puff pastry onto it.

Pile the filling onto the puff pastry and spread it out evenly, leaving a large circle of pastry around the outsides. Brush the pastry edge with the beaten egg.

Carefully cover the filling with the second circle of puff pastry to create the upper crust, gently pressing out air as you go.

Crimp the edges to seal the pie. Cut two or three vent holes in the top with a sharp knife and brush the whole pie with the egg.

You can also score the pastry with the knife, if desired. I did a sort of diamond pattern. Sprinkle with Parmesan, if using.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown all over.

Remove the chicken and mushroom puff pastry pie from the oven and leave to cool for at least 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month’s Foodie Extravaganza host, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm! Check out all the wonderful mushroom recipes we are sharing this month:

• Chicken & Mushroom Vegetable Medley by Reviews, Chews & How-Tos
• Chicken and Mushroom Puff Pastry Pie by Food Lust People Love
• Mushroom Quesadillas by Caroline's Cooking
• Mushroom, Sausage  and Spinach Strata by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Mushrooms in Green Herb Sauce by Sneha's Recipe
• Portabella Mushroom Cheesesteak Sandwich by Simple and Savory
• Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Steak with Porcini Mushroom Gravy by Palatable Pastime

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays, and we all post recipes using the same ingredient. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

Pin it!

Cheesecake Breakfast Muffins #MuffinMonday

These delightful cheesecake breakfast muffins would be a hit at your Sunday brunch but they are so easy to make that your family could even enjoy them on a weekday.

Life is funny sometimes. This month for Muffin Monday, I got the idea that I wanted to make something different so I started searching online for variations on muffin recipes. When I came across this one from Sainsbury’s, I knew I had a winner. Or at least a winning idea. Low fat cheesecake did not sound ideal. So I created a full fat, amped up version.

I hadn’t really considered why I wanted to make something different, something special this month. Sometimes I’m just like that. But as I scrolled back through our Muffin Monday page, I realized that it’s been exactly three years since I started this little group. Our first post together was August 2015 and we shared six beautiful muffin recipes. Of course I needed a special muffin to celebrate! (Could I have known subconsciously?!) I think these do the trick.

Cheesecake Breakfast Muffins

This recipe is adapted from Sainsbury Magazine, for some reason listed under Pancake Day. The topping can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator to make baking even easier early in the morning.

Ingredients
For the topping:
3 1/2 oz or 100g cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup or 60g Greek style yogurt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch (aka corn flour, in the UK)
1 egg, lightly beaten

For the muffin batter:
1 1/4 cups or 150g whole wheat flour
1/2 cup or 55g almond flour (also called finely ground almonds or almond meal on some packaging)
1/3 cup, firmly packed, or 66g dark brown soft sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
1/3 cup or 75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg

To serve:
Your favorite berries or sliced fruit

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with tall paper muffin liners. I spray them inside with baking spray to help the muffins release from the papers, if you want to serve them without.

To prepare the topping, use a fork to beat the softened cream cheese in a small bowl. Add the yogurt, sugar and cornstarch and stir until combined.

Add the beaten egg and use the fork to mix it in thoroughly. Chill.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, almond flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together your milk, butter and egg.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.

Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the tops have set. The muffins will not be cooked through yet.

Spoon the cream cheese topping over the muffins and return the pan to the oven for another 9-11 minutes.

Leave to cool in the muffin pan for 10 minutes then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

If you aren’t serving them right when they’ve cooled, store them in the refrigerator in a covered container. Remove from the refrigerator an hour or two before you want to serve them, adding berries or fruit just before serving.

Leave the papers on.

Or take the papers off.

Enjoy!

Make sure you check out the muffins we are sharing today! Many thanks to all my Muffin Monday participants over the last three years. It's been such a pleasure.

• Apple Nutella Chip Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Banana Maple Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Beer and Cheese Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cheesecake Breakfast Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Mini Chocolate Banana Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Zucchini Carrot Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

Pin it! 

.

Sweet Corn Bacon Skillet Cookie #CreativeCookieExchange

This sweet corn bacon skillet cookie is the perfectly sweet and salty combination adored in Momofuku corn cookies, made more delicious with the addition of bacon. And made easier as one big cookie to slice and serve.

A couple of years back, my elder daughter introduced me to what was then her new favorite cookie. Rich, buttery, sweet but a bit salty, those Momofuku corn cookies were chewy and completely more-ish. When this month’s Creative Cookie Exchange theme of “Big Cookies” was announced, I couldn’t wait to recreate them as a cast iron skillet cookie and, of course, add some bacon.

Because bacon makes everything better.

Sweet Corn Bacon Skillet Cookie

This recipe is adapted from my version of the original Momofuku corn cookies. If you like salty and sweet together, make the originals or make my bacon version. This is going to be your new favorite cookie too!

Ingredients - Makes 1 (12 in or 30.5cm) skillet cookie
3 slices or 75g smoked bacon, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat
3/4 cup or 170g room-temperature butter
1 1/2 cups or 300g sugar
1 egg
1 3/4 cups or 220g all-purpose flour
1/2 cup or 65g freeze-dried corn powder (See note below)
1/4 cup or 45g corn flour (corn masa flour, like you’d use for tortillas, not corn starch. You can also use Harina P.A.N.*
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Note: I used Karen’s Freeze Dried Corn* in this recipe, measuring out 65g and then blitzing it into powder using a food processor.

Method
Fry bacon bits in your iron skillet until just crispy. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat to use in the dough. Wipe the skillet with a paper towel so it’s just greased enough to bake the big cookie. Set aside.

Use a stand or handheld electric beaters to cream the butter and sugar together on medium high until they are fluffy and pale yellow, about 2-3 minutes.

Add in the bacon fat and egg and mix them in with the beaters on low. Increase the speed to medium high again and beat for eight minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in another bowl. Set aside 1 tablespoon of the bacon bits and then mix the rest into the flour.

Add all of the dry ingredients into the other mixing bowl and with your mixer or beaters on low, beat just until it all comes together as a dough.

Cover your work surface with cling film and tip the dough out onto it. Press the dough into a circle of about 11 inches or 30cm across. Cover it with another piece of cling film and smooth out the surface. Slide the dough circle onto a cutting board or baking pan and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

As you come to the end of the chilling time, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Remove the cling film and ease the dough circle into your iron skillet greased with bacon fat. Sprinkle on the reserved bacon and pat the pieces in gently so they stick.

Bake for 18-22 minutes, turning the skillet around halfway through to make sure that cookie bakes evenly.

Leave the cookie to cool in the iron skillet. You can serve straight from skillet or turn it out onto a serving plate. Cut it into wedges with a sharp knife.

Enjoy!

* Amazon affiliate links

Many thanks to this month's host, Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories! Check out the other Big Cookies you'll want to make:

• Big O Cookies from All That's Left Are the Crumbs
• Kitchen Sink Cookies from The Spiced Life
• Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Sweet Corn Bacon Skillet Cookie from Food Lust People Love

Creative Cookie Exchange is hosted by Laura of The Spiced Life. We get together once a month to bake cookies with a common theme or ingredient so Creative Cookie Exchange is a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board. We post the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

Pin it!

 .

Toffee Apple Bread Pudding Bundt #BundtBakers

Tart apple, sticky toffee and vanilla custard filled bread come together in this toffee apple bread pudding Bundt to create a dessert that is way more than the sum of its parts.

My husband is a huge fan of bread pudding but I must confess that it’s not my favorite dessert. I do love that is uses up leftover stale bread though, so I make it from time to time. The problem is that he eats just two or three servings, and then I have leftover bread pudding! First world problems, I know, I know.

I hate waste so I’ve started working smarter. This recipe is made in a 6-cup Bundt pan (<Amazon affiliate link) so that’s four generous servings or 5-6 skimpy ones. I promise you, no one will want a skimpy serving of toffee apple bread pudding!

Toffee Apple Bread Pudding Bundt

This recipe is adapted from one on the BBC Good Food site. The caramel can be homemade or store-bought. All caramel is good!

Ingredients
3 brioche buns (Mine weighed 6 oz or 170g.)*
2 eggs
3/4 cup or 180ml full-fat milk
1/2 cup or 120ml whipping cream
4 tablespoons golden caster sugar (You can substitute granulated sugar.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 green apple (I used a Granny Smith)
1 cup or 312g thick caramel
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, for buttering 6-cup Bundt pan.

Optional: extra caramel for serving

*Note: You can substitute another stale bread but buttery brioche makes a richer bread pudding. Also, the crusts are tender so they don’t have to be removed.

Method
Cut the brioche buns into small cubes and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla extract together with the 4 tablespoons sugar.

Core and peel the apple, then chop it into small chunks. Toss the chunks immediately into the egg mixture so they don’t turn brown.

Stir the bread cubes through the apple/egg mixture. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

When the refrigeration time is up, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Using a pastry brush, liberally butter the Bundt pan with the melted butter and pour the rest of it into the bottom of the Bundt pan.

Spoon 1/3 of the pudding mix into the pan. Spoon about 1/4 of the caramel into the pan.

Top with another 1/3 of the pudding mix, followed by another 1/4 of the caramel.

Finish with the rest of the pudding mix followed by another 1/4 of the caramel, reserving the final 1/4 of the caramel for pouring over the finished apple bread pudding.

Put the Bundt pan inside another larger cake pan and put your kettle on to boil.

Put the pans in the preheated oven and carefully pour boiling water into the bottom pan to about halfway up that pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden and the custard has set. You should see some butter bubbling up around the edges.

Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack then invert on a plate. This toffee apple bread pudding Bundt can be served immediately with the reserved caramel on the side. Or continue cooling it completely and drizzle on the additional caramel before serving.

If you have even more caramel than the recipe calls for (My store-bought jar held more that one cup.) serve those leftovers with the pudding. Because more caramel is always better.

Enjoy!

Many thanks and happy birthday month to our host Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the lovely apple Bundts we are sharing today!

• Apple Bundt with Caramel Glaze by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Apple Butterscotch Bundt Cake by Katin špajz|
• Apple Crumb Ring Bundt by Living the Gourmet
• Apple Zucchini Nut Mini Bundts by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Black Bottom Apple Bundlets by Sneha's Recipe
• Caramel Apple Bundt Cake by Merce`s Cake
• Quinoa and Apple Bundt Cake with Rum by Cookpad
• Reduced Carb Apple Pecan Spice Cake by Palatable Pastime
• Toffee Apple Bread Pudding Bundt by Food Lust People Love
• Vegan Apple & Oats Mini Bundt Cakes by Patty's Cake

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

Pin it! 

.

Ponco - Bacon-fried Batter #BreadBakers

Ponco is a traditional Welsh breakfast recipe of batter fried in flavorful bacon fat. Made with flour, milk and eggs (or sometimes just flour and milk) ponco is cheap and filling but, oh so delicious!

A few months ago, I visited Wales for the first time to stay with a dear friend who had recently moved there. Despite still learning her way around, she was an excellent tour guide, enlisting her mother and father in a couple of our expeditions since they have lived in Wales for many, many years.

But one day we struck out on our own to climb the town and castle walls around Conwy which date back to medieval times. High up above the town, we had lovely views of houses and shops and even the sea. We enjoyed a delicious pub lunch in town and headed home by way of the beach road, popping into a few shops on the way.

In one tiny book store, I came across a small book of recipes called Croeso Cymreig - A Welsh Welcome. Recipes for Some Traditional Welsh Dishes. Published in 1957 by the Wales Gas Board, it was full of old-fashioned and traditional recipes, many with vague instructions and random units of measure, when they were included at all. Of course, I had to buy it.

This month for Bread Bakers, our host Felice from All That’s Left Are The Crumbs chose breakfast bread as our theme. I like to try different breads from different cultures so I googled British breakfast breads, among other things.

A Welsh recipe call ponco popped up a number of times. It sounded like a cross between an American pancake and a French crepe but fried in bacon fat, an idea I was totally for. The recipes I found didn’t have very accurate measures but the idea was to make a batter with eggs, milk and flour or sometimes, I guess when times were tough, just flour and milk. Or even, God forbid, water.

It suddenly occurred to check A Welsh Welcome. Sure enough, ponco was there! Its measurements were just as sketchy though. And this was the first time I saw the suggestion to eat it with meat and vegetables. Everywhere else it was a breakfast dish.

Sure two teacups of flour, but how much milk? And no eggs in this case.

Ponco - Bacon-fried Batter 

Without a definitive recipe to go on, I winged it.  This makes one large ponco about 9-10 inches or 23-25cm across. If you have a cast iron pan, use that for the frying. Cast iron won't cool as fast when you pour the batter in, which means the bacon grease stays hotter too and that means a more even color and slightly crunchy ponco. Which is what we want.

Ingredients
1 cup or 125g flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 – 2/3 cup or 120-156ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml bacon grease

Method
Whisk the flour together with the baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Add in the egg and 1/2 cup or 120ml of the milk. Whisk briskly.

Add more milk as necessary to get a medium thick batter – not a thick as for American pancakes, not as thin as for French crepes.

Warm your bacon grease in a large pan over a medium high heat, until it starts to shimmer. (Ideally, you will have cooked your bacon in this same pan and removed all but about 1/4 cup or 60ml of the grease, so that there are little sticky bits from bacon still in there.)

All at once, pour in the batter and turn the heat down to medium.

Cook the ponco until the bottom is golden and little bubbles form and pop all over it, with just the very center still liquid. This takes just a few minutes. I let it cook just a minute or so longer than this.

Turn it over very careful so you don’t splash hot bacon grease on yourself and cook the other side till golden. You can see here how some of the sticky bacon bits have become one with the ponco. So good!

I placed the ponco on a couple of paper towels briefly to absorb excess grease when I took it out of the pan, but honestly, it was surprisingly not very greasy. Some of the Welsh ponco recipes I found said to serve it with butter and bacon. I’d also suggest some golden syrup or honey to join the butter in filling those wonderful holes.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to Felice from All That’s Left Are The Crumbs for hosting this month. Check out all the great breakfast bread recipes!

• Blueberry Buttermilk Scones by Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Blueberry Scone Bread by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Breakfast Monkey Bread by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Butter Enriched Milk Bread by Ambrosia
• Carrot Paneer Parathas by Sneha's Recipe
• Easy Sourdough Popovers by Cook's Hideout
• Jalapeño and Cheddar Bagels by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Low Carb Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits by Palatable Pastime
• Multigrain Aloo Methi Paratha by Sizzling Tastebuds
• Paczki with Lemon Cream Filling by All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
• Ponco - Bacon-fried Batter by Food Lust People Love
• Spice Island Breakfast Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Vegetable and Tofu Steamed Bao by Herbivore Cucina
• Yogurt Honey Wholemeal Loaf by Cook with Renu

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin it! 

.