ideas for puff pastry shells or fillo cups?

[lmuller]

Hi,

I would like to make an appetizer for my holiday Christmas party this weekend and was thinking about using either puff pastry shells or the fillo cups. Does anyone have any great recipes that they would like to share? If not an appetizer, I could do a dessert. Thanks so much!

[toodie jane]

found a video in French, but pretty easy to follow ingredients and prep:

http://youtu.be/gI6-cvOxx1Y

THEN I FOLLOWED some of the side bar links and found Le Cuisine De Monica.

OH MY GOSH she is fantastic! many many videos done by her grandson. Only in French, but with a modest amount of high school French, could follow along. What a TREASURE!

[fourunder]

A medley of Mushroom Ragout.

Pulled Pork BBQ

Mini Wellingtons

[lmuller]

I am leaning more towards a dessert now.... I have a couple of appetizer ideas that I am going to keep as options. What about any dessert options?

[fourunder]

Fresh Figs with Mascarpone drizzled with Honey and topped with Candied Pecans or Walnuts

[chowser]

How fancy? Tarte tatin would be great but more time consuming than, say nutella and ice cream.

[lkmuller]

Thanks so much for all of the suggestion! I ended up making two appetizers with puff pastry. I made a sort of free form tart and used tomatoes, olive tapenade, and fresh mozzarella on one and pepperoni, pesto and peppers on the other. As far as the phyllo cups, I made up a pastry cream filling and put a fresh raspberry or blueberry on the top of each one. They came out great!

[toodie jane]

how did you cut them for serving size pieces? strips? squares? triangles?

[blue room]

Yes, well seasoned mashed or tiny-dice potatoes would make people happy--the variety is endless--curry, cheeses, even butter, salt, and pepper!

[amy_wong]

I loved the puff pastry samosa that my Indian friend from grad school used to make. Because puff pastry turnovers tend to burst at the seams, she just fills the puff pastry cups with the aloo masala filling. Not as crispy as the original samosas but still very yummy.

[JoanN]

I posted this recipe in reply to a request for a filling for stuffed mushrooms, but I've also used it in pastry shells and croustades. I'm sure it would be great in fillo cups, too.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/3347...

[MVNYC]

I do that as well but I add medium shrimp and fresh peas. Comes out great

[TSQ75]

i've done oyster "pattys". combining chopped oysters, onion, garlic, bell pepper or celery. with mushrooms, butter, creole seasoning, and a bit of flour (roux). heaped into the cups and sprinkled with crumbs or panko and baked.

[iL Divo]

oh my YUM

[TSQ75]

indeed ;)

[yfunk3]

For the puff pastry: a layer of creme fraiche, any grated cheese you like (swiss cheeses like jarlsberg or gruyere work great, but any will do) and any cured meat that's been crisped up in a pan first (pancetta, bacon, whatever) sprinkled on top. Add caramelized onions, thinly-sliced raw onions, roasted garlic, green onions...whatever flavor combo you like. The cheese, creme fraiche and whichever meat you use would be the main flavors. Put in a 400+F oven until the pastry is golden brown. I do this on just one layer of plain puff pastry (not shells) and slice it up like a thin-crust pizza to serve, but I don't see why it can't be done with individual shells.

[c oliver]

You precook the pastry, right?

[yfunk3]

No need to, in my experience. If you leave some of the edge uncovered like a pizza and dock the middle where the creme fraiche and other toppings go, it leaves a nice, puffy edge.

[c oliver]

I have an old, old recipe where you prebake the purf pastry sheet that's been rolled out.
afterwards it's topped with sliced (in season) tomatoes, mozzarella and ???. Then baked a second time.

[yfunk3]

I can see how it can work both ways. Will have to try the pre-baked puff pastry version next time I want something truly decadent. :o) Been sticking with regular pizza dough lately in a pathetic attempt to not indulge too often. ::sad sigh::

[chowser]

I do the same thing w/out prebaking, too. My kids' favorite is a cheesesteak on puff pastry pizza. Caramelized onions, cooked thinly sliced steak (TJ's makes a great cheesesteak mix of rib eye and skirt steak), cheese.

[iL Divo]

I love the idea of using something that is very accessible. Love puff pastry, love phillo.
I was also going to say the idea of the baby brie rounds in a muffin tin that's been fitted with either phillo or pp, then dropping either a dollop of apricot jam or artichoke tepanade cover again with the pastry of choice and bake. They pop right out of the muffin tins and it's a good vessel to keep them all apart and similar in appearance.

[Cherylptw]

Plenty of recipes & ideas on the Athens (phyllo dough) website: http://www.athensfoods.com/

Some of the same recipes can be used for puff pastry as well.

[chowser]

Curry beef puffs for hot, chicken salad or salmon mousse for cold. I don't have recipes but could fine some online that are close if you're interested.

[Heatherb]

Somewhere on this site - notime to find the thread - someone gave me the idea of putting a small piece of brie in a phyllo cup on top of a dollop of jam and then baking until it bubbles. I use fig jam or cranberry relish - the response is always insanely positive.

Funny you should post this now - this weekend, my best friend just proposed having a "Phyllo Cup Party" where we provide the phyllo cups and some ingredients, and other people bring what they think would work, and we just make phyllo cup munchies all night, while drinking wine. We were going to make a list of possible fillings when we had some time to sit down and think about it:)

[sarahjay]

I second this idea. It's fabulous, and you don't even have to use the cups, I use squares in a mini-muffin tin (That way I can use my own homemade "quick puff") I've done all kinds of jam, and it's always a hit

[c oliver]

I've used wonton wrappers cut in fourths. Works great.

I'm not at home for a couple of days so don't have an old hot one that has sausage, cheese and???. Shrimp/chicken/anything salad is good for room temp.

[cvhound]

Regarding the wonton wrappers, do you bake them plain or do you brush them with anything (i.e. egg wash)? Approximate time and temp for baking? Do you bake them fill or fill then bake? Sorry for all the questions, but I think these would work great for a gathering I'm attending in a couple of weeks. Thanks!

[c oliver]

I'm home and actually found the recipe - which is always pretty amazing. I was quite off (haven't made this in years). It's whole wonton wrappers. It says to lightly grease mini-muffin tins and press a whole wrapper in each cup. Brush with oil and bake five minutes. Removed them from the tin and place on baking sheet. Fill and bake at 350 for 5 minutes. Don't shudder when I tell you that the original recipe was from Hidden Valley Ranch and includes the dressing :)

[cvhound]

C oliver, thank you so much for the helpful cooking tips regarding the wonton wrappers. I really appreciate it!

[c oliver]

My pleasure. They come out kinda star shaped. I should do something along those lines myself soon.

[greygarious]

http://www.chow.com/search?query=puff...