I've been ridiculously busy in the last little while. When the Workaholic gives me a hard time for not synching my calendar, I simply reply, "I haven't even had time to blog!" He then understands the gravity of the situation. If it weren't for the Daring Kitchen Challenge (and my constant threat of being kicked out for non-participation) I wouldn't even be blogging today. The challenge didn't really appeal to me right away, but I figured I could do some tweaking to make it more for me.The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.
I'm allergic to fish. And I didn't really want to have beef. And then there's the problem with chicken that I prefer thighs and they don't really fit into crusts. And then the Workaholic isn't a big fan of mushrooms. What does this leave me with? Spinach. Feta. Sundried tomatoes and a bit of black olives. All of this in a crust of puff pastry. As mentioned before, I've been crazy-busy the last little while, so I'm not about to make my own pastry if I don't have to. I bought the only pastry in the store, which I think was the wrong kind. Oh well. It's what's for dinner. And it wasn't that bad. Actually, it was pretty decent.
Epinards en Croute (Spinach pockets)
1 c cooked spinach, drained of liquid
3 Tbsp cumbled feta
1 tsp tapenade (black olive paste)
3 Tbsp sundried tomates, marinated in oil, chopped
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1 package puff pastry
Mix all ingredients except for pastry in a bowl. Roll out pastry, slice into 8ths. Divide spinach mix evenly over 4 slices of pastry. Top the pastry with remaining slices. Bake at 200° for 20-25 minutes until tops are golden brown.
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15 comments:
to bad you had no fun with the challenge. still your version looks and sounds delicious.
I love spinach, feta, sundried tomatoes, and black olives together! I think I would have picked something similar. Looks good to me!
O haha, well on the bright side;at least you completed the challenge right? Too bad you didn't like it but we can't all like the same things I guess. Better next time! It still looks very good though and I love your filling!
I will try making this next time...spinach, feta, sun-dried tomatoes and tapenade!! All good!
Yum spinach in pastry is always good :)
Interesting variation on this months challenge.
If you were going to work with chicken thigh, I would have thought that there would be a number of ways that you could manipulate the shape of the thigh to suit e.g. rolled into a bundle.
Vic, Junglefrog: I didn't find the challenge bad but I guess I just can't devote the time necessary to it right now :-(
Amanda: it was a pretty good mix.
Chef D: hope you like it!
Rochelle: you're right. I used to have spinach pockets nearly every day in university. So good!
Simon: I guess I could have done it but I was a little afraid. Bones = more cooking time + more juices = soggy pastry. At least that's what I thought. I'm sure there's ways around it & THAT might be a good challenge! :-)
This sounds pretty nice. Reminds me of something I used to order at the Greek restaurant right outside the train station at Hampstead.
Your pastry looks delicious! I also think the filling looks pretty yum!
This looks and sounds wonderful! Great job!
Oh well at least this looks and sounds yummy!
You know, I would rather have what you prepared than the original salmon version. It's vegetarian!!! And I want to try to go that route. Slowly but surely. My vegetarian hubby would love what you made! It looks delish!
Muraskai: I think you're right. That might be the reason I decided to add cinnamon.
Mardi: Merci! :-)
Erica: Thanks!
S&H: thank you. It was. :-)
Ju: I've slowly been going vegetarian not because of big ethical concerns about animals but because of environmental concerns. Also, the meat here is expensive and often sucks ;-)
Even though you didn't enjoy the challenge, your veggie en croute turned out lovely,,love the spinach paired with sun dried tomatos. Well done all around!
Looks delicious. I can't wait to make it.
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