Mushroom Bites

I probably spent the majority of the weekend cooking...which I expected.  But in the end, we were able to have a fun party and celebrate my boyfriend's birthday as he deserved.

Of course the weekend was not without problems.  There were some unexpected transportation difficulties which almost made our apartment unreachable.  We were sitting around wondering why our friends were all so late!  Luckily most of them arrived after a tiring train ride (thank you, path) and for those that didn't, we got to see them the following day!  We are luck to have great friends who are willing to come to visit us!

I experimented with several new ideas this weekend.  The first is this mushroom puff, I found the idea online and then I made my own version of the recipe.  I actually made these twice since they were so good!  By combining soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and honey the mushrooms end up tasting salty and sweet at the same time which I love!  Also, I added heavy cream and egg yellow to the mushroom mixture to give it a slightly heavier consistency.  I really had fun making these pastries, I love the shape of them and I think they make a perfect appetizer.  The only tricky part is to drain as much excess liquid as possible.  When I was putting the mixture on top of the dough, the liquid started to get on the dough and I had to soak it up with paper towels.  I think it is inevitable that there will be excess liquid but it evaporates entirely while baking and the pastry doesn't taste soggy at all!  

This is another great puff pastry recipe!  I love how quick these pastries are to make once you get the hang of working with the dough! 

1 box of puff pastry dough
1 small carton of mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
about 1/8 cup of heavy cream
1 egg, separated

1.  In a medium sized frying pan, heat the olive oil.  Cook the mushrooms and yellow onion on low heat for about 10 minutes until the mushrooms soften.

2.  Add the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and honey and cook for another 5-10 minutes to let the liquid evaporate.

3.  Drain as much liquid as possible from the pan and transfer the mushroom mixture to a small mixing bowl.  Combine with the whipping cream and the egg white and let cool.

4.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a pan with parchment paper.

5.  Unfold the puff pastry dough and cut into roughly square shapes.  2 sheets of dough yielded 18 pieces for me.

6.  Again drain as much liquid as possible from the mushroom mixture.  Put about 1 teaspoon worth of mushrooms in the center of the dough.

7.  Fold 2 corners of the dough together and press them to keep it closed.  Fold the other 2 corners to the center and press the dough together.

8.  Coat the top of the pastry with the egg yellow.

9.  Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Enjoy!

~Rona