Puff Up Your Sweet Tooth

I can't think of a more fun ingredient to work with than puff pastry. It's delicious, easy, and you can do a lot of creative things with it. And no pretense here – it is not a health food at all; it's got plenty of butter in it. But every once in a while, it is certainly a worthy treat in both savory and sweet applications. I did an awesome little savory one not so long ago with puffy Asiago straws. I had a little left over in my freezer and wanted to use it for a improv little treat. I had just the thing: mini cinnamon rolls and mini jelly rolls. Yum!

The first thing to do is thaw the sheet of puff pastry. There was not even a full sheet left, so it was perfect for one mini cinnamon roll and one mini jelly roll for each of us, and no leftovers.

Once the piece was thawed, I brushed one side with some melted Smart Balance. I then cut it into long strips, about three quarters of an inch wide or a little more. On two of the strips I generously sprinkled a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. On the other two I spooned a thin layer of raspberry preserves. Then I began rolling each one from its end into a roll, taking care not to let any of the precious ingredients spill out. I turned each on its end and placed them spread out on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet. It's important that they don't tip over in the oven, so I pushed each one down on the bottom so that it wouldn't be prone to tip. Lastly, I brushed a little more Smart Balance on top and sprinkled the lightest amount of sugar over the layers.

I then placed the sheet in a 400 degree oven for 17-18 minutes. As you might expect, these little rollups that were probably no more than an inch in diameter when they entered the oven, puffed up to several inches wide. They were puffy, crispy and golden on the outermost layers and dense and moist in the center layers. Sticky and delicious, sweet and indulgent of course. And so easy to make! Maybe that's a dangerous thing. I'll have to avoid the frozen puff pastry in the grocery store again until I have another special treat to use it for.

Little Puffs of Heaven

If you need an absolutely delectable appetizer or finger food, I have an easy and simply lavishing recipe for puffy Asiago cheese straws. I originally gleaned the concept of cheese straws from Ina Garten on the Barefoot Contessa television show. Of course, when I went to make them recently it had been upwards of a year since I had watched them being made and I forgot nearly everything, so I had to improvise a little. Needless to say, they came out better and more luxurious than I ever remember Ina’s looking. Maybe one of my little tweaks actually improved them.

What you end up with is a golden, flaky “straw,” with deliciously nutty Asiago cheese melted throughout. They are a little on the rich side, but you can cut them into hunks or cubes and serve more people from them. Or you can enjoy an entire straw yourself! They are as tender and buttery as you can imagine, and the girls I served them to could not stop oo-ing and ah-ing.

You need a few ounces of Asiago cheese, shredded with your grater, Micro planer or food processor. You also need one sheet of thawed, store-bought puff pastry. As Ina would say, get the “all-butter” variety (read: no trans fat, but this is no health food). Truthfully, that is all I remember from her recipe. I rolled out the puff pastry a little bit so it was thinner than the standard sheet. I then drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil over the top and rubbed it in with my hands, so that it lightly covered the entire sheet. Then, I sprinkled the cheese evenly over the surface and sprinkled just a little salt and pepper. I sliced it into four “straw”-like pieces length-wise and twisted the puff strips like a ribbon as I laid each down next to one another on a cookie sheet. Most of the cheese side ended up covered, on the inside of the ribbons. That was just fine. I sprinkled a little more grated Asiago over the tops and then stuck them in a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes.

I took them out and was simply wowed by how puffy and soft and crispy they were. I let them cool for 5-10 minutes and then we all dug in. They were gone in a finger-licking blink of an eye, but they were so easy that these fan favorites will be made again very soon!