Barefoot Blogging Bonus Recipe--Easy Cheese Danish

The Barefoot Bloggers cook Ina Garten recipes the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month, but we also have a bonus recipe selected by the person who sends the most visitors to the Barefoot Bloggers site. This month's bonus recipe was selected by Val of More Than Burnt Toast and it included two of my favorite things...cream cheese and puff pastry. To quote Ina, "how could that be bad?"

Easy Cheese Danish
by Ina Garten
Barefoot Contessa at Home

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 extra large egg yolks
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tbs grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 sheets frozen puff pastry defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tbs water for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachement and cream together until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Do not whip!

Unfold one sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a lightly floured rolling pin until it's a 10 x 10 inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knif. Place a heaping tbs of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares.



Brush the borders of each square with egg wash and fold two opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash. Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.



Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and golden brown. Serve warm.



Now, confession time. I didn't feel like zesting two lemons so I only did one. It was fine. I sprinkled the tops of the Danish with turbanado sugar before baking just for the heck of it. Fine. Extra large eggs?!! Ina..really...I used large. Fine. And finally...I fell asleep on the couch while they were cooking and did not rotate the pan. See for youreself.

I can't help but ponder the purpose of the ricotta in this recipe, but no matter. It tastes wonderful and like all of the recipes we've tried so far, it was deceptively easy for something so lovely.

To see what the other Barefoot Bloggers have to say about this recipe, click here.

Playing With My Food

A co-worker helped me define my love of cooking. She said it is my creative outlet. She's right. I did needlework in my youth. I still do flower arrangements when the desire strikes. But cooking is my best method of expressing myself. And I love to take ingredients I have around without any forethought and create something.

Today I did just that. I checked the fridge, the freezer, and the pantry and came up with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sun-dried tomato pesto, and puff pastry that became what I like to call Pesto Chicken en Croute. I served it with mushrooms cooked in butter and Marsala and a salad. I'm still patting myself on the back for this one.



Pesto Chicken en Croute

2 boneless skinless chicken breast
salt
pepper
1 tbs unsalted butter
3 tbs sun dried tomato pesto
2 tbs feta cheese
1 egg
1 tbs water
1 sheet puff pastry

Season the chicken breasts and cook in butter on medium high, until each side is browned. Set aside to cool. Mix water into egg. Roll out puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 12 x 12. Cut diagonally. Place each chicken breast into center of a triangle of pastry. Spread 1 1/2 tbs pesto on each breast and top with feta. Wrap pastry around chicken breast using egg wash to seal edges. Brush fully wrapped breast in egg wash. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and place in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool 8-10 minutes before serving.


Marsala Mushrooms

3 cups sliced mushrooms (I used a combination of button and baby bellas)
2 tbs butter
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup Marsala

Melt butter in a non-stick pan and add mushrooms. Cook at medium heat approximately 10 minutes, until mushrooms have rendered juices. Add salt and cook another 5 minutes. Stir in Marsala and reduce heat. Cook on low another 5-10 minutes, until mushrooms have absorbed most of the pan juices.

I love these mushrooms. I always have Marsala around, and I always have butter. I sometimes throw in some fresh thyme, but the basic recipe is absolutely lovely and makes a wonderful side dish.

This made an easy, elegant meal...big presentation with little effort.