Desayuno

While I can hardly claim to have invented the idea of putting onion in a pastry, I tend to think of this recipe as my own creation. It is one of the first things I ever made that did not at least start with someone else’s instructions. It is also, after all these years, still one of my very favorite things, both to cook and to eat. And with store bought sheets of puff pastry, I can have it ready to eat in less than an hour.

Filling

• 1 lb (450g) chicken breasts
• 2 large onions
• 1/4 lb (120g) cheese*
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp (5g) cumin
• 1 tbsp (5g) coriander seeds
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2tbsp (30ml) olive oil
• 5 mint leaves

*I usually make this with ingredients on hand, so the cheese has varied. Monterey jack is quite good, feta is excellent, and gouda works very well. Replace the herbs with more garlic and some balsamic vinegar, add a diced tomato, and use fresh mozzarella for an excellent variation.

For Assembly:

• 1 egg
• 2 sheets of puff pastry (store bought, tri fold)
• Parchment paper strongly recommended.

If you have a pizza stone, put it in your oven and set the temperature for 425f (220c). If you do not have a pizza stone, don’t bother buying one; you can buy enough unglazed quarry tile to cover a whole oven rack for less than two dollars. If you have neither, place a large cookie sheet or half sheet pan in the oven to heat up. Also place the pastry dough on the counter to thaw.

Cut the chicken breasts into strips and set aside. Make a paste out of 1 clove of garlic, the coriander, cumin, lemon juice, olive oil, and mint leaves. This is easiest with a mortar and pestle. Pour the spice mixture over the chicken and set aside.

Place a large skillet over high heat with a little oil. Dice both onions into 1/2 inch (1 cm) pieces and fry in the pan, stirring constantly, until they get nice and brown. Turn off the heat, dice up the remaining garlic clove, and add it to the onions. Continue to stir for a minute more, then pour the onions into a bowl.

Place the pan back over medium heat, and cook the chicken until done and nicely browned. Do not overcook, as it will be cooking more in the oven and you don’t want it to end up getting tough.

Cut the cooked chicken into 1/2 inch (1-2cm) pieces and add to the onions. Crumble or dice the cheese into the mixture as well.

If you are using tri-folded, frozen puff pastry sheets, simply open each of them carefully and cut along the folds to get six rectangular pieces about three times longer than they are wide. If you have puff pastry in a roll, or you made it yourself, cut six pieces, roughly 3 inches (7.5cm) by 9 inches (22.5cm). The size does not have to be exact, as long as they are about three times longer than they are wide, and about 1/4 inch (0.75cm) thick.

Make a pile of filling on the pastry, starting from the bottom corner, that is about half as wide and half as long as the piece of pastry itself. You will be adding more filling later, don’t try to overstuff it here or it will be difficult to work with.

Carefully lift the other end of the strip over, and back down and under, as if you were making a loop, but offset by about 3/4 of the width of the sheet. The final shape is an offset loop, or a spiral, with the filling inside.

As you make each pastry, carefully transfer it to a large piece of parchment paper, leaving about 2 inches (5cm) space between each pastry and its neighbors. When they are all made, beat the egg and brush the tops lightly, then slide into the oven for 25 minutes.

Serves 6.