Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without gifts to yourself and this year Chris skipped that cookie downing middle man, Old Saint Nick, entirely and treated himself to an amazing new Canon EOS 40D camera. Obviously I thoroughly benefit from this gift as well. Since picking up the camera a week ago we’ve shot practically everything in the house and have now moved on to food.

I had several packages of puff pastry in the freezer left over from the holiday party that I mistakenly purchased to make Spanakopita. What can I say…I had a lot of recipes on my mind that day. So after searching around online for a bit I decided that Ina Garten’s Apple Turnovers were the way to go. Ina is smart and fabulous (or her assistants are smart and fabulous) and someone came up the idea to use orange juice and orange zest in the turnover filling instead of lemon. It’s scrumptious! And I’m completely fascinated by puff pastry. I kept turning on the oven light and crouching down to peak at it bubbling and growing in the oven. I tend to regress quite dramatically during the holidays due to all of the stress and sugar so this probably means that your 5 year old will love watching the baking process too.

These spiced apple treats will actually receive double billing today as I plan to serve them to my dinner guests this evening for dessert, heated and topped with rich vanilla ice cream. I figured it would be appropriate since they’re all coming over to watch the Pats and Giants game. Let’s hope the Pats don’t get too many “turnovers” tonight or everyone is going to be very very sad.

Zest	Freshly Squeezed
Peel	Dice
Measure	Toss
Lightly Flour	Slice
Fill	Fold and Seal
Brush	Sprinkle
Vent	Touchdown!

Apple Turnovers (originally published by Ina Garten)

1 teaspoon grated orange zest
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/4 pounds tart apples, such as Empire or Granny Smith (3 apples)
3 tablespoons dried cherries (Note: I used dried cranberries)
3 tablespoons sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on top
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch kosher salt
1 package (17.3 ounces, 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Combine the orange zest and orange juice in a bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples and then cut them in 3/4-inch dice. Immediately toss the apples with the zest and juice to prevent them from turning brown. Add the cherries (or cranberries), sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Flour a board and lightly roll each sheet of puff pastry to a 12 by 12-inch square. Cut each sheet into 4 smaller squares and keep chilled until ready to use.

Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and neatly place about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture on half of the square. Fold the pastry diagonally over the apple mixture and seal by pressing the edges with a fork. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the top with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, make 2 small slits, and bake for 20 minutes, until browned and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature.

In an effort to be adventurous in the kitchen my love affair with all things Dave Lieberman continues. I have yet to make a recipe from Dave’s collection that I didn’t find thoroughly delicious, and these Chicken and Black Bean Empanadas were no exception. The chicken mixture is spicy, smoky, and surprisingly hearty, and I’ve said it before but it definitely bares repeating — I honestly believe that puff pastry is the world’s perfect food! The twist on this dish is the great Tomato and Pineapple Salsa Fresca that is served on the side. I loved the tanginess of the pineapple, jalapeño, tomato, and scallion mixture. I actually was extremely shocked that these flavors worked so well together. I even ate the leftover salsa the next day at lunch. Obviously that held up much better on day two than the empanadas, which I definitely do not recommend as a leftover meal. Freshly baked is definitely best in this case as they became quite soggy overnight.

Everything Starts With Onions	Let’s Add Some Heat
Add the Chicken & Beans	Cool the Filling
Stir in Chopped Cilantro	Dice, Slice, and Mix Up the Salsa
Roll Out the Pastry Dough	Divide Into Equal Parts
Layer With Chicken & Bean Mixture	Dampen the Edges, Fold Over, and Seal
Brush With Oil and Bake Until Golden	Now Where’s My Margarita?