Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Pocket pies

Here in the Not from a Box household, Tuesday nights are not when cooking happens. The Anthropologist goes out to play poker, and I usually stay after work to have dinner with my girlfriends. Then I go home, watch a little TV, start reading my favorite food blogs... and that's when it hits me that I haven't posted in an entire month.

So here's a little something I whipped up several weeks ago, when apples were aplenty and a baked dessert was in order. They're super easy to make, too, thanks to frozen puff pastry. You can also fill them with whatever fruit is handy and spice them however you want. Because, really, that's all I did. In fact, I don't remember precisely all that went into the apple filling because I was just making it up as I went along. The following recipe is my best guess at how I went about it. Feel free to adjust it to your liking.



Pocket pies
(inspired by Alton Brown)

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
2 apples, peeled and diced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar, to taste
pinch of cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, ginger

Preheat oven to 400°F. Meanwhile, sautee the apples in butter and sugar until apples are soft and sugar has caramelized, about ten minutes. Add spices, and cook for another minute. Let cool slightly.

Roll out puff pastry. Cut into four squares. Place about one tbsp of filling onto each square, then fold over, creating a triangle shape. (You may not use all the filling.) Use a fork to seal and create a decorative edge, then cut small vents in the top.

Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden.

Serves 4.