143.8…Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry

I bring you one of the best appetizers you’ll ever eat. Yes, at first it looks strange. What is this big puffy square, you say?

It is none other than the fabulous Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry. I love to watch people at parties try and figure out what it is. 

Once they taste it, they are sold. And it completely disappears off the plate. Try it. I’m sure you’ll get the same results. 

Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry

Slightly adapted from The Barefoot Contessa

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted (recommended: Pepperidge Farm)
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 pound black forest ham, sliced
• 1/2 pound Swiss Gruyere cheese, sliced
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan.
Lay 1 sheet of puff pastry on a floured board and carefully roll it out to 10 by 12 inches. Place it on a sheet pan and brush the center with the mustard, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Place a layer first of ham and then cheese, also leaving a 1-inch border. Brush the border with the egg wash.
Place the second sheet of puff pastry on the floured board and roll it out to 10 by 12inches. Place the second sheet on top of the filled pastry, lining up the edges. Cut the edges straight with a small, sharp knife and press together lightly. Brush the top with egg wash and cut a few slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until puffed and golden brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve hot or warm.

I brought the Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry to my friend Dina’s Holiday Party this past Sunday and, as usual, it was the first appetizer to go. :)

Continuing on with celebrations….last night we celebrated Monday Night Football at my friend Alicia’s house.

Aren’t we cute with our matching glasses!?! I saw this bottle of wine and brought it over because I thought it was also cute. Little did I know that the cork was RED! How fun!?! And I thought the wine was good so this will definitely be a repurchase. 

Monday Night Football means hot wings. Alicia rocked our regular Hot Wing recipe. Of course they were off the hook.

Alicia also made her famous Sloppy Joe’s and I brought over a salad.

Sometimes the meal isn’t complete without some of these:

See’s Candy is my favorite candy in the world. This is true.

This morning I was in a cereal mood.

Special K Vanilla Almond cereal with almond  milk. Then I headed over to Great News for a cooking class. On the way, I stopped at Starbucks for a skinny vanilla latte.

Today’s class was entitled California Holiday Wine Country Favorites. It was taught by my favorite instructor, Phillis Carey.

The first two recipes we ate together: Mushroom and Kalamata Olive Tapenade on Parmesan Toasts and Wine Poached Pear Salad with Blue Cheese and Mustard Vinaigrette:

The toasts were excellent and would be a great appetizer for a party. You could make the tapenade and just put the toasts out for guests to assemble themselves. The salad was good too…I even ate the pears (probably because there was wine on them).

The next recipe was Tarragon Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Port Sauce on Mustard Seed Mashed Potatoes:

This was FABULOUS. Both the chicken and the mashed potatoes went really well together. The mashed potatoes were unreal. The whole grain mustard gave it an amazing flavor.

Next up was Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon on Spinach Cakes with Pinot Noir Sauce:

Another winner! The spinach cakes were awesome and how can you go wrong with bacon wrapped anything!?!

Dessert was Zinfandel Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream:

Fabulous. It’s got wine it in….of course I loved it!

I sat next to a lovely woman who is also a food blogger! It’s so fun to meet other food bloggers. Hi Donna! Go check her blog out over at Dine With Donna!

What is your favorite appetizer to bring to a party?

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