Fun With Puff Pastry

Brie, Pear and Onion Strudel

I've been going out to restaurants a bit less lately, so I thought I would post a little morsel from my cooking at home. Don't worry, there are tasty things from the outside world to come. For the strudel, I used a recipe from John Bishop's Cooking at My House, and this sweet and savory appetizer strudel turned out to be quite tasty, and pretty to boot. It's a nice example of an easy recipe, with a simple combination of ingredients yielding something surprisingly interesting in taste.

This is my first experience with buying frozen puff pastry, and I really like it. It defrosted over only two hours at room temperature (so I didn't have to pre-plan it the night before like filo, but if I had, I could have defrosted in the fridge overnight), and was very easy to work with. I'm also going to try using it to top a bowl of soup or stew, just like the ones at A La Mode, in the Granville Island Public Market. I love cold weather dishes like chicken pot pie.


Seafood Chowder with Puff Pastry Top at A La Mode, Granville Island Public Market

I like playing with frozen filo pastry too, but that takes a little more effort, with brushing on melted butter between each sheet. It's fun and definitely worth the trouble though, if you have a little time to make something like spanokopita. I've heard about shredded frozen filo but I've never seen it sold anywhere. Has anyone seen it? If you don't have the patience to brush and layer your own, you could head on down to Denman Street, down near Fatburger, Delaney's Coffee, and The Raincity Grill. I just noticed a new specialty shop (name to come, I've forgotten, but I think it was Mediterranean) with just a few tables and chairs selling all filo covered goodies. Haven't tried it yet, but I love how they refer to themselves as a "fillo bar" on their sandwich board sign. Would a fillo bartender give me advice on my love life, and tell me when I've had enough fillo?