Chicken and Pork Pastry Rolls
52 weeks of Baking – Geekery
I have been in love with historical clothing for as long as I can remember. Simple everyday dresses to elaborate evening gowns, what’s not to love, there is something for everyone, every era has its own unique style.
My favorite clothing era has consistently been the Georgian period, 1714 to 1830 ish, think Marie Antoinette and the American Revolution. There are a lot of historical drama series set in this period that display well researched costumes; I’m currently really keen on Outlander. The popular tv series is based on a book series, romantic novels with a time traveling twist which is one of the more appealing aspects of the story. Why does she get to fall back in time? Why not me?!
I’ve done some research into food from this era because I’m a nerd and I’ve co-hosted two parties with a Georgian theme, I was hoping to find food to match. Things are kinda basic and under seasoned, not really my style, but then I discovered the cook book affiliated with Outlander and I found more inspiration. Recipes inspired by more than just a time period are more interesting to me, probably not as historically accurate, but with some other story they can then be twisted and use more unique ingredients. Food is so closely linked in my mind with sorties, so why not food from a story that is not my own.
For these pastry rolls I took inspiration from a recipe from Outlander Kitchen, I used rough puff pastry from Bon Appetit instead of a short crust pastry for extra crisp and flakiness. This recipe is really great to tweak and make your own based on what ingredients you have on hand, just keep the ratios vaguely the same. I like the combination of chicken and pork, the chicken keeps it lighter than a traditional British sausage roll. The addition of dried fruit adds pops of sweetness and the truffle oil is a must for a bit of musky flavor.
Chicken and Pork Pastry Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 2 slices of bacon, chopped
- 1/2 c dried mushrooms, hydrated in hot water and diced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 celery rib, minced
- 1/2 c bread crumbs
- 1/4 c dried apricots or sour cherries, roughly chopped
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tbsp. truffle oil
- 1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. thyme
- 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds, roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp. juniper berries, roughly chopped
- Beaten egg for egg wash
- Finishing salt for garnish
- 1 batch rough puff pastry from Bon Appetit
Directions
- Chop all the ingredients that need to be and mix everything together throughly with your hands, chill until needed.
- Prepare one batch of rough puff pastry, chill thoroughly.
- Preheat an oven to 425F.
- Roll the pastry out into a large rectangle, split down the middle lengthwise. Split the filling in half and shape into a log, use damp hands to squeeze and pat the meat the length of the pastry. Place the filling log about 1 inch from the edges, fold the pastry over the top and snuggly tuck together. Crimp the edge with a fork, brush with the egg wash, score the top lightly, garnish with finishing salt and cut into desired lengths. Repeat with the remaining pastry and meat filling.
- Bake at 425F for 25-30 minutes until golden brown all over.
