Turnovers....

Along with a festival of other food we had at our celebratory brunch on Saturday, pastries also had to be on the table and I didn't feel like buying them from the store, I saw an opportunity for a future post. There's some really good places around me where I could have went and picked up some delicious treats and made it back home in 30 minutes, but wheres the fun in that? Don't get me wrong - there's absolutely nothing wrong with buying pastries from the store, but I think part of having this blog is to keep it fresh, interesting and hopefully useful to other bloggers who choose to read it,and keeping this regime up can be a challenge.

All of the food I make is true food and made for the whole family. My pictures are taken in the kitchen, and sometimes I can have some impatient and hungry family members around the table waiting on me to capture a few decent photographs before I release the food for consumption. I don't make everything from scratch - that would be just too intense and there are some really good products available so there's really no need to, but having this blog has forced me to think of more options and with a little bit of preparation making a home-cooked meal is not that difficult with a lot of satisfaction when it finally hits the dinner table.

So what was I going to do about my pastry issue? Well, I almost went to my local store where they sell some really good uncooked pain au chocolates and butter croissants. You just leave them on the counter overnight to proof and in the morning they are twice the size and all you need to do is stick them in the oven. Simple, but I wanted to make something. I did still have to visit the store so I bought some sheets of puff pastry with the idea of making my own turnovers. I cut the sheets into 6 squares and plopped a dollop of filling onto each square. This is where you can search the back of your fridge for any jars of unfinished jam...you know you have a bunch, right?

I used blueberry, raspberry, marmalade and chocolate for my fillings. All it takes is a tablespoon of each and then, using a pastry brush, wet the edges of the pastry square. This will help seal the pastry and prevent the filling from leaking out (though from my pictures it's not always that easy).

Fold the square corner to corner, making a triangle. Use the tip of a fork to press down and seal the edge. Place them on a cookie sheet and paint the tops with more of the water. Sprinkle with sugar and bake them in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until nice and golden. Don't worry if it leaks, there will still be some filling left in there. I like these and would make sure to give them a better seal next time. Another tasty version is to slice them open like a clam and fill them with whipped cream or custard.