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If you’re looking for ways to make holiday entertaining easier, consider basing an hors d’oeuvre selection around puff pastry.  If you’re feeling sporty, by all means, make your own and freeze it.  But many of the frozen versions are really quite good.  I like Pepperidge Farm and Vie de France (might have trouble finding this one if you don’t have a food wholesaler near you).  Or if you’ve got a bakery near you that makes it own puff pastry, inquire as to if they’ll sell you some.

First,  if you’ve never worked with frozen puff pastry, you should know that it thaws FAST and can dry out quickly.  Ten minutes on the counter with a piece of plastic wrap over it will thaw it enough to work with it.  If you can work quickly, keeping it covered with plastic wrap is enough, but if you’re working slowly or in large quantities, keep a damp towel handy to drape over the pastry sheets.  Dust your work surface lightly with flour.  Once thawed, puff pastry can be rolled, cut, sealed, shaped…the possibilities are endless.

Try cutting the puff pastry into two inch squares and push each square lightly into the greased cups of a mini muffin pan.  Fill each square with a quiche mixture, a daub of cream cheese and a chunk of sundried tomato, an artichoke wedge and some shredded parmesan…you get the picture, you’re only limited by your imagination.  Bake the cups according to package directions for temperature, but keep your eyes on them for timing.  They should take around fifteen minutes in the oven.

Mini turnovers are a breeze with frozen puff pastry.  Make a few fillings like duxelles (reduced mushrooms, shallots, and cream), browned sausage and apples,  or minced prosciutto with some greens like spinach and arugula.  Cut the pastry into three inch squares and place a half tablespoon of filling in the center of each one.  Dip your fingertip in some water or egg wash and trace along the outside edge of each square.  Fold them all up into a triangle and pinch along the seams.  They are more work than the mini cups, but cute as the dickens.  Paint with cream or egg wash and bake.

Even easier, you can wrap a sheet of puff pastry around a wheel of Brie, seal the bottom well, and paint the thing with egg.  For more fun and flavor, tuck some toasted almonds or walnuts inside with the cheese, and maybe some dried apricots or cranberries.  What emerges from the oven will be a gorgeous, golden delight that cost you perhaps fifteen dollars and fifteen minutes to make.  A gourmet grocer or cheese shop would have charged you far more.  Place the “brie en croute” on a platter, garnish with an assortment of crackers and crudites, and your guests will gather around it like moths to a candle.

I’ve got a couple of other tricks up my sleeve for puff pastry, but they’ll have to wait for another time.  There’s something I want to try involving miniature smoked salmon napoleons.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.