Ham and Swiss Puff

I am just going to jump right in to this whole thing.  When planning for this Tuesday's meal, I was secretly hoping for some cooler weather.  It has been a seriously hot summer.  Like a near record setting kind of summer.  I have really enjoyed our fresh tomato and pesto sandwiches and our strawberry and brie panninis and our BLAT's, but I am very ready to bite into something more cozy, more earthy, more gooey.  I strongly associate food with seasons.  As much as I love a big pan of wild mushroom lasagna or a hearty potato leek soup, I just can't stomach them when it is 95+ degrees outside.  So, in my attempts to call forward my favorite season I threw open the windows and went outside to crunch some leaves while playing with my little man.  In the meantime, I started to thaw out a couple sheets of puff pastry.

Well, it was still a sweat-through-your-shirt-in-two-minutes kind of day, but I decided to forge ahead with my plan for the Ham and Cheese Puff.  First, I enlisted the help of my trusty sous chef.  He is always giving great advice for additions to spice things up.  Here he suggests that a banana would be a great addition to the dish.

I don't always follow his recommendations even though he is the sweetest little man I know.

Ham and Cheese Puff
2 sheets thawed puff pastry
1/2 pound deli ham
1/2 pound gruyere or swiss cheese 
onion
unsalted butter
egg
coarse ground mustard
sweet mustard (I used Robert Rothschild Farm's Raspberry Honey Mustard)
sesame seeds


Preheat oven to 425.
Begin by caramelizing the onions.  Warm up a skillet.  Meanwhile, slice onion in half (end-to-end) and with the flat side face down on the cutting board, cut into thin slices.  Toss a small pat of butter into warmed pan and then throw in the sliced onion.  Put a lid on pan and let the onions sweat it out for about 10 minutes.  After they have had their mini hot yoga session, reduce heat to medium low and let caramelize for about 20 minutes more.  You don't want them charred and brown.  You are going for a nice caramel color like this - 

**As a little side note - I like to caramelize a few onions at a time and save them for other dishes throughout the week (quiches, quesadillas, pizzas etc).**

While the onions are doing their thing, lay out the puff pastry sheets.  I used one sheet per family.  Cut each sheet in half lengthwise.  Spread a thin layer of coarse ground mustard on one half and the sweet mustard on the other half (I know this is probably obvious - but do this for the second sheet as well).  I would insert a picture here, but I would be worried it would deter you from finishing up the recipe.


Spread the onions on one half of each sheet.  Layer the ham and cheese on top of the onions.  Place the empty half of the puff pastry sheet on top of piled deliciousness half and seal all sides together by pressing down with fingers.  You will now have a pouch of sorts.  Make a few pricks with a fork on top to allow heat to escape.  


Lightly beat the egg in a bowl to make a egg wash and brush on top of each puff.  Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.  My little man temporarily ignored his crayons and assisted with this step.

We brought the second puff to Jenny before baking so she could finish it in her oven when they were ready to eat.


Bake in a 425 oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.


Sorry, there are no pictures of the final product.  My camera battery died just as I started dinner and my camera phone just didn't do it justice.   Patrick and I enjoyed this warm and satisfying dinner over a friendly game of Scrabble.  I tried to spell out fall foliage in another effort to bring about cooler weather.  Let's hope it works.