Thursday, April 30, 2009

Laura Calder's "Apple Turnovers"

Laura Calder is one of those Food Network hosts I had to warm up to... she was a little annoying at first for some unexplainable reason, but once I started watching French Food At Home a bit, I really enjoyed it (although I am not enjoying the new season with the wonky camera shots).

A couple months back Laura did a show about puff pastry that you buy and thaw from the store. She did four recipes on the basis of "almost everything is better with a layer of pastry around it." There were two that caught my eye - the apple turnovers (or Chaussons aux Pommes) and the salmon and asparagus wrapped in puff pastry (or Salmon En Croute). I'm still working on creating the latter, but last week I did manage to make some apple turnovers.

I'm sure Laura Calder got her puff pastry from some nice bakery, but all I could find was some Tenderflake stuff at Save-On, so that is what I used (I have a few recipes for the homemade stuff that I'm eager to try, but the time needed to create it with all the chilling and rolling is daunting).


They turned out well - nice and crispy on the outside with the chunks of apple still holding their shape on the inside. The apple filling had a nice tart-sweet balance (I used Fuji apples), although both Zed and I thought some cinammon, and maybe a bit of vanilla, would really add to their flavor.

I really like recipes like this though - they are nice and simple but still allow you to experiment with whatever you have on hand... I'm looking forward to peaches and raspberries this summer, and maybe a creamy cheese layer under the fruit filling.

3 comments:

Court said...

I agree, I didn't like Laura at first, but have come to be a big fan of French Food at Home.

MikeT said...

Same here. I found laura a bit "cool" but that could be put down to her needing to find her stride. I never miss FFaH - even the repeats. Laura has relaxed and it shows. She does not condescend like a certain chef from PEI - her self-deprecating humour is refreshing.

Anonymous said...

I had a pretty bad accident and being in a wheelchair I turned to Food Chanel for comfort. I found Laura's show and fell for her immediately. It was two years ago. I cooked many of her dishes with success and still love to watch her show on TV. I wish her photographer not to forget here and there to take a picture of a temperature at the oven. She forget here and there to say what temperature the dish should be cooked at. Good and enjoyable