Holiday Hors d’Oeuvres

 ‘Tis a sad day when a food blogger forgets her camera’s USB cord at her parents’ house (think over the river and through the woods for an hour), especially on a Barefoot Bloggers Bonus Recipe day!  I was all prepared to show you the beautiful-looking Savory Palmiers that I made for my parents’ Christmas party.  They came out so perfectly – in the characteristic elephant ears shape, and run through with holiday colors: red sun-dried tomatoes, green basil pesto, and snowy white goat cheese.  I was wildly impressed with Becky’s  oh-so-appropriate pick!  

I did all the prep work for these early in the day on Saturday, photographing diligently, of course.  Then I left instructions for the caterers to slice the dough in very thin perpendicular cuts, then to cook them cut-side-up on a baking sheet.  After having showered, primped, powdered, and dressed in my holiday best, I came downstairs just in time to see a sheet of 2 inch pastry bricks going into the oven!  I caught them just in time and saved the party goers the need for charger-sized plates and large bread knives to eat my hors d’oeuvre! 

In any case, I apologize for the delay with pictures, but of course you can always see how they are supposed to look by visiting the other Barefoot Bloggers’ blogs.  If I could give one piece of advice with this recipe (besides making sure you prepare the slices correctly!), it would be to NOT skimp on the filling.  More pesto! More goat cheese!  More sun-dried tomatoes!  Otherwise you won’t taste all the great flavorful goodness.  Also – use good all-butter puff pastry (Dufour is excellent) since the pastry is more than half the mouthful!  Enjoy…

Savory Palmiers, from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics (makes 60 hors d’oeuvres)

Cut the prepared rolls of puff pastry into 1/4-inch-thick slices and place them faceup 2 inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 14 minutes, until golden brown.  Serve warm.