April 28, 2009

Playing it fast and loose with this recipe

One of the staple dinners in our house is a chicken crescent pouch for which I no longer have the exact recipe. Every time I make it everyone says, "I love this . . . we had it all the time growing up." But last week I ran across someone who hadn't heard of it before, so I thought I'd share it here. It's rough, but it gives you an idea of how it should come together . . .

CHICKEN CRESCENT POUCHES

3 - 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
slightly softened cream cheese (more than 4 oz, less than 6 oz? 5 oz maybe?)
a few pats of butter - softened
garlic salt
1 - 2 tubes of crescent rolls (it depends on how many pouches you want to make and how full you want them to be . . . I usually buy 2 rolls of the "big and flaky" rolls that usually make 6 crescents. I think the 8-crescent tubes make pouches that are too small)
Pepper
A few tablespoons of breadcrumbs

Mix the cubed chicken, cream cheese and two or three pats of butter (leave a little out for brushing on top at the end). If the chicken is warm and the cream cheese is still a little cold, it usually softens pefectly.

To the mixture, add garlic salt and pepper to taste.

Unroll the crescent rolls, but don't tear them apart. Keep two triangles together to make a square. Pinch the perforated seam so that you have 3 - 4 (depending on which crescents you have) square or rectangles of crescent dough per tube. SO, 6 - 8 pouches if you have two tubes. Make sure the dough is still cold when you do this. If it gets warm, it's much harder to work with.

Spoon the mixture evenly on each of your crescent squares. This is why you want to make sure you cream cheese isn't too soft. You want the mixture to stay on the crescent. Wrap the corners and sides of the square up and twist them at the top to seal in the mixture. Bake them for 20 - 30 minutes until the crescent is all of the way cooked. You might need to prod at one a little to make sure it's not still doughy. Check them often to make sure they don't burn. It helps to bake them on a Silpat or a light-colored baking sheet so the bottoms don't get over done.

When they come out of the oven, brush the tops with butter and sprinkle with a mixture of bread crumbs and garlic salt.

Served with mixed veggies and you have a great dinner!

Kyle claims that this is his favorite thing that I make . . . Jack and I love them, too.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

THis sounds good! I've never used this combo in crescents, and I'm sure my boys will eat it...I'm thinking I'll stuff some chopped broccoli in there, too.

Kyle Luke said...

Broccoli sounds good . . . when we had it the other night, Kyle said peas and carrots in there would be good, too.

Minnie said...

I have NEVER heard of these, but I know what I'm making for dinner tonight. Thanks for the great idea.