Chicken En Croute Recipe

How to make it

---

• For dough: Cut puff pastry into 4 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll out each piece to slightly thin out (has to be big enough to wrap chicken). Chill until ready to use.
• For peppers: Set oven on broil and move rack to the top. Place peppers on top rack and broil until skin is blackened on that side. With tong, flip peppers over to blacken on other side. Remove from oven and place in brown paper bag and close. This steams the peppers and makes removal of skin easy. Once cooled, remove skin, discard of seeds and cut each pepper in half.
• For Chicken: In a large non-stick skillet, add 1 tablespoon of butter and a splash of olive oil. You may need to pound out the chicken breasts if they are too thick. Season chicken on both sides with kosher salt and pepper. Place breasts in pan and sear on each side, about 4 minutes per side, until you get a nice golden color. Transfer chicken to plate, tent with foil, set aside.
• In same pan, add shallot and sauté until soft. Remove to a small bowl. To same pan again, add all the spinach (this will cook down to almost nothing!) Once spinach is wilted, transfer to bowl to cool. Squeeze all the liquid out the spinach with your hands over the sink. You must not skip this step; you'll wind up with soggy wet crust if you do! Add shallots with drippings and spinach to the pan. Season to taste with salt and white pepper, lemon zest and nutmeg. Return to bowl and let cool.
• For cheese: Mix boursin with mascarpone in bowl. Set aside.
• Assembly: Place all four squares of puff pastry back on lightly floured board. Place about 1/4 cup of cheese mixture on each pastry; divide the spinach among each as well. Top with red bell pepper halves and lastly the seared chicken breasts. Take each corner and fold in, completely cover the inside, trimming away any extra dough. Don't worry if it's not pretty, this is the bottom. Flip filled pastries over and onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours. This helps the crust really puff up and the crust doesn't get too soggy from the juices.
• Brush with egg wash. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 min or up to an hour. Once out of oven, let rest for 15 minutes.
• Serve with demi-glace: disolve demi-glace in small saucepan with 1 1/2 cups water. reduce to 1 cup.
• Note: The two most available brands of frozen puff pastry are definitely not alike. Dufours, sometimes available at Whole Foods markets, is made with all butter and is 100% natural; Pepperidge Farm, always in the freezer case of my local supermarket, contains no butter (how wrong!). Yes, Dufours tastes better, and rises higher when baked. It's also twice as expensive, and much harder to find, than Pepperidge Farm. Trader Joe's also carries "artisan" puff pastry in fall and winter seasons, which would be a good middle option. And lastly, if you got the skills and time, just make it from scratch ;-)