French Dip Crescent Sandwiches with Au Jus

This was a good meal on a cold night...something about dipping the warm sandwich into the hot au jus just made me feel all warm inside. Plus, talk about E-A-S-Y! It's a win-win!


French Dip Crescent Sandwiches with Au Jus for dipping
adapted from Mama Loves Food, photo from bakingbad.com

You need
1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls (8 individual rolls)
4 slices swiss cheese, cut in half
16 slices deli roast beef

Make it
1- unroll crescent rolls and separate into triangles, following the perforated lines
2- place 2 slices of roast beef and 1/2 slice of swiss cheese onto each of the 8 rolls
3- roll up each roll, starting at the wide end
4- bake in preheated oven according to directions on crescent roll package

Au Jus dipping sauce
You need

1 or 2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
3 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp all purpose flour (optional)

Make it
1- saute onion in olive oil until softened.
2- add garlic to pan and stir for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
3- add water, bouillon cubes and Worcestershire sauce, dissolving bouillon cubes as you stir. bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer for about 15 minutes.
4- uncover and let cook until reduced by about 1/2.
5- strain out all garlic and onion, keeping only sauce and serve immediately.
6- optional- if you want to thicken it up even more- whisk flour into a few tbsp of cold water, whisking vigorously to reduce clumping. return the sauce to the pan and stir in flour mixture. bring to boil, stir and serve.

Chicken-chile emPIEnadas

I was looking through my kitchen a few days ago, trying to come up with a dish that didn't require a trip to the store. This is what I came up with and they were amazing...so good, in fact, that Ross wants them again this weekend! They are kind of like empanadas made with pie crust and baked.


2 refrigerated pie crusts
2 cooked chicken breasts, cut into tiny bites
3/4 block of cream cheese, softened
2 tsp chopped green chiles (adjust amount to taste)
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
1 tsp beef fajita seasoning
1 egg
Coarse sea salt (optional)

-Mix together chicken, cream cheese, green chiles, cheddar and fajita seasoning.
-Cut pie crusts into circles. I used a large cup to cut the circles. It made about 12 empienadas.
-Spoon about a tablespoon of chicken mixture onto each pie crust circle. Fold crust over mixture to form a half circle shape. Press the edges of each closed firmly with a fork.
-Place onto a lightly greased baking sheet.
-Scramble the egg and brush over each empienada. This makes them beautifully brown and crispy in the oven.
-Sprinkle tops with sea salt. This is purely decorative :)
-Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown, at the temperature on the pie crust box. It varies by brand.

We ate them all and didn't take a picture. Here's the site where I got it.

Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pastry Pockets

I served these beside a nice wedge salad, although, Ross had eaten a handful of them before dinner was ever on the table.

1 box puff pastry, defrosted (2 sheets)
1 8oz container Philadelphia Chive and Onion flavor Cream Cheese
1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 C cooked shredded chicken breast
1/3 C cooked crumbled bacon
3 Tbs finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
Red pepper flakes to taste (my addition)
1 egg
1 Tbs water

**I defrosted the puff pastry dough in the fridge overnight before using it.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Warm cream cheese in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to soften. Place in a mixing bowl with mozzarella cheese, chicken, bacon, red pepper flakes and sun-dried tomatoes. Stir to combine and set aside.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll one sheet at a time into a 12 x 12 inch square. Cut 4, 3 inch strips each direction to make 16 squares, 3 x 3" each.


Place about 2 teaspoons of cream cheese mixture onto each square. With your finger, brush a dab of water around the edges of each square and fold over diagonally to make a triangle. Press edges together and crimp with a fork to seal.

After stuffing and folding each pastry, place on a baking sheet. Whisk egg and 1 tablespoon water together and brush over the top of each pastry. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Can also be served at room temperature. Recipe by Our Best Bites.

Freezer instructions: Follow directions through egg wash. Place baking sheet in the freezer. When pastries are solid to the touch, transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer. When ready to bake, place frozen pastries directly on a baking sheet in preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Chicken and Green Chile Taquitos

I found this idea on this website and changed it up to my liking. I used her pictures because they were way more pretty! We liked the flour ones better and yes, they get super crunchy when you bake them! They would be great with queso or guacamole!!

I'm so glad that I learned about how to make them crunchy without frying them! I can make all sorts of cool little taquitos now! They were great for watching a movie on a cold day with the hubs!

Ingredients
3 chicken breasts
1 block of cream cheese
Green chile salsa
Hot sauce (we like Cholula)
Adam's Beef fajita seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
Corn or flour tortillas
Cooking spray


Directions:
Boil chicken breasts until fully cooked. Remove from water and shred with fork and knife. Soften cream cheese in microwave for about 30 seconds. Mix chicken, cream cheese, several tablespoons green chile salsa, hot sauce to taste, fajita seasoning, salt and pepper. Cover tortillas with damp paper towel and warm in microwave for about 45 seconds. Spoon a few tablespoons of chicken mixture into warm tortilla and roll very tightly.
Place on lightly sprayed cooking sheet. Spray with cooking oil and sprinkle with salt (I like using sea salt here because it is bigger). Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!!