Ma Necessity

Origami Chicken with Caramelized Onions, Apples, and Brie

January 28, 2016 * by Tracy Antonioli * 2 Comments

And so it came to pass that one post-holiday evening, I was tired of eating leftover turkey but didn’t have the will (or the money) to go out and buy anything else for dinner. So I did what you’re supposed to do in this scenario–I rummaged. And in my freezer and refrigerator I found:

03Ingredients

1 sad, lonely chicken breast (uncooked and frozen, slightly freezer-burnt)

1/2 apple (browning and wrinkling, inverted on a tea saucer)

1/2 onion (from stuffings of Christmas past)

1 sheet puffed pastry (frozen)

1/2 wedge of brie (leftover from a holiday cheese plate)

a few tablespoons sour cream

dijon mustard

honey

And from these very humble ingredients (did I mention that the apple was browning and wrinkling?) I made something wonderful: what I am calling Origami Chicken.

The inspiration for the dish came from a holiday pastry braid I used to make, back before I discovered parker house rolls.  Said holiday pastry braid also contained caramelized onions, sauteed apples and brie. I thought I could just add chicken to the dish, and maybe a sauce of some kind, and it would work as an entire meal.

I was right.

The key to making this dish work is to pre-cook the chicken. Which makes this dish even easier if you have leftover cooked chicken or turkey. I only had a (sad, pre-frozen) chicken breast, so I used that. In a moment of absolute desperation, you could probably use lunch meat chicken or turkey (or maybe even ham).

I thought that a sauce would be necessary to counteract the relative dryness of the puff pastry, which is why I whipped up a quick honey dijon sauce. But honestly, with the onions and the softness of the apples and the juicy chicken, I almost didn’t need the sauce. I’m including it in this recipe only because my husband really liked it. Oh, and it’s damn good. And beyond simple.

Directions

To Make the Filling

  1. If using raw chicken: dice chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Add to a hot, oiled pan. Allow to cook without disturbing for 4 minutes or so, or until it starts to smell good. Flip chicken pieces, not being too finicky about it. Cook until all sides are browned. Remove from pan.
  2. In same pan, add a tablespoon or so of butter. Add sliced half of onion and cook until soft and light brown. Remove from pan and add to dish containing chicken.
  3. In same pan, add more butter or oil. Add sliced half of an apple and cook for two or three minutes.
  4. Add chicken and onions back into pan with apples. Toss to combine. Remove from heat.

To Assemble Pastry

  1. If using frozen puff pastry, remove from freezer before beginning chicken/apple/onion cooking so as to bring to room temp.
  2. Place puff pastry on a flat surface.
  3. Make horizontal cuts 1/3 of the way through both sides of pastry, allowing a channel in the middle to remain un-cut. SEE IMAGE ABOVE. IMAGE IS IMPORTANT AND HELPFUL! The role of pastry is being played by the yellow post it note.
  4. Place slices of brie along un-cut middle channel. Top with chicken/onion/apple mixture (blue post it note in image.)
  5. Fold cut sides over filling, like a braid. AGAIN, SEE HEPFUL IMAGE.
  6. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 375F.

To Make Sauce

  1. Combine a few tablespoons sour cream with an equal number of teaspoons dijon mustard. Add honey in equal measure to mustard. Sprinkle a bit of salt and stir.
  2. There is no #2. This sauce is that easy.

One of my biggest dinner challenges is figuring out what to do with sad, lonely pieces of white meat chicken. It seems my freezer produces them in much the same way that my dryer eats socks. This is by far the best option I’ve found in a long time. Enjoy!