Happy Birthday Meeta!

One of the darlingest of the Daring Bakers, Meeta of What's For Lunch Honey is having a birthday in a couple of days. Since I'll be out of town and away from the computer, Happy Birthday Meeta!

Meeta hosts the Monthly Mingle and this month it's all about the birthday. Since I'm confident that there will be lots of birthday cake, I decided to make you an appetizer for early in the Mingle. Making good use of some more puff pastry left over after the Gateau, I decided to make flaky and savory salmon, mushroom and rice turnovers. I suppose this could also qualify for a leftovers event, but these are pretty swank leftovers. I used some other left over items, like rice and salmon that had been cooked the day before. This is a made-up recipe, but turned out well.

The pastry puffs and gets golden and flaky. The filling is a mellow combination of cooked salmon, sauteed mushrooms and green onions, cooked rice, thyme, and non-fat sour cream. A little egg white wash sticks the top and bottom pastry together and glazes the top for shine. Hot from the oven these make a great starter course, or, combined with salad or soup, a couple make a full meal. If you are going to have lots of cake and ice cream, you don't really need anything else...well, maybe some champagne!

Meeta's Birthday Turnovers

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
2 green onions, sliced, including some of the green tops
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 cup - 1 cup cooked salmon, in small chunks, no skin
(I used left over grilled salmon, which worked well)
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup non-fat sour cream
salt and pepper
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed if frozen
1 egg white

In small skillet, sautee the mushrooms and onions over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Add the thyme and stir in thoroughly.

Put the rice, salmon, sour cream, and mushroom mixture in a microwave safe bowl. Stir well to mix all the ingredients together. Heat on half power for one minute in the microwave. Taste. Adjust seasoning (add salt and/or pepper if needed) to your taste.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Take one sheet of puff pastry and lay it out on a lightly floured board or pastry cloth. Cut it into nine square pieces. Place some of the filling, about the size of a walnut in it's shell, in the middle of one of the squares of puff pastry. Brush egg white around the sides of the square and place another square on top. Press down all the way around to seal. Then using the tines of a fork, press the edge of the packets all the way around. Place the turnover on a Silpat mat or piece of parchment paper placed on a baking sheet. Repeat for the next three packets. Set aside the last square.

Take the next sheet of puff pastry and repeat as you did for the first sheet. The extra square will match up with the extra square from the first sheet to make another turnover. In all you will have 9 turnovers. If there is any filling left, save for another use (perhaps as an omlette filling?)

Place the baking sheet(s) into the preheated oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes. They are done when the turnovers puff and are golden brown.

These can be made with half the filling and each square folded over the filling to make a triangle for hors d'oeuvres. Serve hot.