In Good Taste

Make This in 2010: Puff Pastry Rounds with Crab and Chives

I know what you're doing today. And no, I'm not clairvoyant nor have I been stalking you. I just know that you're staring into your refrigerator or freezer and your eyes are darting nervously, back and forth to your dining room, kitchen table or wherever you plan on doing your holiday entertaining. You're thinking: I don't have enough food for everyone.

And you absolutely do, but I know the way you think. I like to think that way too. These are perfect for finger foods to garnish any buffet table and if you're fancy-pants, they'd make a lovely passed hoer'dourve (cute catering waiters not included).

Warm, flaky puff pastry always tastes delicious but when topped with a savory combination of cheeses, lump crabmeat and chives...well, just trust me when I tell you it doesn't get much better. This is a Real Simple recipe and I dare you - no, I double dare you, to make it before 2011.

Puff Pastry Rounds with Crab & Chives
Makes 64 rounds

Ingredients

2 sheets frozen puff pastry (a 17.3-ounce box), thawed
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
kosher salt and black pepper
1 pound lump crabmeat

How-To:

Heat oven to 400° F. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, cut the pastry into rounds. Place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets.

In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, chives, lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Fold in the crab.

Dividing evenly, spoon the crab mixture onto the pastry rounds (about 2 teaspoons each). Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until the pastries are golden and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with more chives, if desired. Serve hot.

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Well, I'm going to go ahead and say yes, yes it does, because with the exception of a purple potato pizza here and a plum crumble there, my oven has seen very little activity in the past month. And it's not because I haven't been cooking.

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If I didn't have to work full-time, if there were more hours in the day or if I suddenly stopped needing sleep - any at all - I would definitely do a few things differently. In my day dreams, I would never have dishes in the sink, I would paint my apartment and finally hang some pictures on my too-naked walls and of course (and you had to have known where I was going with this) I would cook everything from scratch. I'd bake whole grain wheat sandwich bread and English muffins, I'd make homemade sauce and homemade salsa.

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When I think of Kale I think of winter: winter coats, slushy streets, fleece blankets. Yet, when I think of avocado, lime and shrimp I think of summer, warm weather and dining at a sidewalk cafe in a beach town, wearing flip flops and a fresh tan.