High "Turnover" Rate

This is an amazing party appetizer or a cocktail accompaniment using my favorite New Orleans ingredient - Crawfish. These tasty treats were a little time consuming, but well worth the time. Forrest gobbled these hand held treats in record speed! Puff Pastry makes everything seem a little extra special.

Cocktail Crawfish Turnovers
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup chopped onions
• 4 tablespoons chopped green bell peppers
• 2 teaspoons Essence, recipe in link above
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 pound cooked, peeled crawfish tails, coarsely chopped if large
• 1/4 cup grated Pepper Jack cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 (17.3-ounce) package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed in the refrigerator
• 2 egg yolks, beaten with 2 teaspoons water

Directions

Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and bell peppers.

Season with the Essence, salt, and cayenne and cook, stirring, until the onion is slightly soft, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the flour and cook, stirring until the mixture is lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Add the milk,

and continue stirring until the mixture is smooth and thick, about 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Add the crawfish tails, cheese, green onions, and parsley.

Stir to mix well. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Roll out each pastry sheet to 12 by 15 inches on a lightly floured surface. Trim the edges to make them even. With a sharp knife, cut each sheet into 20 (3-inch) squares. Mound about 2 teaspoons of the crawfish mixture in the center of each square, brush 2 edges of the squares with the egg wash,

fold over diagonally, and seal. Crimp the edges with a fork.

Lightly brush the tops of the turnovers with some of the egg wash.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place the turnovers about 1- inch apart on the sheet

and bake until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.