Stephs Cheddar Cheese Puffs For Crab Dip Appetizer Food

CRAB PUFFS

Steps:

• Make sure to thaw puff pastry before starting. Carefully unfold the puff pastry sheets as soon as they are thawed. (If puff pastry has to wait for you to make the filling, cover it with a couple of sheets of damp paper towel to keep from drying out.)
• Preheat the oven to 400­° and lightly grease a mini muffin pan.
• Dice onion, bell pepper, and mince garlic. Preheat a small cooking pan over medium heat and sauté onion and bell pepper with a little bit of olive oil.
• When the veggies are completely softened, mix in garlic, and let it cook until fragrant. Transfer cooked veggies into a mixing bowl.
• Add remaining ingredients for the filling to the mixing bowl with veggies and use a spatula or a fork to mix everything thoroughly.
• Roll out the puff pastry sheets to about 12x12 size squares. Use a pizza cutter or a knife to cut each puff pastry sheet into 16 squares each.
• Fit each square into the cup of the prepared mini muffin pan, forming a little cup out of the pastry square. (You will need to work in batches, so make sure to cover the pastry with damp paper towel in between batches to prevent it from drying out.)
• Fill each pastry square with slightly less than 1 1/2 tablespoons of crab mixture. (I use a #40 cookie scoop to get even amount each time and fill it slightly less than full.)
• Bake for about 17 minutes, until pastry is golden brown. (Repeat with remaining pastry and filling.)

PUFF PASTRY SHELL CRAB APPETIZERS

Steps:

• Soften the cream cheese.
• Mix all ingredients except shells in bowl.
• Fill pastry shells (approx. 1/2 tsp each).
• Bake according to directions on pastry shell box.
• Serve warm.

STEPH'S CHEDDAR CHEESE PUFFS (FOR CRAB DIP APPETIZER)

Steps:

• In a 2 quart pan, bring water, butter and nutmeg to a full boil over medium-high heat, stirring until butter is melted. Add flour all at once and stir briskly until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms a ball (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl; let stand for about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until mixture is well blended. Stir in cheese. Scoop out spoonfuls of dough about 1 1/2 inches in diameter; drop at least 1 inch apart on non-stick foil. Bake in a 400 degree oven until puffs are golden brown (20-25 minutes). Turn off oven. Remove puffs from oven and pierce each in several places with a fork. Return to baking sheets in turned off oven for 10 minutes to crisp. When cool, stuff with filling, such as crab dip or smoked trout mousse.

CHEESY CRAB APPETIZER

Steps:

• Mix together the first 5 ingredients.
• Slice muffins in half horizontal.
• Spread each muffin half with the cheeze/crab mixture.
• Place under broiler and brown (WATCH CAREFULLY SO IT DOESN'T BURN).
• Cut each muffin half into quarters when cool enough to handle.
• (I keep a bag of these in the freezer for when unexpected guests show up. Just broil as instructed above, place on a cookie sheet to freeze, then transfer to freezer bags. When guests arrive, place in microwave to heat up and then serve).