Well, I didn’t get my post up yesterday like I wanted to, but holiday weeks are always so crazy.  While I loved the long weekend… not so fond of the insanity that follows!

After making puff pastry on Monday, I turned it into turnovers.  My original intention was to make Raspberry Rhubarb turnovers… but apparently my raspberries felt that going bad was more important than being baked.  My next thought was Apple Rhubarb… but Whole Foods in my neighborhood doesn’t carry Golden Delicious apples (which in my opinion are not delicious, so I can’t blame them). So, back to the traditional Strawberry Rhubarb combination it was.

Then, in the back of my mind, I remember reading about Roquefort turnovers in Julie and Julia.  Blue cheese is AMAZING in my opinion – the stinkier the better.  And trying something out of MtAoFC (aka Mastering the Art of French Cooking) was something I had really really wanted to try for such a long time.

(One of these days I’m going to get to that Beouf Bourguinon, I swear!)

Anyway, since I had already decided to mess up my kitchen completely and make one kind of turnover, I figured that two is better than one with just a leetle bit additional mess.  So I decided to make both kinds of turnovers, and I must say that I give myself props – they were absolutely delicious.  Seriously.  If my mom hadn’t called and talked me out of it, I might’ve eaten all of them myself – especially the Roquefort ones.  Yum.  And the puff pastry worked out wonderfully – delicious and flaky and oh-so-good.

Now, I don’t know about anyone else out there who has made Julia Child’s recipe for Roquefort turnovers, and given, I made a mistake on the ingredients, but no matter what I did, I could NOT get 1 teaspoonful of the filling to fit in a tiny 2.5″ square that would be folded in half.  And I tried.  A LOT.  It just wouldn’t fit.  So I put as much as I could, and left it at that.

Here are the recipes I used – I totally messed up on the Roquefort but made it work, and kind of made up the Strawberry Rhubarb to make it work with what I had.  Turnovers are best the day they are made… all flaky and delicious.  If you serve them after the first day, put them in an airtight container and heat them up in a toaster oven or oven for a few minutes to regain the crust texture.

• Roquefort Turnover Filling (from Mastering the Art of French Cooking)
• 8 oz Roquefort Blue Cheese (or if you can’t read like me, then you put in 4 oz)
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened/room temperature
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 Tbsp minced green onions
• 2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream

1. Preheat oven to 425.  Line sheet pans with silpats.
2. Mash the blue cheese in a bowl until it starts to take on a creamy consistency.  Even out of the fridge, as long as you get Roquefort, this is pretty easy (I was surprised).
3. Beat in the butter, egg yolks (1 at a time), pepper, and green onion.  Instead of using my mixer, I did all of this with a large fork, and it seemed to work just dandy.
4. Add in the whipping cream, and mix thoroughly to combine.  Your mixture should have the texture of a thick paste.
5. Construct turnovers (see instructions below). 
6. Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned and puffed.

• Strawberry Rhubarb Turnover Filling (adapted from Martha Stewarts Raspberry Rhubarb recipe)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• 6 oz rhubarb
• 8 medium-to-large strawberries
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• lemon zest from 1/2 of a lemon

1. Cut the rhubarb stalks into 4 (so you have 4 skinny stalks from one rhubarb stalk) and cut into a small dice (approximately 1/4″ pieces).  Cut the strawberries to about 1/2″ dice.
2. Put the sugar in a medium sized bowl and add the vanilla bean paste.  Mix with a whisk until the sugar and vanilla paste have combined. 
3. Add the rhubarb to the sugar mixture, along with the cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon zest; mix with a spoon until combined.  Add in strawberries and mix gently.  Set aside and let the fruit macerate.
4. Once the bowl starts to fill with juice, strain all the fruit and discard the liquid.
5. Construct turnovers (see instructions below). 
6. Preheat oven to 375.
7. Freeze turnovers for 30 minutes
8. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until lightly browned and puffed.

Turnover Construction

• puff pastry
• Roquefort filling
• Strawberry Rhubarb filling
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp heavy cream

Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle 1/8″ thick.  Using a ruler, cut the dough into 2 1/2″ squares.

Put the egg yolks and cream in a small bowl and whisk with a fork until you get a nice pale yellow mixture.

Take one square of puff pastry and lightly sprinkle it with a dash of flour.  Roll lightly to just to enlarge the square slightly.

Brush the edges of the square with the egg/cream mixture (1/4″ in from the edges).  Put a scoop of filling into the middle of the square (I put around 1/2 – 3/4 tsp)    

Fold up the square to make a triangle, being sure to pinch all of the edges closed.  After it is sealed, take a dinner fork dusted in flour and crimp the edges.

For the Roquefort turnovers, also poke a hole in the very center of the turnover to allow steam to escape.

Bake (or freeze) as directed above.