Mushroom Strudel

My baby girl is 30 years old! Listen, when "old people" tell you that time flies--believe it! So we had a little family get-together over at casa de Kinney to celebrate the wonder that is Courtney. The menu was brunchy and casual with not too many leftovers leftover. Along with a big veggie tray and melon platter, I made Cinnamon Knots, Cheesey Potatoes, Maple Glazed Chicken, Mushroom Strudel, Lemonade Cake and Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes. Here is the recipe for Mushroom Strudel; but you can make a filling out of just about anything and pull this off.

Jan's Mushroom Strudel

1 lb. of your favorite sausage (vegetarian this time)
1 lb. raw mushrooms (I used good 'ole white button)
1/2 C. chopped celery
1 large onion, chopped
ghee or olive oil for sauteing
rubbed sage, salt and pepper to taste
1 pkg. frozen sheet puff pastry (2 sheets per pack)
Your favorite sauce/gravy (e.g. white sauce with Gruyere)

As soon as you get home from the store with puff pastry in hand, place the package in the refrigerator. Puff pastry must be thawed but cold when you put this together. I gave it two days in the frig. In the mean time for the filling, saute sausage until lightly browned. Set aside, drain off fat. Wash mushrooms and slice. Chop onions and celery. Use the same pan with either a little of the sausage fat, ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil and saute celery and onions with a pinch of salt. Throw them into a medium sized bowl. Saute mushrooms in the same manner, browning after natural liquid has evaporated and cooked down. You'll know they're at the browning stage when they start to squeak as they're moved around the pan. Add mushrooms and drained sausage to the bowl with the veggies. Season, stir thoroughly, cover and refrigerate filling until completely cooled.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.To assemble, use the plastic wrap method* rolling puff pastry sheets to about half-again their original length/width. The dough will be very thin. Using the best kitchen tools you own (your hands), slightly compress and place half of the filling mixture in the center of that first pastry sheet, leaving enough of a border to wrap the filling burrito-style. Brush the bordering pastry lightly with water before overlapping/sealing edges. Place strudel in a Pammed baking dish, seam side down and repeat with second sheet. Poke a couple of holes in the top surface of each strudel for steam release. Since the filling is already precooked, you need only watch for the pastry to turn golden, about 30 minutes. If you want a super shiny strudel, brush with egg yolk/cream mixture. Personally, I don't want to waste a perfectly good egg! Serve sauce on the side or pour sauce at the ends and a bit down the middle right before serving. Carefully transfer to a nice platter (before sauce) or be lazy and use a fancy party dish like I did below!

* That's Just How I Roll any pastry, pie crusts included--between sheets of plastic wrap. You can move the plastic as you roll,  your rolling pin and counter stays clean, you're not adding too much flour and toughening the pastry, you can quickly chill thin pastry in the plastic wrap, and after you remove the top layer of plastic you can easily slip your hand in the center of the underside and flip your pie plate over pastry to center...so many reasons to use this method!