A New Year's Eve Appetizer

If you are looking for a yummy appetizer, Tiny Chicken Turnovers are great! I have posted about these before, and they have become a staple for those times when we have appetizers-New Year's Eve, Super Bowl Sunday, etc... For the Super Bowl, I even made some with taco filling and they were really good! Below is the recipe, but I will tell you, I often up the spices when I make these. Basically, if the filling tastes perfect to you, add a bit more :) Then, fill your turnovers. For some reason, the flavor of the filling seems to mellow once it is in the turnover. I have even added a bit of garlic and onion powders to the turnover dough. They seem like alot of work, and they can be, but you can make these ahead of time and keep them in your freezer, or in the fridge if you will be eating them the next day. Just reheat in the oven ;)

Tiny Chicken Turnovers:


Crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter or margerine, chilled

5 tablespoons cold water



In a bowl mix together the flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until a ball forms. Place in fridge for a bit to make it easier to roll.



Filling:

3 tablespoons chopped onion (I like to chop mine really fine or use a bit of onion powder instead)

3 tablespoons butter

1 3/4 cups shredded, cooked chicken meat

3 tablespoons chicken stock

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

or

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, diced

Shredded Cheese (no amounts here-I suggest adding in as much as you think your family might like-you can even leave this out if you like:)



Melt butter in hot skillet. Add chopped onion and saute until tender. Add in shredded chicken, chicken stock, garlic powder and whatever other seasonings/spices you might like. Stir well, then add in cream cheese. Remove from heat and allow cream cheese to melt into mixture.

I love making the mixture the day before-unless I plan to store these in the freezer. It saves time, but it also allows the flavors to mingle and we all know mingling is a good thing ;) I just store it in the fridge until I need it.

On a floured surface, roll out dough to about 1/16 of an inch. I do not measure it.. I just roll it out pretty thin. Using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter or biscuit cutter or glass about that size, cut out circles. Place a heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture into center of circle. Fold circle over and using a bit of water around the inside edge of the circle, seal. You can use a fork to make pretty indents all around that sealed edge. Then, using a sharp knife, cut a small air hole in the top of the pastry. Reroll any scraps and keep going until you run out of chicken or dough :) I make up pans as I go along-this way I am working on a pan while one is baking. It helps with time-and if you have kids, they might relaly enjoy helping with these! It would be great for the little ones to help with the filling part.

Bake for 15-20 mins at 375. Just until golden brown.


By the way, have leftover turkey? You can easily use it in place of the chicken-that is my plan. Have leftover ham-make ham and cheese turnovers. You can really just use any combo of ingredients and use up some of those leftovers too! Like I said, I did the taco filling and it was terrific! This year, the kids want pizza ones, so I will try that for the Super Bowl :)  Have fun and enjoy!!