Creamy Mushroom Chicken & Caramelized Onion Tartlet

When I started this blog, as much as I wanted it to be a "place" where food lovers can gather, I didn't think anyone would actually "find" me in this digitized sea of information. Over the past 2 months, it has been very encouraging to see readership increasing and coming from different countries. Apart from neighboring countries like Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and Philippines, I was pleasantly shocked to see readers from USA, UK, Russia, Germany, Canada and France! What's most surprising is that the USA readers (hellooo~~ guys!!) is as much as, if not slightly more than the Singaporean readers! Thank you for visiting my humble blog! ^_^

I noticed the Pizza Tartlet post garnered a lot of readership from USA, which I think is mainly due to the culture of hosting dinner parties, serving hors d'oeuvres and the likes. To show my appreciation, I came up another cost effective hors d'oeuvre idea! This time, inspired by Chicken Pot Pie and Onion Tarts.

Puff pastry is also needed for this recipe, so it'll be a breeze preparing them together with the Pizza Tartlets.

Creamy Mushroom Chicken & Caramelized Onion Tartlet (makes 36)
 640g     Ready Made Puff Pastry (if pre-rolled, it's about 4 sheets)
 500g     Chicken Breast/Fillet
   20g     Butter, unsalted
 300g     Yellow Onions, thinly sliced
   10g     Garlic, minced
 300g     Fresh or Canned Mushrooms, cubed 1cm
 170g     Cream
 200g     Water (may use more or less)
 2 tsp     Dried Thyme
     1       Egg, beaten
Salt, Pepper and Sugar to taste

Optional
Cheese, shredded
Bacon, diced
Tabasco sauce

If you are on a tight timeline or budget, you may substitute half of the mushrooms and cream for a can of condensed Cream of Mushroom soup or half of the chicken and cream for condensed Cream of Chicken.

1. Marinate the Chicken breast/fillet for at least 30 mins with 1 tsp of Dried Thyme, Salt and Pepper to taste.

2. Meanwhile, melt the Butter over Medium Low heat in a saucepan and add the julienned onions. Spread the onions evenly and stir occasionally. After about 10 mins, they will soften and turn translucent. Season with Salt and a little Sugar to help with the caramelization. Keep the mixture cooking, stir occasionally and take care not to let it burn. If it looks a little dry, add some water. It will need another 15-20 mins to brown nicely. Heat off and reserve in saucepan.

3. Bring a pot of water to boil and add the chicken. When cooked, drain water and cool. Shred chicken into rough pieces when cool enough to handle.

4. Put the saucepan (with the caramelized onions) back on Medium Low heat and add in the minced garlic, saute till fragrant before adding the Mushrooms and Chicken. Add about 50ml of water and mix thoroughly. Cover for 5 mins.

5. When the liquid reduced slightly, add the Cream, 1 tsp of Dried Thyme, season to taste with Salt and Pepper. Mix thoroughly and cook for another 5-10mins. Heat off and reserve.


Preheat oven to 180º C

6. Thaw your frozen puff pastry according to the directions on the package. Roll the pastry dough (if needed) to a thickness of 0.5cm and cut out roughly 8x8cm squares. Line your muffin tray with these puff pastry squares and fill each with a tablespoonful of fillings. You may then top with some cheese (I have some leftovers from the previous Pizza) and/or bacon bits. Bake them for 15-20mins till puffed and golden brown. Remove from oven and cool slightly before removing them from the muffin tray.

For guests who like their food spicy, splash a bit of Tabasco sauce on the tarts before serving. These tarts goes really fast, you may be well into your 6th, 7th or even 8th tart before you realized! Like the Pizza Tartlets, you may prepare these beforehand (if you have enough muffin trays), keep them refrigerated and bake them fresh when your guests arrive. This will allow you to have more time having fun, rather than "slogging" in the kitchen. Enjoy!

All blog posts and photos are properties of WhatToBakeToday (unless otherwise stated). Unauthorized use and/or duplication of these contents, whole or part thereof, without express or written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to WhatToBakeToday with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.