Noah's Kickin' Chicken Bake

When I was pregnant with my younger children, I didn't cook a lot. I felt tired but it didn't stop me from watching a lot of food network. My husband would watch it with me without a complaint. Isn't that sweet? I guess he figured he would be making me watch football real soon.

One of the shows I would watch was Emeril. One day Emeril had a cook with your kids contest. We decided to make one of the dishes. It was really good. I have made this dish many times and the kids like it a lot. If you are going to make this, I would recommend planning ahead. This is a great recipe to use left over chicken. I plan ahead and roast my vegetables at the same time so the ingredients are ready.

Triangle style

Noah's Kickin' Chicken Bake

2 cups chicken, cooked and diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, roasted and chopped
1 1/2 cup broccoli, cooked and chopped
2 stalks of green onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese
1 cup light sour cream
2 tsp Emeril's Southwest Spice**
1 sheet of frozen packaged puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients except the puff pastry.

3. Cut the puff pastry into desired shape either triangles or cirles.

For the triangles: eight triangles and arrange the triangles in a circle with the pointed end facing out. ***

4.  Spoon the chicken mixture onto the triangles leaving the points exposed. Fold the points over the chicken mixture and press points down to seal.

5. Brush tops with the egg wash mixture.

6. Bake for 25 minutes or until puff pastry is golden brown.

***For the circles: just cut eight circles a little larger than 3 oz. small ramekins that the chicken will be cooked. Spoon the chicken into the dishes and top with the puff pastry circle. Brush with the egg wash. Bake for 25 minutes or until puff pastry is golden brown. This is the easier method.

Recipe adapted from Emeril. **Recipe can be found at this website for Emeril's Southwest Spice.

Did you already know...........
-Emeril was born in Massachusetts.
-Emeril's father is French-Canadian and his mother is Portuguese.
-As a teenager, he worked at a local Portuguese bakery.
-Emeril was offered a full scholarship to the New England conservatory of Music because he was a talented percussionist. BAM!