Creamy Tarragon Mock Chicken and Mushrooms in Puff Pastry Shells

This recipe looks and tastes very fancy, but is relatively easy to make using frozen puff pastry shells. Serve alone as an appetizer, or enjoy with a green or orange vegetable and tossed salad for a full, balanced meal.

Chicken-style seitan is seasoned so that it has a flavor and consistency reminiscent of cooked dark-meat chicken. It's a great substitute for chopped, cooked chicken in recipes, and I love to use it in this recipe. If you cannot find the seitan, just dice up your favorite unbreaded mock-chicken breasts, patties, or tenders.

RECIPE:

2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 cup chicken-style seitan, or other non-breaded mock chicken product, thawed if frozen, diced
1 cup fresh white mushrooms, sliced
3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon, or 1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
2 tablespoons quick-mixing flour (such as Wondra), or sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup mock chicken broth (such as Imagine No-Chicken broth)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 egg yolk, beaten
1/4 cup heavy cream
6 frozen puff pastry shells (1 10-ounce package)

In a medium skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium to medium-high heat. Add the seitan, and saute until the seitan is lightly golden. Remove the seitan from the skillet and set aside.

Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the same skillet. Add the mushrooms and tarragon, and sautee over medium to medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft. Remove the mushrooms from the skillet, leaving any butter and mushroom juices in the skillet. Set the mushrooms aside.

Whisk the flour into the pan juices, and then slowly whisk in the broth, salt, and pepper. Whisk over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until thickened. Lower heat to medium-low.

In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and cream. Stir 1 tablespoon of the broth mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Then whisk the egg yolk mixture into the skillet.

Add the seitan and mushrooms back into the skillet. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes, to heat through and blend the flavors.

Meanwhile, bake the puff pastry shells according to the package directions.

Fill the puff pastry shells with the seitan-mushroom mixture, and serve immediately.

-- 3 entree servings or 6 appetizer servings