Chicken filo parcels
It’s no secret that Europe is a very small continent, especially when compared to places like Russia, US, Australia or Brazil…If I drive out of Frankfurt right now I will be in France in 2 hours, a 3 hour drive would get me to Belgium, Switzerland or the Czech Republic…It’s almost ridiculous. So when I tell people that I need to take a 3 and a half hour flight to get from São Paulo to my hometown, they find it hard to believe it. If I got on a plane for 3 and a half hours from Frankfurt, I would be in another continent.
The interesting thing though is that even though everything is relatively close by each country has very distinct cultural and food traditions. Whilst here in Germany the traditional food is a bit “primitive” with things like pig trotters and sausage, big portions of it with very little extra added. Next door, in France food is a tad more refined. I find this all very interesting.
And then Mariana has the wonderful idea to do a culinary foreign exchange. So every so often she will send me a typical English ingredient and I will send her German goodies. We have only one rule: we can’t give each other tips about the ingredient. It has crossed my mind that I might have a slight advantage in this game because, poor Mariana, will have to not only research the ingredient but also have to translate the packaging from German. Thank goodness for the internet. But this is what it makes it fun!
When I received Mariana’s first ingredient my first reaction was “what beautiful packaging!”. The tin had a vintage look and its colour was true to its content: mustard yellow. It was powdered mustard. My second reaction was to open and have a whiff and get inspiration. Before making the filo parcels I played around with the powder for a bit to test its intensity, as too much mustard can spoil a recipe. I made homemade mayonnaise and crackers with it and I can tell you: I wanted to use it on everything.
So I was watching a cooking programme and came across a filo parcel recipe, so I had a lightbulb moment: fillo pastry, béchamel, chicken, bacon, peppers and of course mustard!
For this recipe I used deep china bowls. It yielded 5 tarts. You can also use a muffin pan.
Chicken filo parcels
Filo pastry
Olive oil
2 chicken breasts, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
75g bacon, chopped
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
15g butter
15g flour
350ml milk
1 tbsp mustard powder
100g feta cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Oregano
Method:
1. Boil water and cook the chicken for 15 minutes. Drain the water and using a fork shred the chicken and set aside. Fry the onion, bacon, pepper and garlic, season and set aside
2. Using the same pan melt the butter, add the flour and stir well for 1-2 minutes not letting the mixture turn brown. Slowly add the milk and stir until the mixture thickens. Add the mustard, chicken and vegetables stirring well to combine.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C. Brush the moulds or muffin pan with a little olive oil. Brush one sheet of filo with a little olive oil, fold it in half and line the moulds with it. Leave a little room so that the filling can be covered, like parcels.
4. Spoon the filling into the opened parcels, top it with some crumbled feta and oregano.
5. Close the parcels and brush it with olive oil. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve it while hot. A green salad goes really well with it.
