Honey Curry Chicken, Green Pea and Feta Turnovers

When I woke up this morning, I kicked on the heat for a bit to cut the chill of the night, as the weather has been well below freezing this last week. Funny, how just a week ago, we were fooled into thinking Spring is here with warmer weather. I know that so many of you get excited about the change in seasons, and here in the South, we especially love it since it means the tulips and other Spring blooms are right around the corner.

As in years past, my crock pot seems to have a permanent place on the counter through about mid-March. Comfort food at its finest, with slow-cooked chicken, pork ribs, lasagna and even my favorite rice pudding recipe (recipe coming soon). And can we talk about this new full-of-flavor recipe? It was adapted from a recipe in a newsletter that I got from Jennifer over at The Daily Connoisseur, and boy, was it delicious. It kept my husband coming back for more! And then I decided to kick it up even more and make the chicken into turnovers.

It's been an exciting last month, as we've had major wins in the kitchen. We've also revisited some older favorites, some of which I created 12 years ago, like my Smoked Gouda and Dill Fruited Chicken Salad on croissants. It seems like yesterday! I love looking back on my older recipe creations as a timeline to the different chapters in my life.

Simple days, simple cooking, and, in this case, the simplicity of a slow-cooked meal is as easy as throwing all the ingredients in a crock pot and letting them cook the day away. 

Dinner just became easier. 

And remember, you could stop here and serve the chicken over rice or mashed potatoes. Or, for a flavor explosion, make the shredded cooked chicken into turnovers, which are the perfect picnic item or party food for the porch. 

It's one of my favorite creations to date. Delicious!

For the Honey Curry Slow-Cooker Chicken:

2 chicken breasts, cut in half
1 medium Vidalia onion, sliced into rings
½ cup honey
¼ cup Dijon mustard
¼ cup melted butter
1 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp. dried coriander
½ tsp. salt
Dash of red pepper flakes or to taste

 

Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray. Place the chicken in the slow cooker. Arrange onion rings on top. In a separate bowl, combine honey, mustard, melted butter, curry powder, dried coriander salt and red pepper flakes. Stir well. Pour over the chicken. 

Cook on low 4-5 hours or high for 3-4 hours. I typically start on high for an hour, then turn down to low to complete cooking. This offers the best texture for the meat and is something I do for all my crock pot meals if time allows. Toward the end of cooking, use a fork to shred the chicken to ensure all the tasty sauce coats each and every piece of chicken. Continue cooking until tender.

To Make the Turnovers:

Cooked shredded chicken from above plus-

1 package puff pastry
Frozen green peas, defrosted for a few minutes in the microwave to taste
Crumbled feta cheese to taste
1/4 c. melted butter
Poppy seeds to sprinkle over

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Defrost puff pastry according to package directions. Unroll and cut into 4 squares per sheet. Place cooked chicken (making sure to get some of the cooked onion) down the center on a diagonal. Add on some defrosted peas and sprinkle with some feta cheese. Pull up two opposite corners to overlap in the middle over the filling and then brush the top of the puff pastry with melted butter on the tops and sides. Also, add a dab in between the two pulled-over pastry pieces and press lightly together to keep them from opening up while baking. Sprinkle on some poppy seeds over the buttered pastry.

Cook at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned.

Makes 8 turnovers.