Having friends over for a big football game usually means you spend most of your time standing in the kitchen while everyone else cheers in the living room. It is incredibly frustrating to miss a crucial goal because you are busy frying batches of food. You can easily fix this by prepping a few simple puff pastry snacks well before kickoff. Using an appliance like the Usha OTG makes the whole process completely stress free because its heating elements distribute hot air evenly across the trays. This dry ambient heat melts the layers of butter inside the dough very quickly, which makes the pastry puff up into hundreds of crispy flakes. You can just slide a tray in right as the match starts and pull out a batch of hot bakery style snacks without missing a single minute of the action.
Spicy Chicken Tikka Pockets
For a filling snack that has a really nice kick of heat, these stuffed pastry pockets are always a massive hit. You just need to mix some finely shredded cooked chicken with a spoonful of thick yoghurt, a pinch of garam masala and some freshly chopped coriander to make a dry but highly flavourful filling. Cut your rolled pastry sheet into equal squares and drop a generous spoonful of the chicken mix right in the centre of each one before folding the dough over to make a triangle. Press the edges together firmly using the back of a fork to create a tight seal so none of the spicy juices leak out while they bake. Brushing the tops with a quick egg wash before they go onto the middle rack gives them a brilliant shiny finish that looks great on a serving plate.
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Caramelised Onion And Goat Cheese Pinwheels
These rolled pinwheels look incredibly fancy but are actually very easy to make and offer a great balance of sweet and savoury flavours. Start by cooking sliced red onions slowly in a pan with a bit of brown sugar and balsamic vinegar until they turn completely soft and dark. Spread this sticky onion jam evenly all over a flat sheet of pastry and crumble a block of fresh goat cheese right on top before rolling the whole thing up tightly into a long log. Take a sharp knife and slice the log into thick rounds, then place them flat on your lined baking tray. As the pastry cooks in the oven, the cheese softens into a creamy middle while the edges uncurl slightly into golden spirals.
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Cheesy Garlic Mushroom Palmiers
Palmiers are usually sweet, but making a savoury garlic version turns them into a brilliant snack for a match day gathering. Finely chop a punnet of button mushrooms and cook them down in a pan with plenty of minced garlic and a pinch of thyme until all the water evaporates completely. Spread this cooled mushroom paste across your pastry sheet and scatter a large handful of grated parmesan cheese over the surface. Roll both of the long edges inward until they meet exactly in the middle of the sheet, and then slice the double roll into thin individual pieces. The direct heat from the lower oven elements crisps the base of these intricate shapes perfectly, giving you a flaky snack with a rich garlic flavour.
Fiery Jalapeno And Cheddar Straws
When the game gets tense and people want something to mindlessly snack on, a massive batch of spicy cheese straws is exactly what you need. Roll out your pastry sheet and brush it with a little bit of melted butter before covering the entire thing in a thick layer of sharp cheddar cheese and finely chopped pickled jalapenos. Fold the pastry sheet directly in half to trap the filling inside and use a rolling pin to gently press the layers together before cutting it into long thin strips. Twist each strip a few times to make a spiral shape and lay them out evenly on your baking tray. The hot circulating air lifts the pastry layers and toasts the cheese until it forms a really crunchy stick that goes perfectly with cold drinks.
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Sweet Apple And Cinnamon Turnovers
Every party menu needs at least one sweet option to balance out all the heavy savoury snacks, and these fruity turnovers hit the spot perfectly as the game wraps up. Chop a couple of sweet apples into tiny pieces and mix them with a spoonful of brown sugar, a pinch of ground cinnamon and a quick squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Spoon the spiced fruit onto small pastry squares, fold them over into neat rectangles and cut a couple of tiny slits on the top of the dough to let the steam out. As they bake, the sugar melts down into a thick syrup that coats the soft fruit while the outside puffs up into a very light and buttery shell. They taste fantastic served warm with a quick drizzle of honey over the top.
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