Chicken Wellington

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I was married to the best man ever.  We spent our honeymoon in Yellowstone National Park.  One night, we went to this little restaraunt called Bullwinkle's Saloon.  I ordered Chicken Wellington, which I had never had before.  It looked pretty tasty.  I ordered it and loved it.  Back then, I was not a good cook, and I probably only owned 1 cookbook.  I hadn't the foggiest idea how to make this.  Well, almost 8 years later, I got some asparagus from my bountiful basket and remembered this dish.  I thought I'd try to recreate it.  I'm sure it's not even close, but it still turned out delicious! 

On a side note, my husband hates asparagus and picked it out.  A couple nights before this meal, he had a dream that he made this stuff called "Pojo."  It has chicken broth, beef broth, peas, and gelatin all mixed together.  *gag* While picking out the asparagus he said, "Remember that Pojo stuff I dreamed about?"  "Yes."  "Well, it tasted like asparagus in my dream."  Oh come on!  It's not that bad!  I'm going to make him some Pojo and fresh asparagus covered in Bernaise sauce and see which he'd prefer.  Chicken and beef broth jello with peas or asparagus?? 

 Chicken Wellington:
source: a faint memory in my head from a honeymoon
makes 3

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
monterey jack cheese
asparagus
2 chicken breasts
cream cheese (about 3 ounces
salt and pepper
bread crumbs
Bernaise Sauce

Once the puff pastry sheet is thawed, roll it out very thin.

 Use a pizza cutter to slice it into three equals rectangles.  Place slices of the monterey Jack cheese in the top third of each rectangle.

 Trim the asparagus to fit on the cheese.  I actually trimmed them a little more after taking this picture. 

 Top with the chicken breast.  When I made this, I actually only used one chicken breast.  It was one giant breast!  I sliced the bottm half off.  For the thicker top, I sliced it in half to thin it out a bit.  If you want more chicken in yours, you can use a whole breast.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper on them.

 Top the chicken with some cream cheese.

 Fold the bottom half of the puff pastry over the top portion with the chicken.  Fold the edges around and pinch them together to create a seam.  I used a pastry brush to put water along the seams to seal them a little better.  Repeat with the other two bundles.

 Place them seam side down on a greased baking sheet  Brush the tops with water and sprinkle some bread crumbs on the top.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 minutes or until golden brown and toasty on the top. 

While they are baking, make the Bernaise sauce.  I did mine from scratch, but a sauce packet from the store would be just as wonderful.  If you want the from-scratch recipe, let me know!  Serve the sauce over the top of the bundles.