puff puff give

our current routine has me with the bean in the living room to get her down for her afternoon nap right as giada's show on the food network is on.  i've really come to like the show despite that annoying grin of hers, and have drooled over lots and lots of her recipes (which all seem to be pretty easy to make).  this, of course, is good and bad - depending on whether or not i've eaten lunch yet.  heh.

on a recent episode, she put together this awesome-looking sandwich that i had to have.  like, i was gonna die if i didn't make it and try it for myself right away.  and the bonus - i knew the hub would dig it, too.  that man loves him some sandwiches, and this particular one included a twist on your typical bread-and-meat concoction:

like my le creuset french oven a few weeks ago, i'd never worked with puff pastry until now.  i know, i know - that's just nutty.  anyway, i pulled a sheet of the stuff out and cut it into six pieces to make two sandwiches.  as per giada's instructions, i poked them with a fork, covered it with a piece of parchment and another cookie sheet, and put it in the oven to bake till it was all golden and pretty.

i busted out my grill pan to make the chicken:

cooked up some bacon in the oven (i like doing the twisty thing, and baking it is so much easier and less messy than frying it in a pan):

in addition to the bit of cayenne pepper in the mayo, i tossed in a few dashes of garlic salt.  i was afraid i'd underseasoned the chicken, so this would make up for it.  hopefully.

when everything was all ready, i made up a little assembly line and got to work.  a bit of mayo on the puff pastry, then some chicken slices, avocado for the hub (not for me.  you know better), the bacon, some fresh spinach, another piece of pastry, and repeat.

doesn't it look pretty?  i was pretty pleased with myself, and the validation whore in me required the hub to "mmmm" and "aaaah" over it.  although he either knows better or was really bowled over by the presentation of this sandwich, because i didn't even have to prompt him for praise.

i think the teen will like this, too, so it's on the menu for this week.  except that i can't find any puff pastry anywhere.  i hit up trader joe's based on a recommendation from my friend tater, but the employees there told me that it was a seasonal item, only available during the holidays.

bah!  i wonder how difficult it is to make my own puff pastry.  hmmmmmm.