Puffed Pastry and Denial

Join me as I help myself write my memoir by reimagining nostalgic foods.

It’s my birthday- which means it’s also the first day of my “Write a Book in 40 days challenge”. I decided that as I write my memoir, it would be nice to get real immersive in my life at the time I was writing about. Essentially it’ll be some combination of method acting and just triggering the shit out of myself. The whole process reminds me of how I used to go on long walks while I was pregnant to help the contractions ramp up. Giving birth is much like writing memoirs I guess.

Anyway, today’s recipe is a decadent number. I have a history of disordered eating so I remember coping with food more the worse my life got. At times the only great part of being married was that I had someone to hold my hand while we gorged on feelings. We couldn’t see our emotions over our own self-hatred and cream cheese consumption. Paired with binges of iceberg lettuce and P90X, we didn’t look sad. We were the great pretenders.

These cream cheese puff pastry numbers feel like what I’d eat now instead of binging on crab rangoons. Slightly less greasy, still with a decadent flair from the cream cheese, and just ever so slightly kicked up with flavor. The pre-made shells keep them unfussy. And the salmon says, “I’m old enough to care about my Omega 3 intake now”

Anyhoo, thanks for celebrating the start of my memoir journey with me today. Recipe is below!

Everything Creamy Salmon Shells

Ingredients

• 1 8oz block of cream cheese
• 5 ounce salmon portion
• Package of 14 frozen phyllo shells
• 1 tbsp finely chopped chives
• 1/2 tsp garlic paste
• Everything Bagel Seasoning
• Juice of half a lemon
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Season the salmon with salt and pepper.
2. Bake salmon until done. I recommend an air fryer for 7–9 minutes, but a conventional oven would also suffice.
3. Shred salmon and combine with softened cream cheese, garlic paste, chopped chives, lemon juice, dash of Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Combine until well integrated.
4. Pipe or spoon mixture into phyllo cups.
5. Top with Everything bagel seasoning and lightly toast in air fryer for 2 minutes or until warmed through, being careful not to burn the seeds in the seasoning.
6. Serve and enjoy!