Chicken Breasts cooked in Puff Pastry

Many years before the heritage industry 'took off' there existed at Botallack, near St Just in West Cornwall, The Count House – a Folk Club of treasured memory where the likes of John the Fish and Brenda Wootton regularly enthralled the crowds.  Brenda was only 65 when she died, but I'm proud to say whenever I sing Lamorna (one of my favourites) I can still sense her lovely high voice singing along with me.

Some time after the folk club closed The Count House became a restaurant, run by Ian and Ann Long and I began my long association with the place. Ann's cooking was superb and she deservedly went on to become a Master Chef. One of her recipes became great favourites of ours – Chicken Breasts spread with Crabmeat, cooked in Puff Pastry and served with a smooth Curry Sauce.

Now the restaurant too has passed into memory and the building has been 'restored' by the National Trust to something like its appearance in the days of copper and tin mining.  But, as anyone invited to dine with us will know, Ann's recipes live on, thanks to her book Ann Long's Dinner Party. I'm proud to say that I have a signed copy.

My own version of Chicken Breasts cooked in Puff Pastry is simpler than Ann's and slightly less calorific but the credit for it is all hers. So (with quantities for two people) here we go...

Curry sauce:
knob of butter
¼ onion, chopped
½ teaspoon of Easy Garlic
teaspoon of curry powder
tablespoon of mango chutney
1 apple, chopped
1 banana, sliced
¼ pint chicken stock

Stick all the ingredients in a pan and boil until the onions soften, liquidise then return to the cleaned saucepan to keep warm. If it's a bit thick, just add a little water.

Chicken and puff pastry:
You'll need one skinned chicken breast, 60g of puff pastry and ½ tin (60g) of crabmeat per person. I guess many folk would buy puff pastry but we much prefer to make our own 'rough puff'. Recipes are quite easy to find; basically all you need is pastry, knobs of butter, a fridge, a rolling pin and a plastic bag.

Roll the puff pastry as thin as you can, then divide it into individual portions. Chop each chicken breast in half then build a chicken/crabmeat/chicken mountain in the middle of the pastry. Any remaining crabmeat can be popped on top or packed around the sides. You may spot that on this occasion I used tuna – not quite as tasty but still pretty good. Season the lot with a little black pepper.

Fold up the puff pastry and crimp it to make a little pastry parcel. Place the two parcels in a baking dish, then brush them with egg yoke.

Cook at 220°C for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Voila!