Mushroom Crescents

While I really love baking, I don't often bake savoury things - and I really should more often. At least I can eat the savoury things as part of a meal, plus savoury baked goods are often delicious. Like these mushroom crescents. And delicious doesn't begin to describe them. Unshareable would be a better description (and I'm sure that isn't actually a word) as it will be hard to part with even one of these yummy little things.

The mushroom/onion/herb filling is extremely addictive. It's yummy as the filling in these little pastries, and it's yummy just eaten with a spoon. The pastry is really easy to make and easy to work with, which was great for me because usually I hate rolling out dough. And the pastry was super tasty and slightly flakey and really good. Combine the filling and the dough, incredibly yummy as I've already said.

I know I'll be making these again, and I'll be making the filling again for other purposes and trying other fillings as well. So far the ones I want to try are brie & pears, roasted garlic & feta, and caramelized onions and aged cheddar. Let me know if you have any other suggestions! Sadly I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the crescents.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Pasta with Portobello Mushrooms in Wine Sauce
Portobello Fettuccine with Spinach Pesto, Roasted Peppers and Romano Cheese
French Barley Salad
Caramelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar Muffins

Mushroom Crescents
Adapted from The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book

Makes about 40 pieces.

Filling
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp dried thyme
3/4 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups finely chopped portobello mushrooms
1 1/2 cups finely chopped button mushrooms
1/3 cup white wine

Pastry
4 oz (125 g) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten

In large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; fry onion, garlic, thyme, sage, pepper and salt, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high. Add portobello and button mushrooms; fry, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Stir in wine, scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan. Cook until liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

Pastry
In large bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until fluffy. Stir in flour until dough begins to form; knead in bowl until smooth. Divide dough in half; flatten into 2 discs. Wrap; refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

On lightly floured surface, roll out each disc into 10 inch (25 cm) circle. With 2 1/2 inch (6 cm) round cookie cutter, cut out circles, rerolling scraps. Working with 6 circles at a time, brush edges lightly with egg. Place 1 tsp (5 mL) of the filling in centre of each; fold dough over filling, pinching edges to seal. Place, 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart, on baking sheet. (Can be frozen at this point.) Brush tops with remaining egg.

Bake in centre of 400F oven until light golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.