Crescent Chicken Pockets

Do you remember in my last post that I made a double batch of chicken? Here's why! Last night, Darren and I made crescent chicken pockets. They are a combination of some recipe I found in a cookbook of my mother's that I can't remember, and a sandwich that I used to get at a place called Quinton's in Columbia, Missouri. The original recipe for chicken crescent roll-ups was kind of bland, so I fixed it!

You will need:
1-1.5 lb. chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
2 bell peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 cans crescent rolls (without seams, if you can find them)
8 oz. block of cream cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
red pepper, paprika, and cayenne, to taste
1/2 c. grated cheese (optional)
2-3 T. oil

I chop everything first, because that's how I roll. I place the chicken in a gallon ziplock bag with 1-2 tablespoons of oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper (Remember I cheated and did this with 2.5 pounds of chicken for the last recipe, and I saved half of it for this recipe). It seemed a little weird to me when I started doing this, but coating the meat (whatever meat I'm grilling, sauteing, or skillet-browning) lightly with oil keeps the meat from sticking and somehow locks in the delicious meat juices that keep it tender. Adding the salt and pepper at this point helps the spices stick to the meat.

Cook the vegetables in about one tablespoon of oil over medium heat. I usually start the onions and let those cook a few minutes before adding the peppers.

Once the onion are starting to get a little clear (3-5 minutes), I add in the bell peppers and stir or toss it all around (Action shot!).

Allow the peppers to cook for another 3-5 minutes, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and then add the chicken. I let the vegetables cook a bit longer on this one, because I precooked the chicken. Anyway, once the vegetables were almost to the desired tenderness, I added the chicken and let it heat through. To speed this process a bit, I used a lid to cook and steam.

And by lid, I mean a second skillet inverted over the first one. =)

Once the chicken was heated through, I reduced the heat to low and added a block of cream cheese to the pan. I also turned on the oven to preheat it to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Stir to melt the cream cheese and evenly coat the chicken and vegetables.

Then add spices to your taste. I don't measure, but I know that I want my cream cheese to have a nice, orange cast to it.

Once the cream cheese is melted and spiced, and all of the chicken and veggie pieces are nicely coated, it's time to fill the pockets. Open the crescent sheets and cut each sheet into 3 or 4 rectangles depending on your preference. Put them on a baking sheet and fill each with a heaping spoonful of filling. You can add a sprinkle of grated cheese, if desired, although I skipped this step tonight.

Press the edges to seal, and poke a few holes in the top of each pocket so the steam can vent. Place them in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown, and eat up!

I'm trying something new with this post. If you'd like to print this recipe, try this google document. If you print it, please leave a comment and let us know how it works!