Korean Emmentaler Pastry Bites with Gochujang Cantaloupe and Ham
This was my entry for the Gloria Ferrer “Glorious Bites” Challenge!! The decisions were made by the judges and sadly I was not selected as a semi-finalist. The announcements came out Sept 2nd while I was in the middle of working at the Oregon State Fair. I managed to check my phone long enough to see that many of my talented foodie friends were selected to compete. I will be cheering all of them one as they cook off for $5000.00.
The good news is, I have a new tasty appetizer that is so beautiful to serve and so delicious to bite!! Please enjoy one for yourself.
Korean Emmentaler Pastry Bites with Gochujang Cantaloupe and Ham
Number of servings: 8
See Detailed Nutrition Info on
A flavorful mix of Emmentaler cheese, Korean spice, fruit, ham and light puffy pastry.The perfect bite for any party!!
Ingredients
- 16- ¾” cubed emmentaler cheese, approximately 4.5 ounces
- ½ cup jarred Korean BBQ Sauce, divided
- 16- ¾” cubed cantaloupe pieces, approximately 1 cup
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon gochujang chili paste
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1 package puff pastry, thawed in the refrigerator
- 1 egg, beaten
- 16- 2 ½” rings thin deli ham (approximately 4 oz if buying from the deli cut or 8 oz ham package of the prepackaged ham
- 2 green onion, thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds
- 16 toothpick skewers (3 inch style)
- 2 ½ in cookie cutter ring
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, toss the cheese cubes in several tablespoons of the Korean BBQ sauce. Unroll the thawed but chilled puff pastry and cut 16-2 ½” circles with the cookie cutter. Put a piece of cheese into the center of each pastry circle. Wrap the pastry around the cheese and place on the baking sheet seam side down. Repeat until all 16 pastry bites are done then brush them with the beaten egg.
- Bake in the oven for 13 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
- While the pastry bites are baking, add the honey, unsalted butter and gochujang chili paste to a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add the cantaloupe pieces and sauté for several minutes, continually but gently stirring to coat the cantaloupe with the spicy sauce.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and set aside.
- When the pastry bites are done baking, remove and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before assembling the appetizer.
- While the pastry bites cool, drizzle some of the Korean BBQ sauce onto a serving plate. (put some of the Korean BBQ sauce into a plastic ziplock bag, snip one of the corner ends and this will make for a great clean drizzle).
- Assemble the appetizer by skewering a piece of the cantaloupe and a piece of ham that has been folded in half twice to create a small ¼ size.
- If some of the cheese has spread out of the pastry and is sticking to the pastry, just take a small pairing knife and trim it away. Take the pastry off the baking sheet and add a skewer to the top of each piece. Arrange the bites onto the serving platter that was drizzled with the Korean BBQ sauce.
- Top each appetizer with a small amount of Korean BBQ sauce and a sprinkling of black sesame seeds. Garnish the tray with the cut green onions and serve!!
