Chicken and Mushroom Rolls vs phyllo fail-o

Phyllo pastry.  I have a problem with it.  I can never get it to come out right; I feel like I ought to be using a lot more than I do, because it's so thin and whatever I'm wrapping in it is inevitably going to leak or the wrapping's going to break.

These tasty little rolls use phyllo pastry.

There were, inevitably, some ruptures.

That said, don't give up on them just because of their wrapping - I think they'd be just as good (or better) wrapped in puff pastry instead.  Side note: since my other two top picks for a derby name were taken, I am now liking the idea of the name "Rough Pastry" (or "Ruff Pastry," although that sounds like a dog name maybe), although I'm not trying out anymore and will never use the name.

Let's get back to the Chicken and Mushroom Rolls.  Despite the structural problems, they are really delicious!  The filling is, obviously, chicken and mushroom, in a creamy mustardy sauce, which gives them a little zing - otherwise, they'd be kind of bland, I think.

So here's what I think you should do.  If you're having a few people over - maybe once the summer calms down a little and turning on the oven isn't a horrifying idea - throw down these bad boys.  Rather than using a couple sheets of phyllo to wrap them, though, use a sheet of puff pastry!  It will make them a fatter roll and you'll have an easier time closing the ends, as well, but it will probably be a little less shatteringly crisp and have a soft inside once you crunch through the outer layer.

For me, cooking has a lot to do with getting around the things you're bad at - either by learning to be good at them, which in a lot of cases (for instance, risotto - as I mentioned in my post about it a few weeks back) turn out to be easy or have tricks to simplify them, or by finding substitutions so that I don't have to fail or eat things I hate.  You'll see me substituting my way around cilantro a lot, for instance - the smell or chemical or whatever it is that's released when you chop it makes my face hurt a whole lot, so I want to avoid subjecting myself to that!  So here, yeah, I used the phyllo that I have trouble with, but I know it will be fantastic slightly different - that's part of cooking, for me, too, that knowing what will work and what won't work.

Want to do something that you know will work? Make these Chicken and Mushroom Rolls - but with puff pastry instead of phyllo, haha.