Messy Red Apron

Sausage Roll

If you're like me, eating a sausage roll leaves a pasty taste on the roof of your mouth and once you've finished  eating you notice the packaging has turned transparent from all the oil in the roll. Yuck!  So when I happened upon this recipe of a homemade sausage roll, I knew I had to try it.  I am always on the prowl for quick, easy, tasty & minimal ingredient recipes and this one ticks all the boxes.

I found this recipe on Better Homes and Gardens .

Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion - diced
1 carrot - grated
2 cloves garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons mixed herbs or Italian herbs
2 tablespoons tomato paste
500g beef mince
250g pork mince
2 eggs
1 cup bread crumbs plus extra
2 tablespoons soy sauce
puff pastry

Here's how to do it:
Heat oven to 200degrees.

Prepare onion & carrot, remove puff pastry from freezer.

Heat oil in fry pan, add onion & carrot.  Cook until just tender.  Add garlic, herbs & tomato paste & cook until mixture just starts to stick to pan.  Transfer to bowl.

Add mince & eggs to mixture and stir.  The more you stir the better the mince mixture will hold together.

Once combined, add breadcrumbs and soy sauce.  Mix through.

Roll mixture into logs about the length of your pastry sheet and about 3 cm thick.  Roll each log in extra breadcrumbs.  According to BH&G this will help soak up moisture and make a crispier pastry.

Lightly brush the sheet of pastry with an egg wash before putting on the mince.  Roll pastry until it overlaps itself by 1 cm, trim remaining pastry.  Place sausage roll seam side down onto a baking tray.  Repeat for remaining mixture.  Cut rolls in half (or desired size) and brush with egg wash.

Cook for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  Serve hot with lashings of tomato sauce.

My partner and I used two sheets of pastry (which created four medium sausage rolls) and used the remaining mince mixture to make meat balls.  Simply roll balls in breadcrumbs, place in fridge so that they'll hold together when frying.  Heat small amount of oil & cook in batches.  Drain.  To the pan add your favourite bottled sauce and start to warm through, add meat balls and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.  Add your favourite pasta (we had spaghetti), serve with Parmesan cheese.  Spaghetti and Meatballs - how can you go wrong!  Left overs anyone?

Enjoy!

Shirred Eggs

I had never heard of shirred eggs until I saw it on a program called The Essence of Emeril and it seemed pretty darn easy.  One lazy Saturday morning for brunch I thought I'd give it a shot.  Mind you, I didn't have all the ingredients and wasn't ready to get out of my pj's so I made do with what I had in the fridge. Here's my version:

Serves 2
Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon butter
2 large slices of ham
4 eggs
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons cream
4 tablespoons cheddar cheese - grated

Here's how to do it:
Heat oven to 190degrees.

Smear ramekins with butter and line each with a slice of ham, making sure it sits flat on the bottom.

Using 2 separate bowls, crack one egg into each.  At the same time, pour eggs into 1 ramekin.  The eggs should sit side by side.  Repeat with remaining eggs.  Season with salt & pepper.

Put the ramekins onto a baking tray and transfer to oven.  Bake for about 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and and lightly drizzle about 1-2 tablespoons of cream over each ramekin. Be careful not to break the yolk.  Sprinkle with cheese and place back in oven for another 12 minutes or until egg is cooked but yolk is still runny. If you don't like runny eggs, simply cook for a bit longer.

Take out of oven and serve hot with buttered toast soldiers.

This recipe is very rich, creamy & filling.

Next time we will definitely try using Swiss cheese & herbs.

Enjoy!

 

With a whopping 45.1g fat, the Hungry Jacks Alfresco Whopper is a heart stopper.  Although the combination of beef, bacon, cheese, salad, guacamole & aioli sauce sounded irresistible.

So one Saturday afternoon my partner and I found ourselves making a homemade version.  Let me just say it was so easy to make in fact it was even easier than driving through a drive thru! Oh and by the way, you still get the 'sauce dripping down your arm' like you do with all HJ burgers

Here's your shopping list:
Bread rolls
Avocado
Lettuce
Tomato
Cheese
Aioli (we like lime or carmelised onion)
Bacon rashes
Beef patties (premade from your local butcher or make your own)

Here's how to do it:
Using a griddle pan on high heat, sear your patty for about 2-3 minutes on each side. (this will give you that authentic Hungry Jacks grilled looked)  Reduce to medium heat and depending on the thickness of your patty continue to cook for another 4 minutes or so on each side.  Add bacon to the pan and cook to desired crispness.

While your patty is 'flame grilling', mash up your avocado, slice tomato & cheese and shred lettuce.  Now you're ready to build your Alfresco Whopper.

Starting on the base of the bun pile up your ingredients in the following order: patty, cheese, bacon, dollop of aioli, tomato, lettuce. Smear avocado on to the remaining half of bun and then put it avocado side down on top of lettuce. You're done!

So the next time you're thinking about getting the dreaded take-away for dinner, re think your choice.  It is much more healthier to make your own version from fresh ingredients and so much yummier!

Our version: