It's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll

When we were in Sweden, sometimes I craved a good old Aussie sausage roll. Not sure why really, but maybe it was the fact that the sausages, or 'korv' as they are known there were disappointing. Really.....so close to Germany but so far from wurst it was unbelievable. When I got back here, the craving was well and truly stifled, what with all the other great food to get back into, so I'm not sure that I have actually had a sausage roll until now. We all know the slight worry of what we might be consuming with store bought meaty products like sausage rolls and pies, so as I'm not that into pre-packaged/made/processed food and my herb garden is doing pretty well, I thought I'd give it a go myself and the results were pretty darn good. I did cheat a little this time with frozen puff pastry, but that is easily rectified and will be the next thing to try with this recipe.

Ingredients
300-400g beef (I had some cheapish steak)
1 egg
handful of breadcrumbs
7-8 sage leaves
5-6 sprigs of dried oregano (I had dried a bunch from the garden and just shook it into the mixture but fresh would be good too- just use more if it)
2 tbs parsley chopped
squirt of tomato sauce
1 egg whisked extra for basting
1 or 2 sheets of puff pastry

Method
* Preheat oven at about 180 degrees
* I have some beef left over from the day before so I put it in the food processor to mince
* Mix minced meat with chopped herbs, egg, breadcrumbs and tomato sauce
* Cut sheet of pastry into thirds then place meat mixture in a long sausage down the length of each third and roll up
* Brush top with egg and bake for about half an hour

doin it for the kids

along with my naturopath encouraging me to change my diet. so is my g.p.... i am on a kind of vegan/candida diet..doesn't that sound awesome!!!
so i'm becoming a bit of a hippy health freak.
and this is what i eat for breakfast..... enjoy!!!!

quinoa porridge with bananas, strawberries, cinnamon and warm honey

quinoa [pronounced KEEN-wah] is a fantastic grain. high in protein, lysine, magnesium, iron and is gluten free. so this little bowl of porridge packs a punch! you can cook it the same way you do for rice but you must rinse the grain well.

this makes 1 serve so double the quantity for two and so on. this combo is my fav but if in season blueberries are gold! you can use honey instead of maple syrup. oh and please cook it on the stove as to a microwave...it tastes a whole lot better!

1/2 cup quinoa* [or replaced with organic rolled oats]

1/2 cup water

1/2 milk rice, cow or soy

1/2 banana, sliced

few strawberries, sliced

maple syrup to drizzle
ground cinnamon

extra milk to serve

*quinoa needs to be rinsed well or alternatively you can soak for a couple of hours or even overnight then rinse and drain.

put grains, water and milk into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat.

bring the mixture to the boil, cover and reduce heat to a slow simmer for about 10-15 mins

if using oats do not cover just stir constantly, cook for 5-10 minutes until the oats are tender.

place in a deep bowl top with fruit. drizzle with syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon. i like it with an extra splash of milk so i can eat it straight away without burning my mouth!

variation: stewed apples and cinnamon - place diced apple into a saucepan when starting the porridge. with 2 tablespoons of water, a drizzle of either honey or maple sryup and a sprinkle of cinnamon. cover and cook on gentle heat for about 5-10 mins until apple is soft.

muesli bars

for the quick breakfast start and an extremely good snack for the li'l ones is my own homemade muesli made into a bar. good for those mornings you don't even have time to make yourself a cuppa... so just grab one of these and go!

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup bran

1/2 cup LSA*

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup sesame seeds

2 cups dried fruit roughly chopped. i used figs, dates and barberries

1/2 cup shredded coconut

2/3 cup of honey or rice syrup

1/3 cup natural peanut butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

pre heat oven at 175 deg C and lightly grease an 11" x 7" tray

mix all dry ingredients into a large bowl

put honey, peanut butter and oil into a small saucepan and stir to combine over low heat.

once at a runny consistency pour over dry ingredients and mix well.

the mixture should be a sticky mess.

press mixture into tray and smooth out evenly with the back of a spoon.

place in oven and cook for 10-15 mins till golden brown

allow to cool then cut into bars, wrap individually with baking paper and keep in fridge if hot weather.

*LSA is Linseed (Flaxseed), Sunflower and Almond mix, is used to provide essential fatty acids, soluble fibre and other nutrients. LSA is prepared by grinding up 3 parts Linseed, 2 parts Sunflower seed and one part Almond.

Lamb pita pockets

This is one of John's specialties but I never complain when he wants to make it as I am a bit of a lamb fan and this is one of the best ways to have it. It is not always possible to get lamb and this recipe works well with beef mince too, but the lamb mint combo is so heavenly that it really is worth seeking out lamb. You also need to have lots of good mint for this recipe too.


Lambballs
300-400g of lamb mince
1 egg
1 small spanish onion finely chopped (if we have a large red onion we will use half here and half in the salad)
1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 cup chopped fresh mint
Mix everything together and shape into golf ball size meatballs with wet hands. Cook in pan or on barby.


Mint Salad
3 large tomatoes sliced
1 small spanish onion finely sliced
a handful of fresh mint leaves
juice of one lemon
slurp of good olive oil

Serve on halved pita pockets and top with natural yoghurt. Delish.....

In the cal-zone

After a busy months end (hmmmm too many holidays), I am cheating a little here and using some of an old post for ingredients and method. You may remember the very first entry for pizza,
and that the amount of dough is quite substantial. Well the great news is the dough freezes well and can be used for other tasty treats such as this calzone. You can also use some of the sauce in the filling too. Love a meal with pre-prepared yet homemade ingredients......

Dough
See method for pizza entry

Filling
This is the fun and creative part! This can be totally up to your taste, or even what you may have in the house! Here are just two of the standard combos we use in our place/

Veg- Mix spinach, fetta, parmesan, mushrooms, black olives and a splash of tommy sauce also on pizza page

Meaty- Any ham, prosciutto, (ground or thinly sliced)lamb or beef, mixed with spinach, cheeses, mushrooms, olives and of course the splash of tommy sauce

Putting it all together

* So you roll out your dough on a large floured surface.
* Then get a small(ish) dinner plate and cut out as many dough circles as you need.
* Once the rounds are made, you spoon about two tablespoons of the filling mixture into the middle of each round.
* Fold the rounds in half and pinch and fold round edges together.
* Brush top with egg or even just a little olive oil

* Place onto baking tray and put in 180- 200 degree oven for about 15-20 mins until each calzone in a lovely golden colour.
* When you take them out drizzle with a bit of yum e.v.o.o especially in the crease, and enjoy as a snack on its own or with a crispy rocket based salad for a main meal.
Enjoy

bean around the block....

I'm torn between these breakfast beans and another recipe i have adapted from Stephanie Alexander's A Cook's Companion. I guess this dish is a more 'hearty' one than Stephanie's, which uses cannellini beans and artichokes. It has more of an antipasto vibe.

Although there is breakfast in the title these beans can be eaten any time of day. A bowl of these for dinner with some fresh soft bread and some shavings of parmesan is a staple at our house.

This is a mega serve..you can halve all measurements and it will serve approx. 4 peeps. But i like to make this amount, eat a bit and freeze the rest [omitting the olives and parsley and stirring them in once reheated]. Frozen in single serves they are ready for those hangover mornings when you need the beans but could not stomach the cooking process...And if used for that purpose i suggest a poached egg and a salty hashbrown!!

Breakfast Beans

inspired by jamie oliver's humble beans recipe and 'henry's beans' served at a minor place cafe in brunswick.

500gms white beans -haricot, cannellini, lima...your choice
6 cloves of garlic -unpeeled
6 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of rosemary
6 bay leaves
2 small-medium potatoes -peeled and halved
4 cherry tomatoes or 2 large ones
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar
parsley
olives -kalamata/black
slices of sour dough -for toast

Drain the soaked beans and give them a good rinse.
Place them in a large, deep pot and cover them with cold water.
Add the garlic, sprigs of thyme and rosemary, bay leaves, potato and tomatoes.
Put the pot on the stove and at med-high heat slowly bring to the boil. Once at boil turn the heat to med-low, cover with a lid and simmer very gently for 45 minutes to an hour. This will depend on whether you are using fresh or dried. You want the beans to be soft and cooked through. It could take longer -so be patient.
Skim off the top when necessary, topping up with boiling water if you need to. Do not use cold water as this will stop the cooking process...Have the kettle boiled and ready to go!
When the beans are cooked drain them in a colander, reserving the cooking water.
Remove the garlic, herbs, potato and tomatoes from the beans. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and in a separate bowl mash them with the tomatoes and potatoes.
Return the beans to the pot, pour the cooking water to cover them halfway up and add the mash. Season well with salt and pepper and a few generous glugs of extra virgin olive oil and a few splashes of vinegar. Stir in the olives and parsley.
Serve on some toasted bread with cracked pepper and a decent drizzle of e.v.o.o ...... yum!

Yummy Pizza

Not really sure of how this will go kiddies, first cab off the rank and all. At least it will be down the page very soon. But we have to move house over the next couple of weeks so thought I should post a tried and tasty Friday night favourite of ours. The pizza base is a hybrid of a few different recipes that has evolved after some trial and error (oh and a wicked dining holiday in Italy). The sauce is based on a Jamie Oliver recipe that I saw on one of his TV shows once.....
The base can be made with gluten free flour.

Pizza Dough
1000g of plain flour
550mls tepid water
1 sachet of yeast
4 tbs olive oil
Pinch of salt
Optional 1tbs sugar (castor)
* this makes a huge amount of dough but it freezes well and can be used for calzone too. Another recipe for that will follow (sometime soon)

Process
Sift flour, salt and sugar if used onto a clean bench surface.
Make well in the middle and add a small amount of H2O, yeast and olive oil
Mix slowly with fork then start bringing in flour from the sides of well , keep adding water slowly
When it becomes too hard to mix with fork use your hands.
You may not need to use all the water
Kneed dough for about 5-6 minutes until it is elasticy
Place in large bowl, cover with damp cloth and place in warm place for about 45 minutes so it can rise to about double its size.


When you are ready to build your pizza you can flatten the base any way you like, tossing it in the air, stretching it into shape. But I am not a big stickler for shape and like my pizza base pretty thin so I use a rolling pin and it ends up in all kinds of shapes.

Pizza (tommy) sauce
1 large onion (2 small)
3 cloves of garlic
Fresh basil
2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Process
Roughly chop onion and garlic
Sweat onion in pan, then add garlic, basil and tomatoes
Roughly mash tomatoes and let simmer for about 10 minutes
Push mixture through sieve so there is a fragrant tomato sauce left (throw chunks away)

Put this sauce back into pan and simmer (maybe another 10 minutes) until reduced to a nice thick sauce.

Topping
Whatever you like!!
A great veggie pizza is sauteed zucchini in garlic, mushrooms, roasted capsicum, onion, olives and mozzarella, Artichoke is always another tasty topping too.

Our fav (this month) is topping the base with tommy sauce and mozzarella, putting it in a really hot oven (250° C) as is. When it is beautiful and golden take it out of the oven, it is topped with prosciutto and rocket (dressed with fresh lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper).
Bellissimo!