Nanna's Sausage Rolls

Having spent the weekend with my Nanna, it seemed only fair to share with you, our baking experiences!

This recipe is a bit of a cheat (we didn't make our own pastry), due to time.

20 mins

Makes 16-20 small

Ingredients
375g Sausage Meat
1 Puff-Pastry Pre-Rolled
1 Egg


Method
Preheat oven at 200'C
Lay out the Pastry.
Cut the Pastry in half horizontally.
Half your Sausage Meat (1 for each horizontal strip).
Stretch and roll the meat to fit the pastry strip.
Fold over the pastry and flatten the long side with a fork (like around the edge of a pie).
Cut your long sausage roll into bite-size pieces (or large ones if you like).
Lightly score the top of your rolls with a knife.
Transfer onto a lined baking tray.
Glaze them with beaten Egg.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Leave to cool.

Sausage Casserole

Today my darling J decided to make a sausage casserole for our dinner, once again we used the slow cooker. As you will notice, J likes to add a lot of...stuff to his food. Feel free to go with the basics! 

Another quick and easy meal!

Serves 2

6-8 hours (slow cooker)

Ingredients:

4 Sausages

2 Spring Onions

1 Stick of Celery

1 Red Pepper

1 large carrot

1/2 Sprig Broccoli

Dash of Salt

Dash of Pepper

1 tsp Mustard

Dash of Oregano 

1 can Chopped Tomatoes

Handful of finely chopped walnuts

200ml water

2 Pork Stock Cubes

Dash of Cumin 

Dash of Cinnamon

Chop all of your vegetables and Walnuts and them to your pot.

Cook off your sausages and chop them into bite size pieces before adding to the pot.

Add the chopped tomatoes to the pot, but keep the empty tin.

Now with the tin, add the boiling water, stock cubes, Cinnamon, Cumin, Oregano, Salt, Pepper and Mustard. (making a tasty broth)

Add your funky broth to the pot.

Stick your slow cooker on LOW for 6-8 hours.

J would like to warn you, that after making your broth in the Tomato tin, that it will now be hot, so please use a tea towel for protection! 

He calls this dish a wet summer warmer! 

Enjoy!

Pork Chop Chow-Stew

We have named this 'Pork Chop Chow Stew' because it is a cross between a stew and pork chow mein. It is ever so simple, but does require a slow cooker, however you could use a large crock-pot on the stove/oven.

It was absolutely delicious! I wish we had made double!

Serves 2-3

6-8 hours (slow cooker)

Ingredients:

2 Boneless Pork Chops

1 Sprig Broccoli

1 Celery Stick

1 Red Pepper

3 Spring onions

2-3 Handfuls of beansprouts

Handful of Baby Carrots (or 1 Large)

1 Pork Stock Cube

200ml Boiling water

125g Plum Sauce

Quick and simple- chop up all the veg and chuck it into your pot, add the Bean sprouts.

Chop your meat and mix it into the pot. 

In a jug, mix the stock with boiling water and add the plum sauce.

Stir it into the pot.

Put on a LOW heat setting on your slow cooker, for 6-8 hours.

Simple. Yummy. Perfect to come home to after a long day at work! Enjoy!

Pork Tenderloin (Bacon & Apple Sauce)

At the supermarket J bought a reduced Pork Tenderloin. Neither one of us had cooked one before, but this is how we did it! It was delicious, served with a variety of vegetables.

Don't worry about the 'burning' on the photograph, its just the sauce on the tin foil.

Serves 2-3

1hr

Ingredients:

Pork Tenderloin

Beef or Chicken stock cubes

4-6 slices of bacon

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup Apple Juice

Heaped tsp Mustard

2-3 dashes of Cinnamon

Oven to 190'C

The Meat:

Line a baking tray with tin foil.

Trim any excess fat off the Tenderloin.

Cover the meat in crushed up stock cubes and wrap in bacon.

Cook for 30-40 minutes.

The Sauce:

Put Brown Sugar, Apple Juice, Mustard and Cinnamon into a saucepan and bring to the boil.

Pour it over the meat after allotted cooking time and cook for another 10 minutes.

Leave to rest for a few minutes before serving.

Paleo Cookies - Choc or Nuts

I tried a slightly different style of baking- using only natural ingredients so no processed sugar, butter, wheat etc. A diet known as 'Paleo' gave me a recipe which I adapted slightly.  They are very yummy, you would never know they are Paleo! 

I have included both the nuts and the chocolate in the recipe, either use both or pick one, remember though, that when taking a measurement out you must substitute it with something else!

[ photo coming soon ]

Ingredients:

1 & 1/4 cup Ground Almonds

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 cup Honey

1-2 tsp Water

1/8 cup Almond oil (any oil will do)

1tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 cup Dark Chocolate Chips / 1/4 cup Walnuts or Almonds

Oven 190'C

Mix the Ground Almonds, Salt and Baking Powder together in a large bowl.

Add the oil, vanilla Extract and Honey.

Mix in your Chocolate Chips or Nuts.

Using your hands, scoop the mixture in balls or just use a spoon to dollop some onto a lined baking tray.

Bake for 6 minutes, then take out and LIGHTLY flatten them, as they will not spread out themselves.

Bake for a further 6 to 10 minutes, then leave to cool before eating.

Little Ducky Biscuits

Using a basic biscuit recipe and the new cutter set I received for Christmas, I decided to use the Duck shape and have some fun with icing too! 

They are sooo cute!

Ingredients:

100g Butter

100g Caster Sugar

175g Plain Flour

1 Egg Yolk

Water

Icing Sugar

Yellow Food Colouring

Black writing Icing.

Oven- 160'C

Mix the butter, sugar and flour till like breadcrumbs, then add the egg.

Mix till a dough, then put it into the fridge for 15 minutes (may as well wash up while you wait).

On a floured surface, roll out the dough and cut out the duck shapes.

Place them carefully onto a floured baking sheet on your tray and bake for 20 mins.

Leave to cool.

Make up your icing by adding around 4 tablespoons of Icing Sugar to a bowl and slowly adding water till it is a spreadable consistency. Also add your colouring, not too much, just a drop.

Use a knife to carefully spread the yellow icing onto your biscuits. Leave to set.

Using the writing icing, go around the outline of your biscuits and use a dollop for the eye.

Again, leave to set then enjoy!

Heart Shaped Jammy-Dodgers

I was feeling rather creative, so dug around for some pastry cutters. I found a heart shaped cutter and proceeded to bake Jammy-Dodgers. Very simple, but require a little patience.

Makes 10-20

Ingredients:
175g Plain Flour
125g Butter
50g Light Muscavado Sugar
2tsp ground ginger
Raspberry Jam


Preheat oven to 180'C/360'F/Gas Mark 4


Place flour and butter into a large bowl and rub till breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar and ginger and mix till sticky.
Tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead into a smooth ball. Place into the fridge for 10 mins (why not wash up while you wait).
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out onto a floured surface ( approx 5mm).
Use your cutter, leave half of them full, but on the other half use a sharp knife and your artistic flare to cute a hole (like photograph above).
Put them onto a lined baking tray and Bake for 20 mins, till golden.
Leave to cool, spread a little jam in the center of the 'full' biscuit and stick the 'holey' biscuit on top. 
Leave to set for a few minutes then EAT!