Friday Pie-Day: Hotdog Sausage Rolls

Oh man, these went a bit wrong!

I had this grand old plan to make delicate versions of sausage rolls, basically long dainty thin ones, to be nibbled at delicately. But this was sadly not to be the case.

Note to self: there is no such thing as a posh sausage roll.

Happily though, they are still yummy and will do just nicely for a party my housemate and I are having tomorrow. You cannot have a party without sausage rolls! (Even if they do look a bit mutated.)

But hey, I'm going to pretend that they were supposed to come out like this and thus name them as my Hotdog Sausage Rolls.

Enjoy!

Hotdog Sausage Rolls

Click on the recipe name for full details.

Makes 18-24 rolls, depending on how you cut them!

6 pork sausages, skinned
1 celery stick, finely chopped
2 tbsp red onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp sage
1 tbsp oregano
1 egg, beaten
500g puff pastry

1) Mix the sausagemeat, celery, onion and herbs in a large bowl.
2) Roll the pastry onto a floured surface into a long rectangle. Cut into 6 strips (roughly 3 x 12").
3) Spoon a thin strip of the filling along the middle of each strip.
4) Brush the egg on one side of the strip, then fold the pastry over to seal. Prick with a fork, brush with the top with egg, then cut each rolled strip into 3 or 4 rolls.
5) Bake at 220 degrees C for 15 mins, then reduce heat to 170 degrees C to bake for another 15 mins.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures.

Fancy a laugh at my other Hungry-Jenny-Faux-Pas?

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How Do You Know Whether You're a Food Snob?

Over the last year, I've developed an aversion to Italian chain restaurants. They're just so samey and boring. On the rare occasions I do end up going to one, like I did the other weekend, I always end up bitterly disappointed with what I get:

I thought I'd go for one of the 'special' dishes, i.e. not a pizza or pasta dish. To at least try something different. This salmon dish tasted ok, but it was presented very well and the salmon was dry. And for the same price, I thought begrudgingly, I could have found a much better quality meal at a nicer restaurant.

The funny thing is though, I used to love these chain restaurants, they were 'safe', you knew what you were getting and the prices were decent.

You might well argue that I am a snob for turning my nose up at these chains now but hold that thought and consider this.

Yes, I say NO to takeaway alot, but then again, I do appreciate a lardy plate of fish and chips every now and again.

I think MacDonalds and most fast food places are pretty evil but I absolutely love KFC.

If I find myself in a 'posh' restaurant, I tend to feel a bit out of place and like a naughty child amongst the grown-ups.

When dining out, I try to persuade the group to go somewhere we haven't been before - once I've been to a restaurant once, I feel like 'been there, done that'. But this is more to do with trying to find new experiences to blog about.

Some people make the assumption that because I write a food blog, I Know All Things Food. But to be honest, my knowledge is pretty basic (about food - and in general actually). I just like eating.

My friends have been raving about a new local Thai restaurant we've tried a couple of times. I've since come to the conclusion that because the restaurant is a takeaway as well, this must be why I found the dishes far too salty, and I'd rather not go back there again.

Sorry, but no.

So does this mean that I'm turning into a grown-up with more sophisticated tastes, or am I just becoming a food snob? Continue reading this post..

The Un-Chocolate Un-Marbled Orange Cake

Ah, this had so much promise.

My sister and I decided to make a chocolate orange marble cake over the weekend. But not only did it lack the marbled effect, it didn't taste of chocolate either!

So what went wrong?

We followed the sponge cake part of the recipe from this website to keep it simple. When it came to pouring the separate cake mixtures of orange and chocolate into the pan though, we weren't quite sure how to do it - so we just kind of took it in turns to dump alternate mixtures in. I used a chopstick to swirl it around a bit before putting it into the oven.

As you can see though, there was no marbling to be seen - more like random dark blobs acting like they're not meant to be there instead! It didn't help matters that the chocolate bits didn't taste very chocolatey. At all.

But if you ignore the fact that this was meant to be a chocolate orange marble cake, this was still a success - as it made for a delicious orange cake instead ;-)

Fancy a laugh at my other Hungry-Jenny-Faux-Pas?

More successful Hungry Jenny cakes here.
Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie-Day: Healthy(ish) Banocolate Pie Treats

This is a kind of healthy take on banoffee pie. Don't run a mile though - I know that trying to give guilty pleasures like this a lighter touch can often lead to disaster (Not-so Bakewell Tart anyone?)

But fear not, my Friday Pie-Day loving friends, these ones are edible!

They are easy enough to make, and because they are made individually, they are perfect little treats to dish up at a dinner party.

One pointer though that I must pass on about the prep...

I'm sure it may have been to do with my kitchen skills but it took ages to do the base of the pies. I lined 9 holes of the muffin tray with individual squares of clingfilm so that they could be lifted out easily after setting. It was quite a task to spoon the mixture into each hole and push up the sides evenly to create the pie cases, I tell you that!

I also found that the dates were quite strong so I have reduced it a little in the recipe below and suggest adding more almond instead - see what works for you.

The original plan was to top these with toffee shavings but I couldn't find the right kind of toffee anywhere to break up! This is why they are banocolate rather than banoffee pies ;-)

Banocolate Pie Treats

Click on the recipe name for full details.

1 large banana, sliced
300g Greek yogurt
250g ground almonds
150g dates
2 tbsp brown sugar
Some dark chocolate shavings

1) Whizz the dates and almonds in a food processor to a sticky paste.
Line a muffin tray with clingfilm and press the paste in to line 9 holes. Cover and put in the freezer for half an hour.
Pour the yogurt into a large bowl with the sugar on top. Sit in the fridge.
Remove the muffin tray from the freezer and put a couple of banana slices into the base of each.
Gently mix the sugar into the yogurt then spoon into each pie.
Top with another banana slice and some chocolate shavings.
Serve straight away or leave in the fridge until just ready to serve.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures.

Have a look at my other recipes! Continue reading this post..

Say NO to Takeaway: Make a Speedy Tikka Masala

I'm not the type to wait around for leave things cooking for ages waiting for the meat to soak up the sauce. It's okay if you're leaving it to marinade during your prep, or overnight in the fridge or whatever. I'm talking about when you're actually cooking, and having to stand around whilst it bubbles away. You twiddle your fingers and think 'GAH', why can't it just be done cooking already?

Thankfully, it's an easy problem to solve...

NO, don't call for a takeaway! Just use less sauce/stock in the first place. And if you really want to speed things up, use the old cornflour trick to thicken the sauce up instead of waiting for it to simmer through.

If you're worried about the meat not having enough flavour in it, sit it in some boiling water for a while first. This will stop it from drying out when you pan fry it in the sauce.

There are no exotic ingredients required to create that tikka masala flavourness either:

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
Half tsp turmeric
Half tsp paprika
Half tsp garam masala
Some grated ginger

If you're not the type to keep spices like this in your cupboard, then I urge you to go get them! I promise that you won't end up with a dusty shelf of unused and unloved spices. These are staple spices in my cupboard now and I use them all the time. So if you find yourself needing to use them up, come back to me for ideas ;-)

Speedy Turkey Tikka Masala

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1) Fry some red onion for a few minutes. Add 250g diced turkey to brown. Stir in the spices and ginger and toss to coat the turkey well.
2) Add a couple of chopped tomatoes, a tbsp tomato puree, 100g sweetcorn and 1 chopped pepper, simmering for 10 minutes.
3) Stir in 4tbsp each of natural yogurt and double cream, simmering for another 5 minutes.

If you liked this, you might want to try making these other takeaway alternatives too.

Have a look at my other recipes! Continue reading this post..

Create Your Own Pizza (complete with yeast-free crust)

I had a random urge to make a pizza the other day, but couldn't quite decide what one to do.

So I did a bit of everything...

As you can imagine, it was quite fiddly to make!

On the plus side, you don't have to wait around for the dough to rise here because there's no yeast needed :-)

Makes an 8" yeast-free pizza crust:

200g plain flour
75ml water
25ml olive oil
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt

1) Mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
2) Add the oil and begin to knead into a dough, gradually adding the water until it comes together.
3) Roll out the dough onto a floured surface, then brush with a little more oil.
4) Prick with a fork, then bake for 5 minutes at 220 degrees C.
5) Add your topping, then return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

And here are some toppings you might like to try...

Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella:

Smoked Sausage and Onion:

Aubergine and Pepper:

Mushroom, Sweetcorn and Broccoli:

Ham and Pineapple:

The tomato base is made by bringing some chopped tomatoes to the boil with garlic, oregano and finely chopped onion, and leaving to simmer for about half an hour. Allow it to cool completely before spreading onto your pizza base otherwise it will go soggy.

The white based sauce is simply cream cheese :-) If you've never tried it on a pizza before, you'll be pleasantly surprised how delicious it is!
Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie-Day: Scallop and Aubergine Spud Pie

I planned to do a crab and avocado pie with a creamy mash potoato topping this week. But I couldn't get hold of any fresh crab, and the avocados at the market were looking a bit mangled. I also wasn't really in the mood to do a massive dinner pie.

So I made a single-serving scallop and aubergine jacket potato pie instead.

Close enough?

The filling is kept simple with just some double cream and paprika to pep it up. I also mixed in some cream cheese in the mash potato topping which made it even tastier! This is belly-warming stuff.

Scallop and Aubergine Spud Pie

Click on the recipe name for full details.

1) Prick a large baking potato and microwave on high for about 5 minutes on each side, or until you can stick a skewer through.
2) Meanwhile, gently fry the 50g scallops and 50g diced aubergine in some olive oil. Add a chopped spring onion, followed by 2 tbsp double cream and some paprika.
3) Slice the top third off the potato. Gently scoop out the flesh from the bottom.
4) Mash the potato flesh in a separate bowl (including the potato top if you wish) with a tbsp cream cheese.
5) Spoon the scallop mixture into the potato shell and top with the mash.
6) Grill for 5-8 minutes to get a nice crisp topping.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures.

Have a look at my other recipes! Continue reading this post..