Sausage rolls

[Ishbel]

SAUSAGE ROLLS

500g pork sausage meat - good quality
1 medium onion
500g shortcrust or puff pastry (puff is more traditional but we like shortcrust!)
1/4 teaspoon salt/plenty of freshly ground black pepper
Milk or beaten egg as a glaze


Preheat the oven to Gas mark 8.

Season the meat and add finely chopped onion and mix together well. Using your hands, roll sausage meat out to a 'rope' (not too thin - and use a little flour to stop the sausagement sticking to the work surface).

Roll out the pastry to a rectangle about 50cm by 40cm. Cut into three strips lengthways. Divide the sausage rope into 3 portions and place each part along the edge of one strip of pastry.

Rub a little water along the opposite edges of the pastry. Starting at the sausage meat side, roll over the pastry towards the other side, until you have formed a roll with the seam at the bottom. Gently firm down.

Cut each log into about 8 rolls. Using kitchen scissors, cut three diagonal slits in the top of each roll. Brush a little milk or egg wash over each one to glaze.

Place the sausage rolls on baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to Gas mark 6 - and cook for a further 20 minutes, or until cooked.

These can be eaten hot or cold. You can make them in advance and either freeze or keep them in an airtight container and just pop back into the oven to heat through just before required.

 

[mudbug]

For the record, Ishbel, here's a big THANKS for all the recipes you've been posting lately. They all look scrumptious. Keep 'em coming.......

 

[Audeo]

Heaven knows, an AMEN to that thought, Mudbug!!!

Ishbel...you are a gift to my senses!

 

[Ishbel]

Why, thank you both! Just running through a few family recipes. We don't make a big thing of Christmas in Scotland, Hogmanay is more our BIG holiday... but a lot of the traditional English recipes have been commandeered by us for incorporating into our Hogmanay buffets!

For those who don't know about Hogmanay..... Edinburgh holds what it boasts is the biggest annual street party in the world. Have a look at this site... Although Hogmanay is New Year's Eve - we Scots know how to make a celebration LAST - it officially starts on 29 December this year, and just keeps going... 8)
http://www.edinburghshogmanay.org/

 

[Audeo]

Somewhere in here (my computer, that is) I have a webcam link. It is a hoot to see, if only from afar!

Really, really enjoying reading (and copying!) your family's recipes, Ishbel! Thank you.

 

[Ishbel]

My family tends to avoid trying to cross the cordon into central Edinburgh on Hogmanay.... so difficult to get around with all those tourists packed like sardines into the Royal Mile, The Bridges, the Mound and Princes Street...

We drive the long way round to visit relatives, rather than attempt to drive through the crowds!

Glad you are enjoying the recipes - not too sure how Scottish food would be perceived in the US. 8)

 

[kyles]

I love sausage rolls. I sometimes make them with chicken mince, grated sweet potato and flavoured with sweet chili sauce, chopped spring onions and ginger, for a change.

I love your recipes Ishbel, one of my favourite chegs is Nick Nairn, from your fair country. I haven't made the journey to Scotland, we were coming last August, but the rain deterred us, hopefully this year we'll make it!

Have you got a recipe for Cranachan that you can post in the dessert section???

 

[Ishbel]

Indeed I have! I'll post it in the desserts area.

I've been on a number of Nick's cookery courses - he has a cookery school just outside Stirling, at the Lake of Menteith, near Aberfoyle. He is probably my favourite chef and I have every book he's written! He believes in cooking good fresh SCOTTISH food, in season. All his lamb, beef and fish are totally organic, and so is his vegetables. salads and fruit. The course I last went to was mussels in a white wine reduction, with shallots with a melted piece of brie in a basket made of filo... roast lamb in a red wine reduction and a wonderful bramble pudding - sort of a large frangipane tart with HUGE Scottish blackberries in the frangipane... Nectar! He has just expanded the cookery school - and its a really good venue now.

 

[Audeo]

Glad you are enjoying the recipes - not too sure how Scottish food would be perceived in the US. 8)

You may be surprised, Ishbel, in that there are frequent "Renaissance Faires" and "Highland Game" events all over the place. Being "Scottish" has become cool and just about everyone digs up a relation in the family. Since most Americans have been here for quite some time, finding a family connection to the motherland is not difficult. And I've met a few of us in the states who can trade stories, like mine, of grandmothers cursing at each other in gaelic...baking sheeps lungs with tracheas hanging over the side of the pan...you know, the fun stuff!

On the issue of food, it has taken some of my friends YEARS to build up the courage to even try the haggis on Burn's Nite! (That would be the Americanized USDA-approved version...) Granted, that's not the best representation of Scottish food, but it is probably the most famous! As far as normal Scot fare, as long as my pals don't ask the name of a dish beforehand, they'll usually like it... Scotch eggs, Kedergee, Burnt Cream (Creme Brulee here...), Arbroath Smokies (had to smoke my own trout for that), Finnan Haddie (I use trout...), all are well loved.

Makes me think of a time I made stovies (in the iron pot and cooked for a couple of hours without removing the lid!). I had a pal over at the time and offered to share some. She balked with eyes wide open and said a stern "No, Thank you!". Im sure she feared it akin to haggis, but I dearly enjoyed her expression when she quickly discovered they are potatoes...!

 

[Ishbel]

I have a number of friends (and relatives) in the USA. But from descriptions, the Games and Ren Faires are not much like our games! I am also involved in Scottish history and genealogy research, so I know there are LOADS of Americans trying to find Scottish 'roots' 8) And I'm really glad to help if I can. As long as they say that they are Americans of Scots ancestry, rather than Scots. Be proud of what YOU are is my motto, whether that is American, Canadian, German, Scots, Ukranian, Polish or wherever. It's the diversity of this planet that makes life interesting, in my opinion

Stovies is not just a way of cooking potatoes, it's also a filling winter supper dish - here's my family recipe. I have to confess, I don't like stovies,but my Dad loves them! There are probably as many recipes as there are families in the central belt! Some make it with left over meat from a roast joint of beef or lamb, some from chicken - and some people make it with sausages.

INGREDIENTS
2 lb of potatoes (floury varieties that 'mash' well are best)
6 oz of corned beef - cut into cubes (or sausages or chicken)
1 large onion
1 large leek
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil (tradionally, lard was used, or butter)
Stock cube (beef) made up to 1 pt with boiling water. (You could use fresh stock and water it down slightly)

METHOD
Peel and cut potatoes into quarters. Finely slice onion and leek.

Fry the onions and leek in the oil until lightly coloured, then put potatoes, onions and leeks into a pan and add stock to just cover cover ingredients. Bring slowly to boil, simmer for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are breaking up. Add the cubed corned beef about ten minutes before the potatoes are fully cooked.

I know that some family members mash the whole thing together so it's kind of like a corned beef hash.... I prefer not to! I believe it is improved by a great big dollop of HP sauce!

 

[kyles]

I am so impressed you have been on a number of Nick's courses. I have never been to a cookery school, but think I would love it.

I love the regional and seasonal approach to cooking, I try to do that when I can, and I do a lot of shopping at my farmers market and other local markets. It disturbs me in England how many people rely on ready meals and take aways when it can be so quick and easy to cook your own healthy wonderful food.

And I knew you would have a recipe for Cranachan!!!!! Thank you!!!!!

 

[Leaf Storm]

Yes, it is disturbing how nobody cooks here and eats ready meal crap!

So you are from OZ? I'm very interested. Do people mostly cook there in OZ? I must admit that I just assumed that it would be like here and the US with most people eating ready meals.

 

[Ishbel]

Nick is great - so is his school chef, John. An Englishman! They make a great double act.

I've got family in Australia - and have visited there several times, although I haven't really travelled round the whole of the landmass!

Got to admit, I use very little precooked or packaged food. I don't think I've ever used a packet cake mix for instance! Oh, I tell a lie, I tried a Betty Crocker Angel cake recipe once... blech

We have a good farmer's market here - but I buy a lot of produce direct from the growers locally. My butcher, for instance, also has a farm and raised beef and sheep organically. Great meat!

 

[Leaf Storm]

I always cook from scratch. I pretty much hate ready meals. They are nasty tasting! You get a tiny amount of chewy "meat" one or two veg if you are lucky and everything contained in a gloopy chemical slop they call "sauce" and anyway, cooking is fun. The only pre-made thing I will eat is pizza...and that's what I am eating tonight lol

 

[Ishbel]

I couldn't agree more!

I was the only family member at home tonight - so dinner was a mushrom and chives omelette! Sometimes the simplest dish is best

 

[Leaf Storm]

Yes! I agree with you Actually, very often the simple food is the best!

 

[Audeo]

Yes, it is disturbing how nobody cooks here and eats ready meal crap!

That, leaf storm, is an absolute understatement!

I feel your pain...

 

[kyles]

I had never seen a ready meal until I moved to Britain!!!! I couldn't believe that my Tescos had two massive chiller cabinets devoted to the ready meal!!!! We do have frozen tv dinners in Oz but I don't know anyone who buys them, unless your kitchen is being remodelled and you only have a microwave for company!!!

Cooking is a lot bigger in Oz, all my friends used to make their own cakes and biscuits, but none of my English friends can do much more than boil pasta. It's just a different culture altogether. Our working hours are shorter and we have a much better work life balance than England.

Somany cookbooks here are Australian, the Women's Weekly series is huge, and so many of the tv chefs have an Aussie background. And our population is so small compared to England, it's pretty amazing how different the Aussie attitude to food is.

 

[Ishbel]

I have to confess though, Kyles that I never had a salad in Aus that had any taste (until you added dressings etc) unless they were grown by the cook (my brother-in-law!) - the tomatoes bought in places like Woolworths or in restaurants look wonderful - but have no taste.... A bit like Spanish tomatoes and fruit we get here in the UK....

I have eaten some of the best seafood in my life in Sydney - although I have to say the amount of meat or fish that is served up as one portion in Aus often 'overfaces' me....! I also like the new Aussie fusion style of cooking - taking the best from the Pacific rim cultures and adding a twist.

However, I do agree that your work/fun ratio is much better than here in the UK. When my niece came over (after her first degree studies) she lived with us for a year.... She was EXHAUSTED at the end of a day's work here - and yet said that all her friends at home went out at least 4 or 5 nights a week!

I believe that our very hectic work lives here have not helped with keeping the tradition of home cooking alive.... so much easier to go to Marks and buy a ready-meal (and some of them aren't too bad, according to my daughter!) which you can pop into the microwave and serve 6 or 7 minutes after taking your coat off! And, I have to say, the standard of our chilled foods appears to be good. The climate in Aus means that such meals would have limited appeal in Australia, I should think!

Are you married to a native of UK? If not, how did you end up in Lanacashire of all places?

 

[Leaf Storm]

Thank you both, that was very interesting. I learned a lot from reading that.

That's why I like Europe ( and my fave ESPANA! ) because everybody cooks there. You walk into a supermarket and you might be lucky to see a frozen pizza but that's it. In those countries if you couldn't cook you would be in trouble! lol And plus, Spanish food rules lol

That, leaf storm, is an absolute understatement!

I feel your pain...

Yeah, terrible isnt it? :-( There must be more to life than plastic food. I want to live, not just exist.