Homemade Skinless Pork Sausages

 

Finally, I succeeded in making skinless pork sausages to the texture and flavours I wanted.  My stay home project turned out good and we had skinless sausages for breakfast this morning.  I have been making my own sausages but it didnt taste as good as this batch I made yesterday. Previously I didnt add breadcrumbs and cheese to it but this round I added as my cousin gifted me a bag of mozzarella cheese and a bag of panko breadcrumbs. They were sitting in my chiller for some months already and I think since I had a batch of fresh meat delivered to my doorstep , I might as well make some nice sausages for my hubby. He loves the homemade ones as they are more flavourful and has texture to it. They are more juicy as cheese and breadcrumbs are added. Flavours are versatile as you can choose the flavour you like. We prefer the Italian seasoning that consists of mixed herbs, roasted garlic and paprika . I didn't make my own seasoning but used store bought one instead. 

I will normally pan seared them in butter oil for 5 mins and then put them into the oven to roast for a further 15 mins at @250C (small ovenette) , turning them around to get even browning and the aroma wafting out from the oven makes us hungry

cling wrapped them and tie at both ends to compress the meat and for shaping. freeze them in the freezer so maintain the shape and the meat will not disintergrate during cooking time, at least 2 hours

roll tightly and compress the meat

for even sizes I weight 80gm of seasoned minced meat for each sausage

ingredients are Italian seasoning - mixed dried herbs , paprika, mozzarella cheese, egg yolk panko breadbrumbs, garlic , olive oil and chicken powder

Homemade Skinless Pork Sausages  ( can make 8 pieces of  skinless sausages )

Ingredients

 550 gm minced pork

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of mixed herbs

1 tbsp of dried oregano

1 tbsp of chopped garlic

1 tbsp of paprika

1 tbsp of chicken powder

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together till well combined. Keep stirring with a spatula till the meat mixture is sticky.  Divide  meat mixture into equal portion of 80gms and shape into a roll. Place on cling wrap and roll and compress at the same time until you can feel the tightness. Tie both ends tightly. Repeat  until all meat has been used up. Freeze them for at least 3 hours or until they have solidied. 

How to cook them

Heat up a non stick pan with 1 tbsp of butter, once butter has melted, unwrap the sausages and pan seared them for 5 mins. Keep turning them to get even brownness. Place them on baking tray together with the butter oil and roast them in  preheated oven 250C for another 15 mins or until the sausages are cooked and evenly browned. Poke in a skewer to test whether the meat is cooked. Every 5 mins turn the sausages to get even golden color.

Or

You can pan fried them in butter oil over medium fire for 20 mins. Keep turning them to get them evenly browned. optional:  You can add a sprig of fresh rosemary herb to the butter oil as you are cooking the sausages. It will taste even better.

Roasted Red Peppers Preserved In Olive Oil

 

 

I have wanting to preserve veggies in olive oil for a long time, just that the pandemic lockdown has made it difficult for me to go out and enjoy my marketing like I used to do before the lockdown. Recently I learned to do my grocery shopping online and therefore I was able to purchase some gorgeous looking red peppers, of course I wouldn't know whether they will come fresh and big , just trusting the Mall supermarket to provide the best for me ) and to my delight I was not disappointed. The veggies all delivered in good condition and fresh too. Making roasted red peppers and preserving them in oil is super easy . You can add them to pasta as instant meal, serve as an appetiser , to pizza toppings or have them on toast with melted cheese. Preserving veggies in olive oil esp these peppers are the most tastiest and most useful goodies you will make. Use good quality olive oil will do, not  necessary to use extra virgin olive oil. You can add garlic, thyme and chilli flakes to the oil to deepen the flavours of the roasted red pepper.

Preserving is about saving; making something you have today last till tomorrow, or another day, another week, or even a few more months, like these peppers preserved in oil.  I love preserving and opening my fridge to find something I might have forgotten about and realise that I have the makings for a delicious and super easy meal right at my fingertips. With a kg of red peppers, I managed to make 3/4 jar (IKEA 1 litre glass jar ) Remember glass jar need to be sterilized first before preserving the roasted peppers.

roasted red peppers basking in a bath of olive oil

it is easy to remove the peel if you cover them with a plate once out of oven

removing the burnt or blistered peel

roast them in oven for 45 to 60 mins till peel is burnt or blistered

 tip  : it is easier to remove peel after roasting if you cut them into half and remove seeds first before putting them into the oven to roast and roast them over parchment paper on a tray

For tips on how to roast red peppers and store roasted red peppers

click https://simple-veganista.com/how-to-roast-peppers/

 

Soft And Fluffy Walnut Raisin Bread

 

Its been a while since I last bake bread for the hubby. I was looking for new techniques, new recipes to a better texture bread. Found one that doesn't use water roux starter yet produces soft and fluffy texture. I got up very early and started to make the dough so that we can have the bread for tea snack. Surprisingly it was easy to prepare, the method is combining all the ingredients together and using a spatula to stir and combine all the ingredients till it becomes a soft dough. I used my Danish Whisk and had all the ingredients combined into a soft dough in just a few minutes. Turn the soft dough onto a floured board and knead for a further 10 mins until the dough is smooth and passed the window pane test. So easy peasy, even a beginner can do it well. The result is a loaf of soft and pillowy texture bread. I added toasted walnuts and raisins for a more flavourful taste. A keeper for sure . Note to self. The recipe calls for 3 1/4 cups of AP flour but I used 2 cups of Bread Flour and 1 1/4 cups AP flour. And the texture turned out even better than I expected.

look how soft and fluffy is the texture of the bread

the egg wash gives it the shine and golden color it deserves

I baked 2 loaves, one for our afternoon tea snack and one for my cousin

it was fun plaiting the dough

this is the windown pane test..stretch it and if it doesn't tear it is ready for proofing

Soft And Fluffy Walnut Raisin Bread

Dough ingredients

1 cup milk (250ml) (room temp)

1 egg

2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

1/4 cup sugar(50gm)

3 cups AP flour  ( I use 2 cups Bread Flour, 1 1/4 cups AP flour)

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup (50gm) softened butter 

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup toasted walnuts

For full instructions check out this link

https://youtu.be/9d8nmU-l0Ug

Steam Baked Chicken Legs With Chinese Herb & Goji Berries

 

 

This is one method of cooking chicken in an oven. I called this steam-baked. It is quite similar to french way of cooking Chicken En papillote.  This is also my favourite way of cooking chicken or fish for that matter.. Steam and baked at the same time.  I used chinese herb called  'Dong Guai ' (Angelica Senensis) , Goji Berries and salt to flavor the chicken meat. Wrapped in parchment paper and another layer of aluminum before putting in tray and baked in preheated oven for 45 mins  @250C. A very easy and no fuss way of cooking. It has its nutritional benefits, the papillote brings out all the flavour of the chicken steamed , without coming into direct contact with the grill . And this technique also helps to cook healthier because it does not involve adding addition oil. Parchment paper is waterproof and resistant to high temperature.

rub salt on chicken leg , you can insert a slice of Dong Guai under chicken skin

place chicken on parchement paper and wrap it up

 wrap with another layer of aluminium foil and baked at 250C for 45 mins

Enjoy!

Fresh Garganelli Pasta In Tomato Sauce

Garganelli pasta with its hollow tubular shape is the perfect vehicle to hold vibrant flavours of thick tomato sauce with mozzarella cheese and bits of chopped oven roasted eggplant in it.  I love every bite of the fresh garganelli pasta , soft chewy and bursting with the rich flavourful tomato sauce. It is so good that hubby asked to make this again . It is indeed a great compliment for me if he requested that I make this pasta dish again.  I made the fresh garganelli pasta from scratch and it is made from egg pasta dough . The recipe is shared on my previous post here incase you are new to my blog. Click link here for the recipe on how to make fresh Garganelli Pasta.

 

every mouthful is bursting with flavours

 Recipe for the tomato sauce

1 medium size eggplant -oven roasted and cut into bite sized

1 small carrot -  cut into bite sized

4 cloves of garlic - finely chopped 

1 red onion - diced  

1 can whole tomato plus 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup grated  mozzarella cheese

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

salt to taste

Method:

In a large pan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter on medium heat until hot, add in garlic and onion, season with salt. Cook stirring until softened and fragrant. Simmer, stirring occasionally and breaking the tomatoes apart for 12 mins. Add in the oven roasted bite sized eggplant and carrots. Simmer till liquid has reduced slightly in volume. Add in mozzarella last. Once the cheese has melted and sauce has thicken.  It is ready to be poured on to the pasta and served while the sauce is still hot. Alternatively, you can add in the cooked Garganelli onto the sauce directly and give it a quick stir so that the pasta is coated with the sauce. Serve hot. Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese but it is optional.