Tutorwood Cooks – Pork, Leek, Apple and Sage Sausage Rolls

Tonight’s dish is one to do when you’ve got a bit of time up you’re sleeve as there are a couple of elements to prepare if you’re going to make it from scratch as I did here. I only have a small oven and can cook 16 sausage rolls at a time. Each batch takes about 40 minutes to cook so if you have a full-size oven, you’ll get it done quicker. This recipe makes a total of 48 sausage rolls.

Pour yourself a wine, put on the slippers and let’s get into it.

Ingredients:

Pork Mince 1 kg

Bacon 200gram sliced

Leeks 2 large, finely sliced

Chilli 1 red, 1 green finely sliced

Garlic 6 cloves, smashed

Continental french

onion soup mix 1 pack

Sage 1 tablespoon Fresh chopped.

Eggs 4 medium to large

Butter 2 tablespoon

Olive Oil 2 tablespoon

Stewed Apple 1 cup, either homemade or storebought

Salt 1/3 teaspoon

Black Pepper 1/2 Teaspoon

Puff pastry 6 sheets

Panko Breadcrumbs. 1/2 cup

Parmesan Cheese 1/2 cup

Milk 1/2 cup

Method,

Finely slice the leek, chilli, and garlic then add a knob of butter and a splash of olive oil to a skillet then pan fry until translucent and the leeks have reduced by half.
Remove from heat and allow to cool., ( I put the mix in the freezer for about 20 minutes to cool)
In a large mixing bowl combine the pork, bacon, soup mix, 2 of the eggs, parmesan, breadcrumbs, sage, stewed apple and cooled leek mix. Add a touch salt and pepper to taste, then, use your hands to combine all the ingredients. Mix till evenly combined but don’t overmix; otherwise, the sausage rolls will end up tough.
Get the puff pastry sheets from the freezer and separate on your bench and leave till soft enough to roll. I lay the pastry on the edge of my worktop and can tell when it’s ready to use as it flops over the edge
Mix the remaining eggs and milk to form a glaze for the pastry.
Lay a pastry sheet on a floured breadboard, then coat with the egg wash. Cut the sheet in half and place a roll of the meat mix. Place it along the centre of the pastry then roll with the joint on the bottom. Cut into four then place on in a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Repeat until you’ve filled the baking dish then bake at 180º for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve with a green salad or enjoy them on their own

As always, feel free to tweak the recipe to make it your own.

Have fun and cook on!!

Cheers,

Bryan

April 16, 2020 1

Tutorwood Cooks – Simply Scrumptious Stir Fry

Tonight’s dish is a simple, wholesome tasty meal, which with chopping the vegetables, can be on the table in about 20 minutes. The secret to its rapid preparation is to use a combination of fresh and frozen stir fry vegetables, microwave basmati rice and pre-prepared stir fry shots, which are brilliant flavour filled spice mixes. They take all of the guesswork out of making a tasty Asian meal.

You know the drill, comfy slippers, a glass of wine and let’s get into it.

Ingredients;

Chicken Breast 600 gram finely sliced

Red Onion 1 finely sliced

Red Capsicum 1 finely sliced

Bok Choy 4 loosely chopped (include leaves)

Chillies 2 Red, 1 Green, all finely sliced

Stir Fry shots 3 tubs, I used Vietnamese for this dish

Bean Shoots 1 x 150-gram can

Frozen Stir Fry Vegetables 1 x 500-gram pack

Fresh Ginger 1 tablespoon

Soy Sauce 2 tablespoons

Microwave Basmati Rice 2 x 250-gram packs

Method;

The secret for getting this dish cooked quickly is in the preparation. You want to make sure everything is ready to go before you start cooking. I use stainless steel trays to hold the ingredients when I’ve sliced them. My method is to load the containers with the vegetables in the order I’m going to cook them.

Finely slice the chicken and season with one of the tubs of the spice mix.
Slice the onion and chillies and place in the same tray as the chicken
Open the frozen vegetables and put in another dish ready for cooking
Chop the bok choi and capsicum and place together in another plate with the bean shoots.
Heat the olive oil in a wok and stir fry the chicken in batches for about 3 minutes per batch until all cooked. Put aside and keep warm.
Repeat the process with the frozen vegetables, remove and put with the chicken mix, then cook the bok choi, capsicum and bean shoots.

7. Combine all ingredients back in the wok, add the remaining spice packs, and a generous splash of soy sauce for extra taste. Cover and simmer on low heat while the rice cooks.

8. Cook the rice according to the packet directions, then serve and enjoy when it’s all ready.

As always, play with this recipe to make the taste and flavour your own. You can change the meat and use either pork, beef or seafood; it’ll work equally well with any of these meats.

Your comments and questions are always appreciated.

Have fun and cook on!!

Cheers

Bryan

April 13, 2020 0

Tutorwood Cooks – Veal Tortellini with Mushroom and Spinach Sauce.

It’s Easter Sunday and after a productive day drawing, writing and general odds and ends, its time to think about dinner. Tonight will be a simple dish using a supermarket pre-made tortellini but pairing it with a homemade, mushroom, spinach and parmesan cream sauce

The secret is to slow cook the mushrooms in a mix of beef stock, garlic, onion, butter and paprika for 45 minutes to an hour to draw as much flavour out of the mushrooms as possible.

Mushrooms, Onion, Garlic, Chilli’s simmering in beef stock with Paprika

When you’ve cooked the mushrooms, the dish will be ready to serve less than 1/2 an hour. You can skip slow cooking the mushrooms is you want to save time, then the plate will travel from stove-top to just on thirty minutes.

Right then, pour yourself a glass of wine, or in my case a bourbon and cola, and let’s get cooking.

Ingredients;

Portobello or Brown

Mushrooms, 1 kg sliced

Brown Onions 2 sliced

Red Chilli 1 sliced

Green Chilli 1 sliced

Garlic Powder 1 tablespoon

Paprika 2 teaspoons

Beef Stock 2 cups

Parmesan Cheese 200 gram

Cooking Cream 2 x 300ml tubs

Dijon Mustard 1 teaspoon

Green Spinach 1 x 120-gram pack

Veal tortellini 1 x 600-gram pack

Method;

Slice the mushrooms, chillies, and onion and simmer in a large skillet with the garlic, stock and paprika. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Bring a saucepan with 6 litres of salted water to the boil in preparation for the pasta.
To the mushroom, mix pour in the cream and parmesan and simmer on low heat for 6 minutes
Add the tortellini to the boiling water and cook for 6 minutes or until cooked to your preference.
Just before the pasta is ready, add the spinach leaves to the sauce and stir well.
Fresh Spinach added to the Sauce
Use a slotted spoon to remove the tortellini from the saucepan and let simmer for 5 minutes before serving.
Adding the Pasta to the sauce
Serve with garlic bread and a green salad.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and remember to play with the ingredients to make this recipe your own.

Have fun and cook on!!!

Cheers

Bryan

April 12, 2020 1

Tutorwood Cooks – Epic Chicken, Leek & Tarragon Pie

Today’s recipe is something a bit more special. As it’s Good Friday and everything’s closed and even if there was something open we shouldn’t go there because we’re in Stage 3 lockdown here.

So what better thing to do than bake a pie. This chicken pie is a tasty dish with layers of starting with the bacon and climaxing with the goat cheese and tarragon. Give yourself a good two hours to prepare and cook this dish, but I promise you it’s well worth the effort.

Put your slippers on, pour yourself a wine and let’s get into it.

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast approx 600gram sliced

Bacon 250 gram sliced

Leek 1 large, sliced

Brown Onion 2 medium sliced

Red chilli 2 sliced

Green Chilli 1 sliced

Green beans 200 gram, top and tailed

Continental Cream of

Mushroom Soup 1 x 420 gram can

Continental french

onion soup mix 1/2 pack

Plain Flour 2 Tablespoons

Goat Cheese 2 x 100-gram packs

Master foods Garlic

and Rosemary 2 heaped teaspoon

Tarragon 2 tablespoon – can be fresh or dried

White Wine 2 cups

Puff Pastry 4 to 6 sheets, thawed (depending on the size of your pie dish)

Eggs 2 whisked, (for egg wash)

Butter 2 tablespoons

Olive Oil 3 tablespoon

Method:

Before you start cooking separate six sheets of puff pastry from the pack and put aside to thaw.

Melt one tablespoon of butter, and a splash of olive oil in a large skillet and brown the leek, onion and chillies for about 4 minutes.
Add the chicken and bacon, then brown until golden.
Add the soups, both can and packet, herbs, white wine, garlic and goat cheese, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the flour to the sauce and stir until well mixed and the mix has thickened. Turn off and uncover to cool when completed.
The Cooked Filling
While the filling is simmering, grease your pie dish and using 2 to 3 sheets of puff pastry cover the base of your pie dish. The pie dish featured is a 32cm falcon enamel pie dish which needed three sheet’s of puff pastry to cover. Remember to apply the whisked egg to all the overlapping areas of puff to ensure they stick together.
We’re going to blind bake the pastry crust which helps prevent the dreaded soggy bottom of the pie. You can skip this step is you want, but I think when you’re eating it, a crispy base is preferable to the alternative. To blind bake, give the pastry a spray with some olive oil, then cover completely with aluminium foil. Fill the interior with rice or dried beans and bake for 15 minutes at 200º Celcius. When finished, tip out the rice, (you can still use it) remove the foil and put aside to cool.
Preparing to blind bake the crust.

The Blind Baked Crust.
When the pastry and chicken mix has cooled, ladle a layer of the filling into the pie dish then add the green beans and scoop the rest of the chicken into the pie dish. Use a pastry brush and apply a generous coat of the egg wash to the pastry edge to allow the top to stick to the crust. Cover the dish with the remaining pastry, press down the edges firmly with a fork, then trim off any excess pastry. Go over the top of the pastry top with the egg wash.
The Crust, 1/2 filled and the bean layer.

Filled, with the lid on, and decoration of a leftover sheet of pastry stuffed with parmesan added.
Bake at 200º Celcius for 40 minutes then let it rest for five minutes before serving.
Finished!!!!

Serve direct from the pie dish as there’s a good chance it will collapse if you try to tip it out.

I hope you enjoy this dish and don’t be afraid to play with the ingredients to put your stamp on it.

Have fun and cook on.!!!!

Cheers,

Bryan

April 10, 2020 0

Tutorwood Cooks – Creamy Chicken and Bacon Stroganoff

Today’s feature is another family favourite and, it also falls into the quick and easy after-work category. With plump juicy chicken pieces, the smoky flavour of the bacon and plenty of mushrooms and beans, the tartness of the sour cream and lemon juice this dish, to me, is one of the best comfort food dishes ever. This dish also works exceptionally well with either beef strips, beef mince, pork, pork mince or even chicken mince.

Tonight we’ll be having the dish with spiral pasta, but it works equally well over rice or the Glorious mashed potatoes, I featured earlier this week. Another great idea is to make the dish without adding the chicken or beans and use it as a sauce over a beautiful piece of steak.

Chicken and Bacon with Garlic Scapes – Ready to cook

To me, this dish shines as it’s a prime example of how with a straightforward recipe base, you can create a whole range of different meals.

Now; let’s get cooking:

Ingredients

Chicken Breast 1 kg chopped

Bacon 250 gram

Brown Onion 1 sliced

Red Chilli 1 sliced

Garlic Scapes 6 to 8 or 4 cloves of garlic smashed

Mushrooms 300 gram sliced

Continental French Onion

soup mix 1 pack

Green Beans 250 gram sliced, (either fresh or frozen)

Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon

HP Steak Sauce. 1 tablespoon

Paprika 1 tsp

Cream of Mushroom Soup 2 x 250ml can

Mayonnaise 1/2 cup

Sour Cream 1 small tub

Lemon juice 3 tablespoon

Salt 1/2 teaspoon

Black Pepper 1/2 teaspoon

Directions

1. Pan fry chicken bacon and onion garlic and chilli in a large skillet until no longer pink. Drain Oil.

2. Add all other ingredients to skillet and simmer on low for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally

3. Stir through sour cream before serving

4. Serve over pasta, rice or mashed potato

I hope you enjoy this meal and feel free to drop me an email to let me know what you thought and how you made it your own.

Have fun and cook on !!!

Cheers

Bryan

April 9, 2020 0

Tutorwood Cooks – Simple Tuna Mornay

Today’s recipe is one I’ve been making on and off for a couple of months now. I discovered the base recipe on taste .com and have tweaked it slightly whenever I’ve made it over the past few weeks. Featured here is the most current version which the family seems to enjoy.

With heaps of veggies, tuna and rice it falls into the achievable after work category as you can get this from the bench to the table in just under 45 minutes.

Notes:

I always use tuna in spring water when I cook, as I find the dish is a little too oily for my liking when I’made it with tuna in olive oil. You can steam rice for this recipe or, you can cheat like I do and use a packet big pack of microwave basmati rice from the supermarket. I feel they taste the same, and you can’t beat the convenience.

Let’s get into it.

INGREDIENTS

Olive Oil; 1 tablespoon

Brown Onion; 1 large, finely chopped

Garlic; 2 or 3 cloves, smashed

Celery; 2 sticks finely chopped

Carrot; 1 large, finely chopped

Zucchini; 2 finely sliced,

Green Beans; 200g top and tailed

Butter; 2 tablespoons

Olive Oil; 2 tablespoons

Flour; 2 tablespoons

Milk; 2 cups, ( 500ml)

Tuna; 2 x 425g cans, drained and flaked

Parmesan; 1/2 cup grated.

Rice; 1 x 250g pack streamed microwave basmati rice.

Spinach leaves; 1 x 180g pack fresh leaves

Method;

Preheat oven to 190C fan-forced and lightly spray a 2L (8-cup) ovenproof baking dish with oil.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, then add the onion, celery and carrot, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the zucchini and beans and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until just tender. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl.

3. Return the pan to medium heat and heat the butter until melted. Add the flour and stir until well combined. Slowly start adding the milk, stirring, until well combined and smooth. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring regularly, until the sauce thickens. Stir in the vegetables, tuna and half the parmesan. Season with black pepper to taste

4. Spread the rice over base of the baking dish. Top with the spinach, then the tuna mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and bubbling. Set aside for 5 minutes before serving.

Its time put this one to bed and, I hope you enjoy it as much as we all do. Don’t forget to play with the flavours and to make the recipe your own.

Have fun and cook on!

Cheers,

Bryan

April 8, 2020 0

Tutorwood Cooks – Glorious Mashed Potato

Mashed potatoes have been one of my favourite side dishes for years. As I was recovering from the significant stomach surgery, I had a few years ago; mashed potatoes have been one of the foods which I can consistently tolerate. My serving size for mash is about one tablespoon, so I’ve made it a mission to make the best tasting potato that I can.
It’s a work in progress so, please bear with me. This recipe is one of my most requested dishes by both friends and family when we have people over for dinner.

Let’s get into it.

A word on potatoes.
Now, I’m not a potato snob. I don’t have a particular preference for Idaho’s or Sebago’s but, I will admit that I’m quite fond of those little Kieffer potatoes, even though they are bloody expensive. Generally, if I’m roasting potato’s, I’ll use red ones, and if I’m mashing, I’ll use white ones. The dish, I’m featuring here has got a combination of red and white-skinned potato’s because that’s what was in the potato box.
Generally, I never peel potatoes, because I have a life and peeling potatoes has never factored into it: besides, I’ve always believed that the good stuff is under the skin. I chop off any suspect bits, and away we go.

Anyway, enough waffling – let’s get into it!!

Ingredients:

Potatoes: 2 kg
Brown Onions; 2 medium
Garlic Scapes, six stalks
Or Garlic 6 cloves
Sour Cream 300 gram tub
Parmesan Cheese 250 gram pack
Butter 2 tablespoon
Milk 1/2 cup
Black Pepper to taste

Method:

Quarter the potatoes, taking care to remove any eyes or gnarley bits and place in a large saucepan full of salted water.

2. Slice the onions and garlic and brown in a frypan over high heat.
3. Remove the onions and garlic when cooked and put aside to cool.
4. When cooked, drain the potatoes, in a colander then put them back into the saucepan on medium heat for about 5 minutes to dry out the excess water.

5. Remove from heat and add the butter, milk, sour cream and black pepper then mash the mix to a coarse consistency.
6. Remove the masher then fold in the parmesan cheese and onion mix using a wooden spoon.

7. Enjoy.
I hope you enjoy this mash as much as my family and friends do. If you have any leftovers, mix it with some egg and flour, and you’ve got potato pancakes for breakfast the next day.

Remember to play with the recipe to tailor it to your tastes and to make it your own.

Have Fun and Cook On.

Cheers
Bryan

April 7, 2020 2

Tutorwood Cooks – Braised Kangaroo with Onion & Leek

This dish is a bit of a classic which you should tackle when you’ve got plenty of time up your sleeve. With the extra time I’ve got up due to the Corona lock-downs, I decided to come up with a better method of cooking Kangaroo, with which I’ve always had a bit of a hit and miss relationship. Kangaroo is a delicious meat, but the cuts we get from the supermarkets aren’t consistent, and often end up really chewy, so I thought I’d try braising it to see if it ends up more tender and tasty.

This meal takes about three hours to prepare so turn on some good music, pour yourself a glass of wine and let’s get into it.

INGREDIENTS

Kangaroo fillets 1 kg

Brown Onions 3 large

Leeks 2 large

Red Chilli 2 medium

Green garlic scapes 6 to 8

Garlic 6 cloves smashed

Fresh Rosemary 2 sprigs

Plain Flour 3/4 cup

Paprika 1 teaspoon

Pepperberry, (or

black pepper) 1 teaspoon

Continental French onion

soup mix. 1 pack

Salt 1 teaspoon

Beef Stock 1 litre

Butter 2 tablespoons

DIRECTIONS

Place half the flour on a flat plate and add the salt and pepper berry. Mix with a fork then dredge the kangaroo fillets in the flour mix.

Slice the onions, leeks, chilli, garlic shoots and garlic then place together on a tray ready to cook.

Add one tablespoon of butter to a skillet and brown the Kangaroo in batches for 2 minutes each side. Remove when cooked and place in an ovenproof casserole dish.

Add the remaining butter to the skillet then add the vegetables and cook covered for 4 minutes. Tip the rest of the flour mix over the veggies and stir in until well mixed.
Add the stock and french onion soup mix to the skillet, stir well and bring to the boil then pour over the Kangaroo. Add the rosemary then cover and place in the oven at 180c for to 3 hours. The dish is ready when the meat can be pulled apart with a fork.
Serve with Glorious Mashed Potatoes, green beans and asparagus

If you can’t get your hands on Kangaroo, this dish works equally with most cuts of beef.

As always, don’t be afraid to play with the ingredients to suit your taste buds and have fun making it.

Questions and comments are always appreciated.

Cheers,

Bryan

April 7, 2020 0

Tutorwood Cooks – Chicken with Spinach, Parmesan and Ricotta Rice

Tonight’s recipe falls into the “I’ve had a bugger of a day so, let’s get this done quickly” category. We’re pairing pan-fried seasoned chicken breast with an off the shelf packet rice, but by adding a few tweaks, we’ll elevate from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Hopefully, we’ll knock this over in about half an hour.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients;

Skinless Chicken Breast – 600 gram

Garlic powder – 2 Tablespoons

Paprika – 1 teaspoon

Tarragon – 2 tablespoons

Salt – 1/2 teaspoon

Black Pepper – 1 teaspoon

Red Pepper (capsicum) sliced – 1 large

Brown Onion – 1 medium

Zucchini sliced – 1 medium

Continental Spinach ricotta and

parmesan rice – 3 x 105gram Pack

Butter – 2 tablespoons

Olive oil – 2 tablespoon

Method;

Mix the herbs in a small stainless steel bowl and dredge the chicken breasts until well coated. Don’t be afraid to add more herbs if needed, be sure you’ve got everything well covered.
While the chicken is marinating, slice the onion, capsicum, chilli and zucchini.
Add one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of oil to a heavy skillet, cover, and pan-fry the chicken for about 6 minutes each side until the chicken’s cooked to your liking.
Remove the chicken from the pan, leaving the juices, and place on a plate to rest covered in foil.
Add the remaining oil and butter in the skillet and stir fry the vegetables for about 5 minutes or until cooked to your liking.
Remove the vegetables from the pan and place in a bowl covered with foil to keep warm.
Following the packet directions, add 3 cups of water and a dash of oil to the skillet, add the rice mix, and when boiling cover, reduce the heat and simmer for about eight minutes.
Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces while the rice is cooking then add to the vegetables.
When the rice is ready, stir through the chicken and vegetable mix then remove from heat, cover and rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!!

This recipe serves four adults and has plenty of taste and veggies to satisfy nearly everyone. We had it for dinner on Monday night. The meal went down very well judging by the absence of leftovers.

As always don’t be afraid to experiment and substitute ingredients that are more readily available in your part of the world. Drop me a line to let me know what you’ve done to make this recipe your own.

Questions and comments are always appreciated.

Have Fun and Happy Cooking

Bryan

April 6, 2020 0

Tutorwood Cooks – Easy Pork Burgers

Today’s dish is a family favourite in my household and uses low-fat ground pork as a base. With the addition of a few herbs and a soup mix pack for an additional layer of flavour, you’ll end up with a dish that you can get from the bench to the table in around 40 minutes. Pork is in plentiful supply at the moment and is relatively inexpensive so, with the cost of the additional ingredients, you’ll find this tasty dish is cheap to make.

Ingredients;

Pork Mince 500gram

Bacon or Ham 200 gram

Red onion, finely sliced, 2 medium

French Onion Soup Mix 1 pack

Garlic Powder 2 teaspoons

Marjoram 1 teaspoon

Smoked Paprika 1 teaspoon

Parmesan Cheese 1 tablespoon

Eggs 2 large

Olive Oil 2 tablespoon

Method;

Mix the meats, herbs, parmesan, soup mix, eggs and one tablespoon of olive oil in a bowl. Use your hands to ensure even dispersion of ingredients but don’t overwork the mix or you’ll end up with dry burgers.
Divide the mix and roll into 12-14 balls, then flatten slightly and place on a plate. Cover with kitchen wrap and place in the freezer for 10 – 15 minutes to allow then to firm up which helps them keep their shape while cooking
Place the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large frypan and cook the burgers for approximately four minutes each side or until cooked to your liking.
Serve on fresh rolls with tomato and a crisp salad or with chips and gravy for a real comfort food meal.

I hope you enjoy trying out this recipe and don’t be afraid to experiment to make the recipe yours.

As always, I welcome your questions and comments.

Cheers

Bryan

April 6, 2020 0