This was knife found buried in the garden for God knows how long After
We found this knife buried in the garden. When I say We it was actually my friend “Alana Williams”. She was digging a hole in the huge backyard to replant the ginger we had brought back from Dural.
I said we must try and resuscitate/ rescue this as I’ve done before so many times. The first step was to take off the old plastic bakelite kind of handle and I was able to use a chisel for that.
The next part of the puzzle was to find in my stash of wood ( mostly all recycled) a suitable piece to make a new handle.
once the wood was chosen then I cut it to the right size and marked a cross on the back to drill for the rat tail tang.
Cleaned blade and rat tail tang
Then I had to get a special extra long drill bit to be able to accommodate for the tang . Drill as straight as possible and check if it fits . Fill hole with epoxy and fit it up.
next was to shape the handle with my Shinto rasp and then sanding waxing and using burnishing oil
Combine to a dough like consistency and roll out and refrigerate between sheets of baking/ silicone paper.
This is the topping we will put on top of the choux pastry and bake to get a pleasant crunchy crackly topping .
For the pate a choux ( fancy french for choux pastry)
We need
200 g butter
300 g flour
500 ml water
9 eggs….simple formula 2-3-5-9….since the time I was a mere stripling.
Melt butter in water and when it comes to a boil , add flour and stir till comes away from the bottom of the pot. Take off the heat and allow to cool down slightly. Add in the eggs one at a time using a spoon or so.. don’t use a whisk keboz it will get stuck in the middle.
Then the paste can be baked , fried , or poached..
Mel is one of my co workers in my current workplace at Opal aged care and works as a helper/assistant in one of our dining rooms. Sometimes if ive been nice to her she gets me one of these Cookies, which are amazing. She also says her Nonna makes the best foccacia in the world, and on that point we agree to disagree.
These are like an anzac biscuit on steriods, lots of dry fruit and nut and very very yum..
Dry ingredients
Oats 300 g
plain flour 300g
dessicated coconut- 250 g
white sugar- 175 g
dried apricots chopped-125 g
raisins-125 g
macadamia or almonds- 1/2 cup
Wet ingredients
butter chopped -150 g
golden syrup or honey- 40 g
baking soda/ bicarb- 8 g
boiling water- 40 g
line three trays with baking paper and preheat your oven to 160 C.
combine all the dry ingredients.
melt butter and syrup together.Add baking soda to the boiling water and mix with butter.
addthe wet to the dry (as easy as that).
roll into small balls and keep apart on the baking tray.
Bake for about 20 minutes till the edges are browned and cool down on the tray .
Drizzle with extra dark bitter chocolate if you want to be extra wicked !!
the first time I ate a real brioche I thought I died and went to heaven ..well I didn’t but I wanted to learn how to make the melt in the mouth artery hardener like no other
Off to the gym now to shed some weight so can make one tomorrow and eat it guilt free .
Sausage roll are the quintessential foods in Nz and down under, and most of the offerings in the shops just don’t cut it. .they are full of fillers and rubbish and have as much flavour as a discarded pizza box.With my classical training at The Oberoi Delicatessen ,where we would make all manner of charcuterie inhouse with no breadcrumbs in sight..Here we go .
Minced meat – 500 g( yes it’s a lot but you can make and freeze them., Chicken or pork is good
Salt 3 g
Chicken stock powder-2 g ( get a digital scale )
Garlic 10g
Fennel seeds-1 g
Cumin ground -1 g
Mixed herbs( thyme, oregano)-1 g
Nutmeg- pinch
paprika – 5 g or chipotle 1 g
pepper – pinch
Milk powder- 25 g
Eggs-1 – (1/2 in the mix and half for eggwashing.)
Puff pastry – 400 g approximately
fennel seeds or cumin seeds to go on top.
Mix the minced meat with all the dry ingredients an add in the egg in the end. Commercially we also add in about 100 g of ice in a big sort of a blender , which makes the whole mix a whole lot more moist when cooked.
To assemble these you need a largeish strip of puff pastry(try to get the butter version, its a lot better). Approximatley 10 cm s wide by 20 cms long.
make a sausage sort of shape with the meat and put in the middle of the pastry. egg wash the edges and seal the pastry forming a round sort of a shape. Eggwash the top as well and sprinkle with some fennel or cumin seeds.
Rest in the fridge for 15-20 mins and then bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 18-20 mins…drool over it and say Thank you lord for this amazing sausage roll , its like manna from heaven
stories of foods from the world over, laced with a hint of sarcasm and some black humour, its not for everyone, but then never was meant to be..
