Festivus (for the restivus)

On Saturday we headed to our second Festivus Party at Mary's house. The combination of good friends, food and wine inspired Peta to bring a little of her 'homeland' to the party - "Aussie sausage rolls"

Having never made them before, she had to look to the internet for some recipes... there are two (see below) - but neither seemed quite right from a flavor perspective - so they were melded together and the result was really good.

Aussie rolls

New Zealand rolls

Peta's version (made 80, 1" rolls):
2 lbs ground beef
2 lbs ground pork
1 medium onion (finely diced)
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp Sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1/2 cup of cream
2 packets of frozen Puff Pastry (17.3 oz each)
1 egg white

* Place the meat and herbs together in a large bowl
* Immediately prior to mixing, coat the bread crumbs with cream (to moisten them), then add to the meat - warning here do not let the crumb/cream mixture stand as it forms a really hard mass!
* Fold the ingredients together with your hands - don't over mix, as it will make the meat tough
* Roll out a sheet of pastry onto a floured surface till it is approximately 11 - 12" lengthwise, then cut in half
* Place an 8th of the mixture per half sheet of pastry. Wet the edges of the pastry prior to rolling.
* Brush the pastry with the egg white.
* Your choice: cut now or keep whole. Cut up - it took 40 minutes to cook at 350F. Warning if you space them out too much on the tray they can fall over and fry in the fat (which doesn't make them look too good!). Perhaps space them only slightly apart, so that the fat can still come out, but they don't fall over) or try them whole.

Grade: A-