Cocktail Hour: Aperol Sours...

Sometimes when the weather is warmer you feel like a sophisticated cocktail that is pink and frothy.  For me, the Aperol Sour hits the spot in all of these elements.

What is Aperol?  Well it's an Italian Aperitif, a little like Campari but lower in alcohol and much less bitter.  It has an amazing pink glow too in a glass.

 

 What you will need to create your Aperol Sour:

• 2 oz. Aperol
• 1 oz. egg white (the egg white of one egg should make 2 cocktails)
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• ice
• cocktail shaker
• stemmed martini/cocktail glasses

(these measurements are for one cocktail, double if you are making for a friend as well!)

What do you do?

• chill your glasses with ice and water while continuing the next steps
• put a generous amount of ice into your cocktail shaker
• add aperol, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white
• shake in cocktail shaker until well combined and chilled (about 20 to 30 seconds)
• strain into your pre-chilled glasses
• garnish with a grapefruit twist (optional)

 

 Now pop on some fabulous sunglasses and go relax outside, listen to some great tunes and enjoy!

The Coffee Gods...

I love the fact that we can get fresh coffee beans delivered to our door step.  With the crazy busy life that we live, sometimes you just can't get out to the shop to buy some.  My husband, and chief coffee maker in our house, is very particular about having just the right amount of coffee beans in the house.  You don't want to order too many otherwise they will be sitting around getting stale.

The folk at Coffex have saved us by being able to post out fresh coffee beans to our home within two days!  Amazing!  When I get home and see that parcel sitting there, I really know that there is a coffee God!

Who Knew a Vegetarian Sausage Roll Could be Awesome?!

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

I'm a reasonably big meat eater (sorry Vegetarians and Vegans!).  I probably don't always eat meat everyday but I do enjoy the taste of meat.  Many would joke that Australian meat pies and sausage rolls have very limited meat in them and I would agree with them if we were looking at the dodgy pies and rolls that are bought at sports games or convenience stores.

I had sampled a 'Vegetarian' sausage roll at a morning tea and was amazed by the texture and flavour.  Basically it was better than a regular sausage roll and I was inspired to try and re-create my own at home.  This recipe is delicious mostly due to the pecan nuts.  They give a great texture and flavour and I love anything with pecans in it!

What you will need:
4 sheets of puff pastry
2 x 400g cans of lentils, rinsed and drained well (I squish excess water out with my hands)
1 small brown onion
2 small carrots grated
3/4 cup of chopped pecan nuts
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs
stick of celery finely chopped
1/4 cup of BBQ sauce, or tomato chutney for moisture, sweetness and flavour.
seasonings, garlic, salt, pepper etc... how you like it!
egg for egg wash

How to!

• lightly cook the onions, carrot and celery in a cast iron pan.  You want to soften the veggies!
• allow to cool and pop in a mixing bowl with all the other ingredients and mix well.
• check your seasonings!  I added a bit of red pepper flakes at this point.
• Cut your thawed pastry in half and spoon the mixture down one side
• using the egg wash, brush down the edge of the other side, roll over to make a long sausage shape.  Make sure that the pastry is all sealed on the side
• egg wash the top and cut into sections.  You can either cut into 4 mini sausage rolls or into 6 bite sized party rolls!
• pop into the oven set at about 180 degrees Celsius. This iis a bit dependent on your oven.  Mine is quite hot but you may need to lift to 200!  
• These guys will take about 20 minutes to 30 minutes to cook
• serve with tomato sauce or a delicious home made chutney!

We are definitely getting through our chutney! It is amazing on these delicious sausage rolls.  You can find my recipe for Green Tomato Chutney here!