The Late Night Gourmet
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@The Velvet Curtain: mentioned the possibility of having sausage rolls, around the time I was trying to think of something to make for the Cooking Challenge, and an idea was born. Among the many recipes I consulted first, I noticed that Jamie Oliver said Lamb or beef sausages work just as well in this recipe if you don’t fancy pork. I took that adaptability to heart here.
I really struggled with whether or not to add breadcrumbs, but I did add a small amount as a concession to the recipes posted by British people. Some use significantly more breadcrumbs (one had a cup of breadcrumbs to a pound of meat, which strikes me as really trying to stretch the recipe).
I also wasn't sure about what would happen putting raw meat inside the puff pastry. I wanted to partly pan fry it to get a good char on the meat, since I love that flavor, but I realized that I'd have to also partly bake the puff pastry, which would make assembly difficult.
Finally, I considered making my own pastry, since I usually defer to "from scratch" for all ingredients when I make a recipe. But, I saw "tips for a successful sausage roll" advising that I admit defeat and buy the puff pastry, since life is short and I don't need to spend hours (and an absurd amount of butter) making my own.
Ingredients
2 pounds chicken thighs with the skin on or 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 ounce breadcrumbs
5 large garlic cloves, diced
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon ground mace
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, adjusted to taste
1 tablespoon salt, adjusted to taste
17.3 ounces puff pastry
1 egg
Method
NOTE: skip to step 4 if you bought ground chicken.
1. Remove any bones from chicken thighs but keep the fat and skin. Cut into large chunks, checking again for any bone fragments (the main bone usually has another small bone nearby). Remove some of the skin if you want a leaner sausage.
2. Season with salt and pepper and place in a zipper bag. Flatten the bag as much as possible and freeze until ready to grind. Ensure that all meat grinder components that contact the meat are frozen (place in the freezer for at least an hour prior to grinding).
3. When ready to grind, allow frozen chicken to thaw slightly in the refrigerator. Grind chicken using the larger hole guide on your meat grinder.
4. Melt butter in a small pan. saute garlic for about a minute, stirring constantly, then remove from heat.
5. Blend ground chicken with Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and mace. Mix in breadcrumbs. Fry a small amount of your mixture in a pan to test the flavor. Add additional Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper as needed. Place chicken sausage mixture in refrigerator to settle for at least half an hour.
6. Remove puff pastry sheets from packaging and discard any paper separators. Thaw at room temperature for half an hour.
7. Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
8. Roll out puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Cut each sheet (assuming there are 2) into 6 pieces.
9. Portion out an equal amount of chicken sausage mix (about 2 ounces) on each sheet.
10. Blend egg thoroughly then blend in a teaspoon or two of water. Brush the outside of each pastry sheet section, then roll one edge over to cover the sausage. Redistribute the sausage so it's even throughout the inside. Seal the ends and crimp down with the edge of a fork. Repeat steps 8-10 for remaining pastry and sausage.
11. Place sausage rolls on a pan with parchment paper (or use a Silpat as I do here). Brush remaining egg wash on the surface of each roll.
12. Bake for 25 minutes or until the pastry is starting to brown. The bottom will likely be soggy, so flip sausage rolls over and bake for another 5 minutes to crisp up. Continue baking until the desired golden brown color is achieved.
13. Enjoy by them self, or with a dip (I made one with olive oil mayo, dijon mustard, and hot sauce).
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Hmmm... I could do batches in the mini-chopper.