Tackling Zena Skinner with a sausage plait

I don't really remember Zena Skinner, but she was quite a formidable TV chef in the 70s, and her cookbook arrived with a batch of retro recipe books from eBay. 

I bet you can't wait for a recipe from the mixer & blender book... As with many older cookbooks, pictures and photos are used sparingly, as in practically non-existent, which makes recreating some of the designs a bit more challenging! (see also Pringle shaped biscuits from the Scandi post...) This week, another not-for-anyone-attempting-to-diet dish, the sausage plait, worryingly not included in the "meat" chapter but in the "savoury" section, which does make me question the quality of Zena's sausages.

Ingredients

For 2 hungry people with leftovers

250g puff pastry (or half a pack of a pre-made block)

4 sausages - we had some venison sausages in the freezer but any good quality tasty banger will do

1 small red onion

1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Did you spot the trick ingredient? The recipe suggested cheese, which is why there's a block of wensleydale on the board above, but once I'd made the plait cheese seemed a bit excessive, so I made some gravy instead.

Method

- Roll the pastry out to form an oblong about 15cm by 20cm. Squeeze the meat from the sausages, season and form into a roll. Put down the centre of the pastry then sprinkle the chopped red onion on top and  squidge in a bit

- Here comes the technical it: cut slits in the sides of the pastry at an angle as shown below

- Fold the strips alternatively over the sausage filling so it looks a bit like a plait (?!). Tuck in the ends and glaze with beaten egg

 - Bake in the oven at 220C for 25-30 minutes until the meat is cooked through and the pastry is golden

It was delicious with mashed potato, cabbage and gravy, and I can think of several variations with different sausages and stuffings, flavouring the pastry with fennel or caraway, and even adding a bit of cheese...

Bourbon on the rocks: FourHobs' first travel blog

We're touring the Yorkshire Dales this week, so little opportunity for cooking but plenty of opportunity for dramatic photos. I decided I can post about the trip in FourHobsinarow for two reasons: holidays in the UK were definitely 'a thing' in the 70s, and I'll feature some favourite 70s foods...

Like Bourbon biscuits. Bourbon creams, as they are sometimes known, were actually invented in 1910 and weren't called Bourbons at all. But why let facts get in the way of a story - I bought a (large) packet to fuel our excursions around various sights across the dales and the lakes, so this first travel post from FourHobs features Bourbon biscuits in precarious Yorkshire situations. Viewers may find some of the following images disturbing.

Surrounded by grykes on Malham's limestone pavement

Bourbon over troubled water

Trapped by some ferocious stinging nettles

Predator Bourbon

Do not touch this Bourbon

Bourbon on the rocks, halfway up Pen-y-ghent 

Bourbon at 674m above sea level; the summit of Pen-y-ghent 

Thistly Bourbon

Melting in the (one day) heatwave

Bourbon at an angle

Should I stick to cooking?! Or am I in desperate need of another holiday...