Franks in Blankets

I had some pastry left over from making the Poor Man's Wellington and some frankfurters in the fridge so i thought id make some Franks in Blankets.

I first had these when we lived in America and loved them, there is something about a cheap frankfurter wrapped in pastry.

I like them dipped in Chilli Ketchup and American Mustard...yummy!!!!

It's tacky but tasty!!

They are so simple to make, i feel like a fraud posting the recipe.....

Pre heat oven 200c, 400c, Gas Mark 6

Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 12/15 minutes

300g Puff pastry
8 Frankfurters
1 Egg beaten
Flour for dusting

Roll out pastry to approx 20 x 16 inches.

Brush the pastry with the beaten egg, lay the frankfurters on the pastry two high and cut the pastry wide enough to roll around the frankfurters, then roll around the frankfurters and seal with egg.

Cut each roll into 8, brush with egg, and put on to a baking tray approximately 2cms apart.

Bake in the oven for 12/15 minutes, until golden brown.

Poor Mans Beef Wellington

I found this recipe in one of the food magazines i subscribe to, and thought it looked good, so decided to add it to my weekly menu.

Basically it is a meatloaf wrapped in pastry with a layer of mushrooms.
I served it with roasted potatoes, vegetables and a red wine and mushroom ju.

The meatloaf was moist and juicy and had a lot of flavour, the sage came through in the mushrooms and the pastry was lovely and crisp.

I would have put some chilli in the meatloaf, but i was serving it to my 2 year old son, so omitted it this time.

Pre heat oven 200c

Prep time 30 minutes
Cook time 1 hour

1 kg Minced beef
100g Tomato ketchup
3 Eggs
2 Onions finely chopped
1 Red chilli finely chopped - optional
Small handful of sage leaves
Small handful of parsley leaves
2 Garlic cloves finely chopped
25g Butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
200g mushrooms finely chopped
300g Puff pastry

Mix the mince beef with the ketchup, 2 of the eggs, onions, half the garlic and half the herbs and the chilli if using, season, then form into a sausage shape and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Let it cool, turning it over half way through cooling so the juices disperse through the loaf.

Melt the butter and olive oil in a pan and saute the mushrooms with the rest of the garlic and herbs for 5 minutes, drain off any excess liquid, let cool.

Roll out the pastry and brush the inside with beaten egg, spread the mushrooms over the pastry, then put the meatloaf on top.

Cut strips in the pastry and braid the pasty, brush with egg and bake for 30 minutes. Cover if it starts to brown too quickly.