Puff Pastry Hot Dog on a Stick

I wanted to teach my daughter how to plan a party. I think a valuable skill to take into adulthood. From a simple birthday party to a dinner party with friends, it’s good to have a plan in place so you’re not too stressed on the day. It was 4th of July and I thought what I perfect time to teach her and we planned a small dinner for the family. We were going to make “corn dogs” (or as we call them here in Australia, “Dagwood Dogs” or “Pluto Pups”) but it was too much effort so I came up with the idea for these Puff Pastry Hot Dogs on a Stick.

Slowly but surely my very fussy daughter is starting to eat more foods, including hot dogs but only the brown skinned variety. Heaven forbid she’d eat a red skinned frankfurt. These American style hot dogs have the same flavour as the ones we’re used to so we were good to go. All you need is the frankfurts, one sheet of puff pastry and wooden skewers.

Thread the frankfurt onto the skewer and with your knife at an angle, starting at the bottom, insert the knife into the sausage and spin the frankfurt, cutting all the way through to the stick. Keep going until you get to the top.

Slice the puff pastry into thin strips, about 1 cm (1/2″) and wrap around the sausage inserting into the cut frankfurt. Depending on the length of the sausage, you may need more than 1 length of puff pastry. These hot dogs were extra long.

Place frankfurts on a tray lined with baking paper.

Brush with a little beaten egg and bake in a 180 deg C oven for approximately 20 minutes or until pastry is golden. (I could’ve left mine in the oven a bit longer.)

Dip in your favourite sauce and enjoy. These were a real hit with the kids. They tasted similar to the deep fried variety of hot dog on a stick but with less calories. They weren’t all that fiddly to do either.

Recipe

• Frankfurts
• Puff Pastry
• Wooden skewers
• 1 egg, beaten

1. Insert skewer into centre of each frankfurt.
2. With your knife at an angle, starting at the bottom, insert the knife into the sausage and spin the frankfurt, cutting all the way through to the stick. Keep going until you get to the top, turning as you go.
3. Cut puff pastry into thin 1 cm (1/2″) strips.
4. Wrap puff pastry into spiral cut space on the sausage.
5. Place hot dogs on a tray lined with baking paper.
6. Brush with beaten egg wash and bake in a 180 deg C oven for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce.

Make your own almond croissants at home

One good thing about ‘making do’ is when the craving hits, you’re able to come up with a quick solution. This happened a little while ago when I was craving an almond croissant. I didn’t have croissants or frangipane to make them but I mentioned it to my husband and when he ducked into the supermarket, he picked up a packet of croissants. I just had to make this frangipane. It’s so easy to make your own almond croissants at home.

Don’t worry if you don’t have almond meal. Having almonds does help and I usually have a good supply of different nuts in my pantry. Grab a handful and blitz until coursely ground.

They should resemble cookie crumbs.

Mix half a cup of ground almonds with 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 4 tablespoons of softened butter and 1 beaten egg.

What you’ll get is a mixture similar to butter. This is what’s called ‘frangipane’ and makes a delicious filling for a baked pastry tart.

I didn’t make my croissants. I never have and knowing what goes into making them, I probably never will. There is a lot of rolling and folding and chilling pastry. It just wouldn’t be worth all that effort for my little family. My son and I ate these almond croissants but my daughter will only eat them plain or with cheese. The supermarket variety are quite alright and they freeze really well too.

Split the croissant lengthways and spread with the almond butter mixture (frangipane). 

Top with the other half of the croissant and bake in a 180 deg C oven for approximately 20 mins or until heated through.

Again, if you don’t have flaked almonds, it’s pretty easy to roughly chop slithers of almonds into flakes. They may not be as fine as the store bought ones but they do. You don’t have to worry about removing the skins either. I quite like the look and flavour of the skins on almonds.

Sprinkle the warm croissants with the flaked almonds and a lot of icing (powdered) sugar. Yum, yum! My craving was satisfied. Absolutely delicious.

Any leftover frangipane can be frozen until next time a craving hits.

I should count myself lucky that I don’t have a French patisserie near me as this is one French delight I’d always go for. Maybe not so lucky to have a lovely husband who will always pick up what I need (or crave) at the supermarket. Definitely one to try for a brunch or late breakfast.

Recipe

(Based on recipe from Kitchn)

• 1 cup dry roasted or raw almonds (or 1/2 cup almond meal)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 large egg, beaten
• croissants
• flaked almonds, for topping
• icing (powdered) sugar

1. If you don’t have almond meal, blitz whole almonds (with skins on if necessary) until they resemble biscuit crumbs.
2. Mix togehter 1/2 cup ground almonds with sugar, vanilla, butter and beaten egg.
3. Cut croissants in half lengthways and spread with almond butter mixture (frangipane).
4. Place top of croissant back on and bake in a 180 deg C oven for approximately 20 minutes or until heated through.
5. Top with flaked almonds and a lot of icing sugar.

Spinach, Bacon & Feta Plait

It doesn’t matter how little you have to make a meal, if you’ve got a sheet of puff pastry in the freezer, you’ll always be able to make a little go a bit further. Everything tastes better with puff pastry and this Spinach, Bacon & Feta Plait came together so easy when ingredients were low.

 

 

I had a little bit of spinach (silverbeet), a couple slices of bacon, half a capsicum and the tiniest bit of feta cheese. I could’ve probably found a bit of pasta to go with it but knowing I always have puff pastry in the freezer, I decided to create a pastry plait. It’s so, so easy for either sweet or savoury dishes.

All you need to do is blanch the spinach and squeeze out any excess moisture. Chop the other ingredients and add half a cup of dried breadcrumbs. This will help to absorb any excess moisture while baking so the pastry stays crisp.

To make the plait, make cuts in the pastry on both sides as above, leaving a space in the middle to pile your filling.

I also add a sprinkling of dried breadcrumbs on the pastry, just to be sure all that excess moisture is absorbed. Put the cut pastry on a piece of baking paper on a baking tray.

Pile on the filling.

Starting from the back, start folding the pastry over the piece from the opposite side until you get to the front and tuck the ends in.

Brush with a beaten egg and bake for about 25 minutes in a 180 deg C oven.

A lovely, golden, crisp pastry shell filled with all those delicious flavours of spinach, bacon and feta cheese.

Serve sliced with whatever you like. All I had to go with this was potatoes and a box of long life cream in the pantry so I made dauphinoise potatoes (potato bake) and it was delicious.

Making this dish reminded me of the time I made this Plum & Macadamia Plait. It was made with a basic sweet dough but you could quite easily just use frozen, ready made puff pastry for a quick dessert. It’s a great way to use up fruit that might be starting to turn. You could add just about anything to one of these plaits, sweet or savoury.

Puff pastry is also excellent to use when unexpected company arrives. You can make so many little bite sized snacks and I have 10 different recipes here. It pays to keep puff pastry in the freezer for a quick meal or fast snack.

Recipe

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Spinach, Bacon & Feta Plait

For a quick meal when you don't have much left in the pantry, use what you have got left and fold it into this easy puff pastry plait.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4

Author Anne

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
• 1 cup cooked spinach or silverbeet excess moisture removed
• 2 rashers bacon chopped
• capscim onion or other vegetables, diced
• feta cheese crumbled
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• salt & pepper
• 1 egg beaten

Instructions

1. Cook spinach and remove any excess liquid.
2. Combine spinach, bacon and feta with 1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs and salt and pepper.
3. Prepare sheet of puff pastry by making diagonal cuts about 1/3 from the centre of the pastry sheet.
4. Repeat on the other side.
5. Sprinkle some extra dried breadcrumbs on the pastry sheet to help absorb any excess moisture from the filling.
6. Spoon filling onto the middle of the pastry sheet and starting from the back, fold over cut pastry slices over the top of the filling, tucking the ends in at the front.
7. Brush pastry with 1 beaten egg and bake in a 180 deg C oven for approximately 25 minutes.
8. Slice and serve.

 

Roasted Sweet Potato & Feta Tarts

I love using stuff up. Is that weird? I love the challenge of trying to come up with something a little different from the norm that’s tasty and I have all the ingredients for. Winter is definitely upon us and a warm lunch is always welcome. I have anything for lunch but if my husband happens to be home, I’ll go to a bit of extra effort. I had 2 small sweet potatoes in the vegetable crisper and the tiniest bit of feta cheese left in the fridge so that’s how these Roast Sweet Potato & Feta Tarts came about.

I was prompted to roast the sweet potato because I already had the oven on baking muffins or cookies for the kids. That’s probably the reason why I decided on these tarts. You know, “make hay while the sun shines”? I cut them in small-ish chunks and tossed in a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast until tender.

I only ever use 2 eggs when I make these tarts. I bulk out the egg mixture with whatever cream like ingredient I have. It could be cream cheese, yoghurt, sour cream or even milk but in this case I had a tiny bit of Greek yoghurt left, maybe about 1/2 cup. Beat the eggs, mix through the yoghurt and add a little salt and pepper. This is when you could add other herbs or spices if you like.

While the sweet potato was roasting you could prepare the pans. I love these semi circle type pans. They are just perfect for tart shells, cakes or biscuits you want to turn into cases. I just spray with a little oil spray to stop the pastry sticking.

Cut out the pastry using a pastry cutter and press into the pan. (I always, always have ready made puff pastry in the freezer. It’s so handy to make these kind of dishes at the last minute.)

Pop in the roasted sweet potato and chopped feta. You could add a sprinkling of cheese but I didn’t feel like adding it on this particular occasion so left it off. Pour over the beaten egg and yoghurt mixture and place in a 180 deg C oven for approximately 20 minutes or until egg mixture has set.

And done. I could’ve baked these a little more but I’ve been having trouble with my oven lately where it burns everything on the bottom. That’s why they’re not so golden on top but they were cooked and the egg was set.

I drizzled a little balsamic glaze over the top and served with a side salad. Really scrummy and an alternative to a boring old sandwich for lunch. If you’re ever roasting vegetables for your evening meal, keep a few aside and pop in the freezer so you can make this recipe even quicker. If you don’t have feta cheese, don’t worry. Just leave it out or use plain cheddar, parmesan or any other cheese you have.

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Roasted Sweet Potato & Feta Tarts

A quick lunch time treat or snack, these roasted sweet potato and feta tarts are so quick and easy to put together.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 18

Author Anne

Ingredients

• 2 small or 1 large sweet potato diced
• salt & pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup Greek yoghurt sour cream, cream or milk
• 1/2 cup feta cheese chopped into small pieces or crumbled
• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
2. Roast sweet potato, which has been tossed in extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper, for approximately 20 minutes or until tender.
3. Prepare pastry cases but cutting rounds of puff pastry using a pastry cutter and place in a suitable pan which has been spray with oil spray.
4. Beat eggs and mix in Greek yoghurt (or other ingredient you use).
5. Season with salt and pepper and add other herbs or spices, if required.
6. Place pieces of sweet potato into each tart shell along with a couple pieces of feta cheese.
7. Pour egg mixture into each tart shell.
8. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until egg has set.

Recipe Notes

Drizzle with balsamic glaze (optional).
Serve with a side salad for a meal or on their own for a snack.
Pumpkin is a perfect substitute for the sweet potato.

 

The Easiest Cinnamon Rolls

Don’t you just love it when your kids organise play dates? Well, in this particular case my 9 year old son did arrange it, with mine and his mate’s Mum’s help but I completely forgot about this boy coming over and, as per usual, I was scurrying around at the last minute trying to find something to serve them for afternoon tea. I had to act quickly because I was due to collect them from school so I checked the freezer and the frozen puff pastry was staring at me. (I always have puff pastry in the fridge. It’s perfect for emergencies of any kind.) I thought “hmmm, I wonder if I just spread the sheet with a little butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, rolled them up, baked them and drizzled with icing?” And that’s exactly what I did for the easiest Cinnamon Rolls in the entire universe.

Take your sheet of puff pastry out of the freezer and turn your oven on to about 220 deg C.

Spread the sheet of puff with butter.

Sprinkle with brown sugar and then cinnamon. (I wasn’t sure of the quantities. Just enough until the pastry is covered lightly.)

Roll up into a ‘scroll’ shape and cut into slices about 1.5cm wide (1″).

Grease a cupcake pan really well with oil spray. You might even want to put a cupcake liner in there. I had a couple cinnamon rolls stick because when the sugar melted it turned into a sticky toffee mix and stuck. I had to pry out with a knife.

Bake until golden brown and bubbly. You can brush with an egg wash to make more golden brown but once the brown sugar/cinnamon mix melts, it makes them brown.

Make a simple glaze with 1 cup of icing sugar and about 1 tablespoon of milk (you can colour the icing mixture if you want) and spoon over the cinnamon rolls. You could even melt some chocolate and drizzle over.

I swear, these were so, so good and just like the ‘real’ thing. I had to taste test one, you know, before my son’s company came over and I had to stop myself. They were bite sized little bundles of cinnamon, sugary flakiness and so quick! Boy, they were quick. I think they’ll become a regular Sunday morning treat or if any of my children decide to have friends over and Mumma forgets to organise afternoon tea.