Bird Rolls Recipes

PORK AND SAGE SAUSAGE ROLLS

Steps:

• Place the onion, garlic and carrots into a large food processor.
• Blitz until everything is finely chopped.
• Heat some olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.
• Cook the onion mixture with a good pinch of salt for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture starts to soften.
• Remove the onion mixture to a large mixing bowl and let it cool completely.
• Meanwhile, add the pork, parsley, salt, pepper, dried herbs and Worcestershire sauce to the food processor.
• Pulse for just a few seconds until the meat has an almost paste-like texture. You can skip this step if you prefer your sausage roll filling to have a chunkier texture.
• Remove the meat mixture to the mixing bowl with the onion mixture, and add the breadcrumbs.
• Use your hands to mix everything together until all of the ingredients are well combined.
• If you want to check the filling for seasoning, I recommend pinching off a small piece of the filling and roll it into a small patty or meatball. Fry the patty in a small pan with some oil, and taste for seasoning.
• For this recipe, I use 2 rectangular sheets of puff pastry which are 25 x 42 cm/10 x 16 inches in size.
• Cut the pastry in half lengthwise so that you have two narrow strips of pastry (12.5 cm/5 inches wide).
• Use your hands to place the filling in the middle of one strip of pastry. You want to form a long sausage which is roughly one-third of the width of the pastry.
• Make the egg wash by beating the egg and milk together in a small bowl.
• Brush one side of the pastry length with some egg wash.
• Carefully lift one side of the pastry over the sausage filling, and continue until the filling is fully encased in the pastry.
• Make sure the seam is on the bottom.
• Use a sharp knife to cut the sausage roll into whatever lengths you like. For entertaining, I suggest making the sausage rolls about 4 cm/1.5 inches long. Otherwise, I typically cut my sausage rolls about 8 cm/3 inches long.
• Cut a few slits in the pastry of each sausage roll.
• Repeat the above steps with the remaining filling and pastry.
• If it is quite warm in your kitchen, I recommend putting the uncooked sausage rolls into the fridge for about 30 minutes before baking. This helps to prevent the pastry from shrinking upon baking.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F (without fan).
• Place the sausage rolls onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
• Brush the sausage rolls with some egg wash.
• Sprinkle the sausage rolls with some sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or just some coarse sea salt and coarsely cracked black pepper.
• Bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly golden. Depending on how big or small your sausage rolls are, you may need to adjust the time slightly.
• Serve hot or warm with some tomato sauce (ketchup) or Cherry Tomato Relish.

BREAD BIRDS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, yeast and salt. In a saucepan, melt butter. Add milk and water; heat to 120°-125°. Add to flour mixture and mix well. Stir in extract and egg; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch the dough down; divide into 16 pieces. To shape birds, roll each piece into a 10-in. rope; tie into a knot. Cut one end a few times with a scissors to form tail feathers. Tuck in the other end of the nose to form beak. Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 30 minutes. , Bake at 350° for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown. Combine honey butter ingredients; brush over the hot rolls. Return to the oven for 3 minutes. With a toothpick, make small holes for the beak and eyes. Insert a slivered almond for the beak and currants for eyes. Serve with remaining honey butter if desired.

BIRD ROLLS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add the butter, brown sugar, 2 eggs, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 16 pieces. Roll each into a 12-in. rope; tie each into a knot. , To form birds' head, tuck one end back into knots. With a sharp knife or scissors, cut two slits on opposite end to form tail feathers. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. , Beat egg with water; brush over dough. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Insert an almond into each for beak. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

BEEF BIRDS

Steps:

• Pound steak to 1/4 inch thickness, using a meat mallet or edge of heavy plate.
• Cut meat into strips, approximately 3x5 inches. Season flour with salt, pepper and garlic powder and dredge the meat in the flour. (save the remaining flour to thicken the gravy).
• Add a 1/2 slice of bacon (size to cover the meat strip) and thin chunks of onion to the meat, leaving the end of the meat free of onion so you can roll up more easily. Roll it up, with the bacon and onion on the inside and secure with 2 toothpicks.
• In Dutch Oven or heavy pot, heat oil and brown birds well on all sides. You will have to do this in batches. Do NOT skimp on browning well, it really makes the dish.
• Return birds to the pot. Add beef broth and enough water up to 3 inches in pot. Cover and simmer on low until fork-tender, about 1 1/2 hours, check after 1 hour.
• Remove birds. Skim some, but not all of the fat from the pot. Make gravy using pan juices, flour and water, or however you like to make your gravy.

AUTHENTIC POLISH GOLUMPKI RECIPE - STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS THAT TASTE LIKE POLAND!

Steps:

• Cook the rice in half the time stated on the packaging. It should be middle-hard (semi-cooked).
• Wash the cabbage and remove the outer leaves.
• Remove the core and put the cabbage inside the boiling hot salty water.
• Depending on the type of cabbage, boil for 1-10 minutes, until the leaves are softer and flexible enough to form gołąbki.
• Drain and cool down the cabbage. Leave the water from the cabbage, you will need it later.
• Separate the leaves- you will use each leave to form gołąbek.
• Peel and chop the onions. Fry them with minced meat and a bit of oil or butter. Keep in mind that frying meat is not necessary! You can add raw meat to the filling.
• Mix rice, onions, and meat together. Season with salt and pepper. If the filling is too dry, add melted butter or broth to make sure it's easy to wrap in the cabbage leaves.
• Place the raw, outer cabbage leaves on the bottom of the heat-resistant dish.
• Start forming gołąbki: take each leave, put the meat-rice filling inside, and wrap it carefully. See this video if you don't know how to do it.
• Place gołąbki in the heat-resistant dish. They should tightly cling to each other.
• Pour the cabbage water into the heat-resistant dish. They should cover 1/5-2/3 of the dish (not more than half of the dish!).
• Cover the dish with the lid.
• Place in the oven heated to 356°F (180°C). Cook for 1-1,5h (until they are soft). After 40 minutes check if there is enough water in the dish. If not, add some more to make sure gołąbki won't burn.
• TOMATO SAUCE- peel and dice the tomatoes and boil them with a bit of water. Fry the minced garlic and onion on oil. When they are soft, add to the tomatoes and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• MUSHROOM SAUCE- peel and dice onions and mushrooms. Fry them on butter with minced garlic for 5-10 minutes. Add broth or water, cover the dish with a lid and simmer until soft (10-15 minutes). Mix the flour with sour cream, add 2 tbsps of mushroom sauce. Slowly pour the flour-cream mix to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper.