It is that time of year again when we get out the eskies (coolers), load them up with sausages, marinated meats and beer then head off down the coast for a camping expedition. We have been lucky enough to tag along on Claire & Johnny's regular camping extravaganza! We were told to bring a tent, chairs, loads of food and beer and the rest will be looked after (considering we have a lot of C&J's camping gear as our daily kitchen equipment I thought we got off lightly).
I have to admit I want a stress free weekend and because it has been so hot today I didn't want to do much cooking, the size of my chopping board doesn't get me into a creative fluffy either!
I found a great butcher shop, (my American friends- I have to tell you it is just like the good old days where you can still shop at stand alone fruit/veggie and local butcher stores- love it!) anyway our 'local' had a great array of snags (sausages that are NOT pre-cooked) and I opted for the lamb and mint ones and then a good amount of chicken thighs to marinate so all I have to do is whip up a salad and cook the meat- just as I remember mum doing when I was a kid.
All this talk of no cooking isn't quite true- I did decide to make some pasties for the trip down. You really can't go wrong with a pastie. You have your vegetables (on this occasion I threw in 2 potatoes, 1/3 cup squash, 1 lge stick celery, 1 medium carrot and 1 medium onion- all veggies diced small) mixed with ground beef, finished with some fresh herbs (parsley & basil) and then an egg and salt & pepper to tie it all together. Once you have the mix, get you hands in there and give it a good mixing before you pop a handful of the mix onto puff pastry sheets you cut out with a small saucepan. Wrap it all up together, just like a massive won ton or 'pop over' then cook them in a 400 degree oven for about 20 odd minutes. As you can see from the finished result above, a delicious lunch that is pre-made and all-in-one. The kids throw these down like candy, little do they realize I always put more vegetables in than meat. With this batch I made 10 pasties from about just under a pound of ground beef.
So if your not in the sun having fun- sorry about that or if you have an hour to spare in the kitchen, whip up a batch and throw the leftovers ones in the freezer for another time. They are well worth the effort!
1 comment:
I Love Pasties, I used your recipe about 5 years ago and loved it!!!! As I am who I am, I neglected to write it down and fudged my way threw a few times to no avail! Thank you for the revisit!!! Guess what we will be eating for dinner tonight.
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