My Adventures into the Land of Cooking...

Alexandra discovered one of the greatest delights in Australian cuisine this summer - sausage rolls.  They're a pastry covered sausage - no casing on the meat.  I'd had them before and never really liked them, but this time even I appreciated them heartily.  

When we discovered that we would have to bring something to an international potluck this weekend, Alex and I immediately figured we'd make little sausage rolls.  After all, the Australian part is our heritage and they're yummy!

Last night, while we bought our supplies, I hit snag one.  The only uncased sausage we could buy was bratwurst.  While we both love bratwurst, that wasn't quite the flavor we were looking for.

I was reminded by a friend, though, that in order to make these accessible to all the attendants of the potluck,  I should avoid making anything with pork.  Okay - we'll be making the final batch with ground beef, I guess.

I discovered today, while making my first attempt at these tasty treats, that filo dough is NOT as hard to work with as I'd heard.  Even with one hand immobilized in a cast, I was able to maneuver the sheets of pastry, brush melted butter, cut them, and roll the sausage up in it.  I will admit that turning the rolls in the oven, later on, did prove to be a bit challenging...

I've tested the first batch on a few of my coworkers - all of whom appreciated the bratwurst snack.  However, the overall consensus is - after all my work with that filo dough - I should use crescent roll dough.  While that may make them quicker to make, it also means that I'll have to cook the meat ahead of the rolls.  Filo may stay in the oven for long periods of time to cook the insides, but crescent roll dough doesn't do well past about 7 minutes.

Perhaps I'll look around online for a recipe for sausage rolls...