Sausage Rolls

This is another Chef John recipe and it was well received on New Year's Eve 2020. I will be making this again.

Tips: Don't remove the puff pastry from freezer till just about ready to use. I think overlapping a full inch might leave you a bit short to make a good seam when you are rolling it up around the sausage. I used a ruler to score before cutting the rolls. about 3 cm each. 

Musical Accompaniment: Roll With It by Steve Winwood (turn this one up to 11)

Ingredients

1 pound ground pork

2 tablespoons finely minced onion

1 clove crushed garlic (use a press or finely chop and press with flat side of blade till paste forms)

1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon minced fresh sage

1 tablespoon dry bread crumbs

1 sheet prepared puff pastry dough (Pepperidge Farm’s)

1 large egg beaten with a teaspoon of water

Everything but the Bagel to garnish

1. Place ground pork, onions, garlic, sage, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, coriander, thyme, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Mix with a fork until ingredients are evenly distributed, 2 to 3 minute. Divide mixture in half (scale comes in handy here) and place each half on a length of plastic wrap. Use your damp fingers to shape each half into a cylinder, approximately the same length as the puff pastry. Roll up in the plastic and form into a round roll. Refrigerate until ready to use.
    
2. Whisk egg with 1 teaspoon water to make the egg wash.
    
3. Separate the semi-frozen puff pastry dough into thirds. Halve one of the thirds lengthwise. Bring pastry to room temperature. Brush a 2-inch strip of egg wash along 1 long edge of the 2 larger pastry pieces. Place the narrower pieces on the egg wash strip, overlapping about 1 inch, to make a wider piece of pastry dough. Press lightly to form 2 wide lengths of pastry dough.
    
4. Transfer 2 sheets of dough to a lightly floured piece of parchment paper; dust tops lightly with flour. Cover with another sheet of parchment. Roll gently to achieve an even thickness. Remove top sheet of parchment. Flatten the longs edges of the dough slightly about 1 inch wide so that when the roll-up is completed, the seam side won't be thicker than the rest of the dough. Place a sausage log at the end of a pastry sheet. Begin to roll the sausage log in the pastry, brushing the far edge with egg wash before sealing the edges together. Place seam side down on parchment and place on a dish. Repeat with 2nd sausage roll. Freeze until dough firms up, about 10 minutes.
    
5. Preheat oven to 375° F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
    
6. Place rolls on a lightly floured surface. Lightly brush top and sides with egg wash. Cut each roll into 8 pieces. Sprinkle with Everything but the Bagel mix. Place on prepared baking sheet seam side down (standing up). Lightly press each roll to flatten it slightly so they don't fall over when baking. (This last flattening is very important.)
    
7. Place in preheated oven; bake until nicely browned, pastry is cooked through, and bottoms are browned, about 30 minutes. Cook till internal temp is about 160 or so. 

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

I made the of mistake thinking immersion blender-ing the veggies into the sauce would give it more body. Let's just say I'm not doing THAT again. 

Ingredients

1 large yellow onion

2 medium carrots

2 medium stalks celery

3 to 3 1/4 pounds bone-in beef short ribs

3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

1 cup low-sodium beef broth (or reconstituted beef base)

2 bay leaves

4 fresh thyme sprigs (or some dried thyme)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 cups dry red wine

Instructions

1. Dice 1 large yellow onion, peel and cut 2 medium carrots into 1-inch pieces, and cut 2 celery stalks into 1-inch pieces.
    
2. Pat 3 to 3 1/4 pounds short ribs dry. Season all over with 2 teaspoons of the kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large, high-sided frying pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half of the short ribs and sear on 3 sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
    
3. Transfer to a 6-quart or larger slow cooker. If needed, add the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and repeat with the remaining short ribs. Transfer with tongs to the slow cooker. The short ribs will not be cooked through. Add 1 cup low-sodium beef broth, 4 fresh sprigs thyme, and 2 bay leaves to the slow cooker.
    
4. Add the onion, carrot, and celery, to the pot, season with the remaining 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the all-purpose flour and tomato paste, stir to coat the vegetables and cook until darkened in color, about 2 minutes. Pour in 3 cups dry red wine and stir to combine, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
    
5. Pour the hot liquid and vegetables into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on the LOW setting for 8 to 10 hour or until meat is fork-tender and bone easily pulls away.
    
6. Transfer the short ribs to a large plate with tongs. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a large glass measuring cup or bowl and discard the cooked vegetables, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and any loose bones. Serve the short ribs with sauce spooned over top.

Tip: If you have a fat separator, strain into that and pour leaving the fat behind. If you want to richen things up even more (which I barely recommend), transfer separated sauce to a pan and finish with 1 or 2 tbsp. COLD butter.

Serve over mashed potatoes or polenta.