Turkish Sausage Rolls & Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownie

Once upon a time, not that long ago, I was considered one of the most technologically inept persons around.

From the days when I couldn't work out how to get photos off my digital camera, to absolutely despising getting a new phone because I would have to learn (once again) how to do the most simplest of tasks (like ring someone). I would wait for the very last spark of life from the thing before I would relent and reluctantly walk - with the fear of new technology weighing upon my shoulders - into a phone shop.

But now, my dear friends, I'm a technological Goddess. Okay, I exaggerate but I have improved. A necessity when I ventured into the virtual world of the blog.

Not only have I had to grapple with horrible things like HTML coding and widgets (ekkkk!), but I've also had to learn about the art of food photography. Which, quite frankly, I suck at.

However, I'm not one to give up easily. I'm thoroughly enjoying this little blog world of mine and the fabulous people I'm meeting through it; so I must improve.

I've recently joined Pinterest (you can find me there as The Self-Raising Kitchen) to gain a little inspiration from other people and how they make 'stuff' look amazing. (For the social media virgin: Pinterest is like your old cork board where you once used a drawing pin or thumbtack to pin inspirational photos, articles or pictures on the board. Now it's all online; no hunting for thumbtacks, no pricking yourself while digging around in the bottom of a draw feeling for the tack that you just know is in there.)

Let me share with you my attempts to improve my food photography - all taken on my iPhone - by using applications provided on my Mac and with the thanks to instagram (another very cool photo application that can help filter photos to make them look a little snazzier).

Please, let me know what you think or drop a comment and let me know how I can improve. And for your troubles I've linked to an AMAZING red velvet cheesecake recipe that I found on Pinterest, courtesy of Lick the Spoon blog, followed by a recipe for a Turkish sausage roll that is so delicious and so easy you will undoubtedly knock the socks off your friends at your next afternoon tea.

Once you have made the red velvet brownie mixture
and the cheesecake mixture, separately, place the red velvet
mixture in your tin, then gently place the cheesecake mixture on top

Make sure you leave a little left over red velvet brownie mixture
so you can make beautiful swirls on top.

I used a chopstick and had fun making swirls out of the amazing
red velvet brownie mixture in a backdrop of creamy cheesecake mixture. 

Red velvet cheesecake brownie

thanks to Lick the Spoon blog

Turkish sausage rolls
by delicious. magazine, March edition

Turkish sausage rolls, drizzled with pomegranate molasses

Ingredients
500g lean lamb mince

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp ground cumin seeds

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp sweet paprika

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp dried mint

1 tsp dried oregano

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp sumac

*Pomegranate molasses, to drizzle

*Pomegranate molasses is available from delis and Middle Eastern food shops. Some IGAs (Greenslopes, Brisbane) also stock it. Don't want to buy it for one dish? Then try my tasty duck recipe that uses it, too.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C. 

Combine lamb, garlic, spices and herbs in a bowl and season. I simply cut the pastry sheets in half to make up a sausage roll. Divide filling between the pastry, shaping it into a log along one side. Roll up to form a roll, brush pastry edge with water (if needed, I found it stuck together without the water) and press to seal. 

Rolling up the sausage roll. You can see where I cut
the pastry to make up one roll.

Brush with egg and sprinkle with sumac. Place, seam-side down, on a baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.

Sausage rolls ready for the oven. I scored the pastry
for ease in cutting once cooked.

Once cooked, slice, then drizzle molasses over the sausage rolls. No tomato sauce is needed with this sausage roll.

Turkish sausage rolls - so simple, so yummy!

Thanks, once again, for joining me on my technological and cooking adventures.