Sausage-Cheddar Balls

Sausage-Cheddar Balls

We all wish to serve great starters at our parties without spending a walletfull on ordering from restaurants and they absolutely need to taste yummy! They have to be quick, and simple and tasty and if they may be prepped in advance then its super awesome! Here’s a recipe for the ultimate sausage balls which can be made so easily using the readymade sausages available in all supermarkets these days, your favorite cheese and just some spices. I chanced upon this recipe when I wanted to use the cheese and the frozen sausages in my freezer and couldn’t think of anything else than to just put it all together! A must try! I am showing the recipe here for the baked variety of the dish for other calorie conscious foodies like me, but you can also deep fry these balls in refined oil or peanut oil till golden brown on medium heat.

Yields: 45 small servings

Oven Temp: 400 F

 Ingredients

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour/Maida

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp red chili powder

1 ½ tsp baking powder

200 gms Grated Cheddar Cheese

400 gms Breakfast Chicken Sausage (pulsed in a blender)

½ large onion, grated on large holes of a box grater

3 tbsp Butter, melted

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, pepper, Chili powder, and baking powder.
• Add cheddar and toss well.
• Add sausage, onion, and butter.
• With your hands, mix until well combined and roll mixture into 1-inch balls.
• Place balls, ½ inch apart, on a parchment/butter paper-lined baking sheet.
• Bake until balls are golden and cooked through, 25 minutes. Serve warm with mayo or mint chutney.

Profiteroles

The first time I got to know about profiteroles was during Masterchef episodes and the thing I loved the most about them was the chocolate dip part! A profiterole is basically a cream puff or choux à la crème choux pastry ball filled with whipped cream, pastry cream or ice cream. The puffs may be decorated or left plain or garnished with chocolate sauce, caramel, or a dusting of powdered sugar. It’s a little similar to Mal-Puas we make in India. These small yummy dessert bites can be made easily for any get together at home. For variations, you can choose just about any cream filling ranging from expresso cream, fruits, chocolate, or cream cheese. For the dip, you can use chocolate or even any fruit jelly. Just keep innovating!

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 10-12 pieces

Ingredients

1/2 cup water

1/2 stick butter

Pinch salt

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

Pinch ground cinnamon

Ice cream

Chocolate Sauce

Equipment:  Pastry bag fitted with large straight tip

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• In a small saucepan combine the water, butter and salt and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat and add the flour all at once and stir it vigorously with a wooden spoon.
• Cook until the mixture has formed a ball and has a slightly sweaty sheen to it and it has pulled away from the pan.
• Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and let cool for 3 to 4 minutes.
• The mixture does not have to be cold, just cool enough not to cook the eggs when added.
• Using an electric mixer or lots of good old-fashioned elbow grease, beat in the eggs 1 at a time.
• Do not add the second egg until the first is fully incorporated. Add in the cinnamon and beat for another second to combine.
• Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag equipped with a large straight tip and pipe 1-inch balls onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.
• When done dip your finger in water and smooth the top of each ball where the pastry bag released the dough.
• Be sure to leave at least 1-inch between each of the balls. They grow big!
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through the cooking time to insure even cooking.
• When done, the puffs should be light, airy and dry inside. Cool on a rack.
• When ready to serve, cut in half horizontally and fill with ice cream of your choice. Vanilla goes really well.
• Top with warm chocolate sauce. Easier way to do this is just lift the profiterole and dip in the chocolate sauce on one side, and place on the serving plate!

You can also choose to sprinkle some cake decoration on these while the sauce is not set, for a party. Variations – Sprinkle of desiccated coconut, dash of maple syrup, coffee, or a fruit puree!!

Chocolate Sauce

1 large bar of semi sweet or dark chocolate

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon sugar syrup

1 pinch ground cinnamon

• Bring a saucepan with 1-inch of water to a boil.
• Put the chocolate in a metal or heatproof glass mixing bowl and place on top of the saucepan with boiling water.
• Pay careful attention that the mixing bowl does not touch the surface of the boiling water.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until the chocolate has melted and everything is combined.
• This is a pretty quick process, once the chocolate has melted remove it from the double boiler set up.
• Spoon over the filled profiteroles. This is best when served warm!