Turkey sausage rolls

400g turkey mince
200g pumpkin, roasted and cooled
1 leek
3 eggs
Small bunch flat-leaf parsley
Small bunch sage
1 tsp nutmeg
Pinch salt
Olive oil
1 pack of frozen puff pastry

Preheat oven to 200C. Slice the leek and fry in oil until soft. Add turkey, pumpkin, leek, parsley, sage, nutmeg, salt, 1 whole egg, and two egg whites to a food processor (reserve the yolks). Process until smooth, adding oil to achieve the right consistency. This may need to be done in two batches, depending on the size of your food processor.

Lightly beat the remaining two egg yolks. Slice a sheet of pastry in half, then shape a portion of sausage mix into a cylinder and lay along the long edge of one piece of pastry. Brush egg yolk along the other long edge, then roll up. Repeat for the remaining sausage mix. Brush the tops of the rolls with egg yolk, then bake for 30 minutes. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Strawberry sauce

2 punnets strawberries
1/4 cup brown sugar
15ml brandy
15ml Chambord
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Chop strawberries and place all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over low heat until strawberries soften. Serve over pancakes or icecream.

Chicken and cherry pie

Based on Gode Cookery's Basic Meat Pie.

2 Chicken breasts, or equivalen of other chicken pieces, diced
1/2 can cherries
1/4 cup hazelnuts, crushed
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp sherry (or similar cooking alcohol)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Pastry shell of your choice

Prepare pie crust (shortcrust is a good choice for pre-prepared pastry -- puff pastry will get soggy). Brown the chicken briefly in a frying pan, then place in a mixing bowl with the other ingredients. Mix well, adjusting quantities of ingredients if required. Fill pie crust and add pastry lid. Bake for 1 hour.

Roast turkey with lemon

Serves 2

1 Turkey breast
1 lemon
1/4 cup wine (I use white shiraz)
1 tsp paprkia
2 tsp honey

Preheat oven to 180C. Place the turkey breast in a baking dish. Mix together wine, papkira, and honey, and drizzle over turkey. Slice lemon into thin slices, and layer the lemon over the turkey. Roast for 50-60 minutes.

Sweet pumpkin bread

2 cups self-raising flour
pinch salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup mashed, cooked pumpkin
½ cup milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
60g butter, melted, cooled
2 eggs, lightly whisked
2 tbs pepitas (pumpkin seed kernels)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a loaf pan. Sift the flour, salt and spices into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.

Add the pumpkin, milk, butter and egg to the flour mixture, and stir with a large metal spoon until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Sprinkle evenly with pepitas.

Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven. Set aside in the pan for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

Spiced whole-baked pumpkin

I'm fairly certian I saw this recipe on TV a few years ago... problem is, I can't remember where and can't find it anywhere! If anyone knows which TV show it came from, I'll assign it the correct credits.

Wash your pumpkin, then cut the top off and scrape out the seeds. These can be washed, roasted and used to top Sweet pumpkin bread.

Fill the pumpkin with the spice mixture:
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
½ tsp ginger

Place the pumpkin in a baking dish, replace the top, and bake at 180C for one hour. Serve with the butter and spice mixture as a sauce. 

These quantities are for a small butternut pumpkin and will serve 4 people, adjust cooking time and filling for a larger pumpkin. Another idea is to use very small pumpkins for individual serves. Use any leftover pumpkin to make Sweet Pumpkin Bread.

Blueberry and pimento sauce

1 can blueberries
1/2 tsp pimento (allspice)
splash lemon juice

Drain blueberries, reserving syrup. Place in a saucepan with 1/4 cup of syrup, lemon juice and pimento. Simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce is of an even consistency. Serve over ice cream or pancakes.