FOOD SCISSORS RECIPES

Steps:

• Bake (at 350 degrees) the chicken/turkey thighs and liver leaving ~50% of the thigh meat raw. (The time needed varies depending on how thick the thighs are but is usually ~15 minutes, give or take.) The liver will be cooked more than the meat which is fine.
• Remove from the oven and put in cold water to stop the cooking process.
• Remove some of the raw meat from the bone for chunking (for the version in the picture, I used a grinder, if you use meat shears or a knife to "chunk" the meat - cutting it into small pieces about the size of a dime, it will look like the second picture). The bigger, the better. Keep in mind that raw meat is more tenacious (and better for teeth) than cooked meat. Make sure that you include the skin and all the fat!
• If using eggs, make sure you cook the whites (the yolks can be cooked or left raw). Break the egg into small pieces so that it incorporates into the rest of the ingredients.
• Mix together the meat/liver/skin, egg whites, and fat drippings in one large bowl. Placed mixture in the refrigerator while the supplements are mixed up.
• Combine the water, egg yolks (if you only cooked the white versus the whole egg), vitamin E, vitamin B-complex, taurine, salt, bone meal, and fish oil with a whisk. Note that it is helpful to put the fish oil capsules in warm water in advance of mixing up the supplement slurry. It takes about 15 minutes for them to dissolve and I use my hand to make sure that all of the oil is squeezed out of each capsule. Some people poke the fish oil capsules with a pin. It is ok to leave the capsules in the water. Most cats readily eat them but if your cat is not fond of fish, then you may want to remove them.
• Pour the supplement slurry into the meat/skin/liver/egg mixture. Mix very well.
• Portion into containers and freeze. Leave at least 3/4" of head space to allow for expansion.
• Ideally, the food should only be in the refrigerator (in a completely thawed state) for 48 - 72 hours so keep that in mind when choosing your container size. The average cat eats about 3.5-6 ounces per day.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Grease a baking tray with oil using a pastry brush, then cover it with baking parchment. Put to one side. Remove the meat from the sausage skins by snipping off the ends, then squeezing the sausagemeat into a bowl (see step 1).
• Cut the pepper into small pieces with scissors. Break the egg into the cup, beat with a fork, and save 2 tbsp for glazing. Add the red pepper and remaining egg to the sausagemeat with the chilli flakes, if using, and purée. Mix well with a fork or clean hands (step 2).
• Sprinkle some flour on the work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry into a rough square shape, about 30 x 30cm. Put the pastry on the lined baking tray (step 3).
• Now spoon the filling down the middle of the pastry in a sausage shape – leave a little gap at the top and bottom (about 3cm) (step 4).
• Cut the pastry at a slight diagonal, on either side of the filling, into 1.5cm strips, the same number each side – we cut 12 strips each side. Brush the pastry all over with most of the saved egg (step 5).
• Tuck the top and bottom edges of the pastry over the filling. Starting at the top, lay the pastry strips over the filling, taking one from each side, to cross like a plait. Now brush the top all over with the last of the egg. Bake for 35-40 mins or until golden. Serve hot or cold with baked beans or salad (step 6).