Review of Recipe Oddley Posted / First Mediterranean Attempt

[JFIELDS]

First, the recipe Oddley posted:

augie oliver's italian sausage.......

10 # pork butt
4 oz salt
2 oz fennel seed
2 oz crushed red pepper

I made 5 pounds of this tonight. Ground the pork in the Kitchen Aid with the course disc. Mixed up the spices with some water first to get them evenly mixed into the meat. Stuffed them into large hog casings. First time I'd used those. They were a lot harder to get onto the large stuffer tube than the collagen breakfast casings had been on the small one. But I eventually got them done. After that was done, I blew one up trying to link them. That will take some practice. And I need to watch that video that got mentioned for the proper technique.

Anyway, the taste of the sausage:
It is pretty good. It has a pleasant spice from the crushed peppers, and the ingredients are indeed pretty well in balance with each other, to my taste. However, I'd probably add some other spices. The pepper, fennel and salt give a nice overall taste, but I'd like some subtler secondary flavors. The analogy that comes to mind is classical music. While the lead instruments are playing, there are others in the background. The non-musician (like me) can still appreciate the richer overall sound even if we can't pick out the other secondady instruments in the orchestra. They just make the leads sound better. So I'm of the opinion that the recipes needs a little work. It isn't at all bad, but my preference is for a fuller, more diverse flavor.

Then I made 6 pounds of a "Mediterranean" sausage. I used some ideas from the Merguez in the Kutas book, some ideas from a lamb sundried tomato recipe in the Adell book, and some random things that just came to me.

Mediterranean Sausage #1

2 lbs lamb (ground with the fine disc)
4 lbs pork (ground with the course disc)
0.5 cup pine nuts, toasted then chopped
1.5 tb fresh mint
2 tb non-iodized salt
1 tb minced garlic
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp thyme

Again, into large hog casings. I think I'm establishing a sausage-making ritual for my house. The sausage that is stuck in the stuffing tube when I'm done goes into the frying pan for tasting. I'm betting some of you do the same. I thought this recipe was pretty tasty.

Justin

[Paul Kribs]

JFIELDS

I manage to use the remaining mix that is stuck in the filler tube by unscrewing it with the casing still attached, and if using hogs I pile it up and push with my thumb, if using sheeps I use a inverted wooden spoon handle or a clean butchers steel. Either way it only takes a minute or so. You may get a few small air pockets but it is near enough to the end of the casing that you can work the air out by hand and manipulate the mix back into the proper sausage shape.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[JFIELDS]

Paul,

I'm sure I could do that too. I admire the diligence you show in doing it. I might even pick up a couple of cheap dowels to match the inside diameters of my two stuffing tubes, to push the meat out.

But, that said, whenever I make a batch, I'm sure I'll want to taste a little bit and it is easy to just allocate that quantity as the "Chef's tasting perrogative". In the case of the larger tube, it is enough to taste right then, plus the next morning. Yeah, that's it. It is "Quality Assurance Testing"!



Justin

[TJ Buffalo]

The sausage that is stuck in the stuffing tube when I'm done goes into the frying pan for tasting. I'm betting some of you do the same.

Justin

Yes, I usually get about 6 oz or so out of the nozzle, and you better bet it goes right into the frying pan...yum

[Erikht]

It can actually spoil if you don't do this!