Got sage sausage?
September 26, 2005 9:05 AM Subscribe
Got a good recipe for pork breakfast sausage flavored with sage?
Response by poster: I'm looking for a recipe for making breakfast sausage. Not a recipe using sausage. We've made a couple of batches using recipes found on the internet and in sausage-making books and none of them are very tasty.
Any sausage makers out there?
posted by warbaby at 8:36 PM on September 26, 2005
Any sausage makers out there?
posted by warbaby at 8:36 PM on September 26, 2005
Did you use the Aidell books? He is considered the king of sausages. If you have not tried him then I will go ahead and send you his recipes. Have you also tried egullet?
posted by jadepearl at 9:53 PM on September 26, 2005
posted by jadepearl at 9:53 PM on September 26, 2005
I make sausage all the time, but breakfast style sausages are kind of small and annoying.
My web bookmarks have died, so search around for recipes. You will probably want to use ground pork - not too common in US grocery shops - and make sure that it has a high fat content. Beyond that, add salt, pepper, and sage to taste. Yeah, sausage makers taste the raw meat to check the seasoning.
In any case, get yourself a bag of smaller sheep intestine casings - available online or in the butcher shop down the street from me in Budapest - and a sausage stuffing funnel. If you have a meat grinder with a sausage nozzle all the better. Otherwise a wide nosed funnel works, albeit slowly.
Wash out the casings, and put them on the funnel nose like a very long condom. You takes your meat - find recipes on the web or experiment - and push and squeeze it through the funnel into the casings. Twist into links or just coil into one big sausage. Fresh sausage should be refrigerated and eaten within two or three days.
posted by zaelic at 1:57 AM on September 27, 2005
My web bookmarks have died, so search around for recipes. You will probably want to use ground pork - not too common in US grocery shops - and make sure that it has a high fat content. Beyond that, add salt, pepper, and sage to taste. Yeah, sausage makers taste the raw meat to check the seasoning.
In any case, get yourself a bag of smaller sheep intestine casings - available online or in the butcher shop down the street from me in Budapest - and a sausage stuffing funnel. If you have a meat grinder with a sausage nozzle all the better. Otherwise a wide nosed funnel works, albeit slowly.
Wash out the casings, and put them on the funnel nose like a very long condom. You takes your meat - find recipes on the web or experiment - and push and squeeze it through the funnel into the casings. Twist into links or just coil into one big sausage. Fresh sausage should be refrigerated and eaten within two or three days.
posted by zaelic at 1:57 AM on September 27, 2005
Response by poster: We've made several batches of sausage already. We use sheep casings and grind our own pork (our own pig, even). Fat content is adjusted by adding bacon ends to bring it up to about 30%. We've got several books, but I don't think Aidell's is one of them. The recipes we've tried so far don't taste anything like breakfast sausage, they are either bland or overseasoned. Our meatcutter has a delicious recipe, but it's a secret and he won't share. :-(
But it's already well into the Potato harvest and I want some fresh potato pancakes with pork sausage. We're making sausage this Saturday and I'll report on how your recipes work out.
posted by warbaby at 9:19 AM on September 27, 2005
But it's already well into the Potato harvest and I want some fresh potato pancakes with pork sausage. We're making sausage this Saturday and I'll report on how your recipes work out.
posted by warbaby at 9:19 AM on September 27, 2005
Best answer: Bruce Aidell and his usual writing partner, Denis Kelly are considered two of the best authorities on meat in the US in particular, sausages.
Books include _Flying Sausages_ (specializes on poultry sausage), _The Complete Book of Meat_, _Beer and Eats_, _The Complete Book of Pork_ and _Complete Sausage Book_
Here is one of the farmhouse sausage recipes from the _Complete Sausage Book_
3 lbs. pork butt
3/4 - 1 lb. of pork fat back
1 TB red pepper flakes
4 tsp. of kosher salt
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. cayenne
1/2 c. water
medium hog casings (if you are going that route)
* grind using the 1/4" plate
* mix ground pork, spices and liquid by kneading it with your hands
* can stuff into casing at 4" long or just make patties no casings.
_The Complete Sausage Book_ has a whole chapter devoted to variant sage sausage recipes including:
Kentucky Style, Iowa Farm, Yankee Sage, country Ham and Pork, Smoked country sausage
If you are not sure if you should trust Aidell here is some info
here , here and here .
Mention of him is also in food magazines like Saveur and Bon Appetit. He was part of the Northern California food revolution that includes Alice Waters which is fat is good and grow it natural. He is also mentioned in Ruth Reichl's _Comfort Me with Apples_ as the "sausage king"
Anyway, he has sausage recipes in all his books so you would have a lot of recipes even for something as simple as breakfast sausage. But try the above recipe and see if you like it.
posted by jadepearl at 9:21 PM on September 27, 2005
Books include _Flying Sausages_ (specializes on poultry sausage), _The Complete Book of Meat_, _Beer and Eats_, _The Complete Book of Pork_ and _Complete Sausage Book_
Here is one of the farmhouse sausage recipes from the _Complete Sausage Book_
3 lbs. pork butt
3/4 - 1 lb. of pork fat back
1 TB red pepper flakes
4 tsp. of kosher salt
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. cayenne
1/2 c. water
medium hog casings (if you are going that route)
* grind using the 1/4" plate
* mix ground pork, spices and liquid by kneading it with your hands
* can stuff into casing at 4" long or just make patties no casings.
_The Complete Sausage Book_ has a whole chapter devoted to variant sage sausage recipes including:
Kentucky Style, Iowa Farm, Yankee Sage, country Ham and Pork, Smoked country sausage
If you are not sure if you should trust Aidell here is some info
here , here and here .
Mention of him is also in food magazines like Saveur and Bon Appetit. He was part of the Northern California food revolution that includes Alice Waters which is fat is good and grow it natural. He is also mentioned in Ruth Reichl's _Comfort Me with Apples_ as the "sausage king"
Anyway, he has sausage recipes in all his books so you would have a lot of recipes even for something as simple as breakfast sausage. But try the above recipe and see if you like it.
posted by jadepearl at 9:21 PM on September 27, 2005
Response by poster: Ok, I ordered the book. What's the Yankee Sage recipe?
posted by warbaby at 11:42 AM on September 28, 2005
posted by warbaby at 11:42 AM on September 28, 2005
Yankee Sage Sausage
"New England country cooks ..added ingredients of their own. These often include exotic spices brought home by their seafaring ancestors..this recipe is another regional variation" ( Complete Book of Sausage p.29)
3 lbs. pork butt
1/2-3/4 pork back fat
3 TB finely chopped or dried and crumbled fresh sage OR 2-3 tsp. of ground sage
3 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 TB coursely ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. summer savory
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. ginger
pinch of ground cloves
1/4 c. water
* grind using the 1/4" plate
* mix ground pork, spices and liquid by kneading it with your hands
* can stuff into casing at 5" long or keep as bulk sausage
This sausage can be kept ofr three days in the refrig or 2 months in the freezer
posted by jadepearl at 4:58 AM on September 29, 2005
"New England country cooks ..added ingredients of their own. These often include exotic spices brought home by their seafaring ancestors..this recipe is another regional variation" ( Complete Book of Sausage p.29)
3 lbs. pork butt
1/2-3/4 pork back fat
3 TB finely chopped or dried and crumbled fresh sage OR 2-3 tsp. of ground sage
3 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 TB coursely ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. summer savory
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. ginger
pinch of ground cloves
1/4 c. water
* grind using the 1/4" plate
* mix ground pork, spices and liquid by kneading it with your hands
* can stuff into casing at 5" long or keep as bulk sausage
This sausage can be kept ofr three days in the refrig or 2 months in the freezer
posted by jadepearl at 4:58 AM on September 29, 2005
Response by poster: Due to the apple harvest running ahead of schedule (cider is coming in a couple of weeks), this weekend was suddenly rescheduled for apple picking. Sausage is delayed for a week while we go pick apples.
And I didn't check with my sister before getting a copy of Aidell's book -- we already had one... grrrr.
posted by warbaby at 9:06 PM on October 1, 2005
And I didn't check with my sister before getting a copy of Aidell's book -- we already had one... grrrr.
posted by warbaby at 9:06 PM on October 1, 2005
I envy you with your ready access to an apple orchard. It is almost time to make apple chutney for the cold months. The perfect balance of tart apple to ripe tomatoes. Oh, I envy you indeed.
posted by jadepearl at 10:52 PM on October 3, 2005
posted by jadepearl at 10:52 PM on October 3, 2005
Response by poster: Well, this is Washington State, after all.
posted by warbaby at 10:28 AM on October 4, 2005
posted by warbaby at 10:28 AM on October 4, 2005
Be sure to post or email me the results of your sausage making. If you are are in Minnesota there is Kramarczuk Sausage Company Inc in Minneapolis with what is arguably some of the finest eastern European sausages going. They definitely give a run for the money in other sausage categories too. Their neighborhood is gentrifying so get there before they have to move.
posted by jadepearl at 7:21 PM on October 4, 2005
posted by jadepearl at 7:21 PM on October 4, 2005
Response by poster: I'm in Bellingham, Washington -- that's the very upper left (in more ways than one) of your map of the continental U.S.
jadepearl does not have an email address listed, so I guess I'll post the sausage results here.
Apple harvest is meagre hereabouts. Very dry summer and last year was a bumper crop. I'm told very large yeilds "tire" the tree for a year, so two really good years in a row are rare.
posted by warbaby at 7:41 PM on October 4, 2005
jadepearl does not have an email address listed, so I guess I'll post the sausage results here.
Apple harvest is meagre hereabouts. Very dry summer and last year was a bumper crop. I'm told very large yeilds "tire" the tree for a year, so two really good years in a row are rare.
posted by warbaby at 7:41 PM on October 4, 2005
Response by poster: Here's the final result. We made over 8 lbs. We need to get a sausage stuffer because grinding twice (once to mix and once to stuff) makes it a little to fine textured.
Based on
IOWA FARM SAUSAGE
From Bruce Aidells’ Complete Sausage Book
To 1# meat mixture (60% pork, 40% bacon)
1 tsp fresh basil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
3 tsp finely chopped onion 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp ground dried wild sage
4 tsp water
1/2 tsp ground dried cooking sage
1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme
Grind the meat and fat together through a 1/8 or 1/4 inch plate. In a large bowl, mix the ground meat and fat with the parsley, onion, salt, sage, thyme, basil, red pepper, black pepper, ginger, garlic and water. Knead and squeeze the mixture until everything is well blended. This fresh sausage will keep in the refrigerator for three days or in the freezer for 2 months.
posted by warbaby at 10:35 PM on October 23, 2005
Based on
IOWA FARM SAUSAGE
From Bruce Aidells’ Complete Sausage Book
To 1# meat mixture (60% pork, 40% bacon)
1 tsp fresh basil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
3 tsp finely chopped onion 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp ground dried wild sage
4 tsp water
1/2 tsp ground dried cooking sage
1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme
Grind the meat and fat together through a 1/8 or 1/4 inch plate. In a large bowl, mix the ground meat and fat with the parsley, onion, salt, sage, thyme, basil, red pepper, black pepper, ginger, garlic and water. Knead and squeeze the mixture until everything is well blended. This fresh sausage will keep in the refrigerator for three days or in the freezer for 2 months.
posted by warbaby at 10:35 PM on October 23, 2005
Response by poster: On further testing, reduce the pepper and triple the amount of sage. Mmmmmmmmmmm.
posted by warbaby at 11:16 AM on November 27, 2005
posted by warbaby at 11:16 AM on November 27, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by glibhamdreck at 2:31 PM on September 26, 2005