Making Sausage

Tags

bratwurst, DIY, homemade, hot, Italian, mild, pork, sausage

Last year for Christmas, my loving hubby gave me several attachments for my Kitchen-Aid mixer. Specifically the grinder and sausage stuffer. I have been wanting to use it but just haven’t had the extra hands to help with such a momentous project (oh the joy of shift work). Black Friday was the perfect opportunity. My parents and I cut and ground 20 lbs of meat then spiced, mixed, and stuffed it into natural hog casings. It took a full 8 hours start to finish and was great fun, though next time I think I will grind the meat and stuff the sausages on separate days. (On a side note, I used my mixer nearly the whole time. It didn’t overheat or have any troubles at all. I was pretty impressed!)

Below are the recipes we used and how the look prior to being stuffed. The Hot Italian smelled the best.

Hot Italian Sausage

5 lbs pork
1 cup cold red wine
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
5 tsp salt
1 tbsp garlic powder or-4 to 5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp fresh ground pepper
3 tsp cayenne
5 tbsp fennel seed
2 tsp crushed chili peppers
5 tbsp paprika

Combine all, mix well & stuff into hog casing.

Bratwurst

5 lbs ground pork, fine grind
4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground sage
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
4 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients, mix well & stuff into hog casing.

Sweet Italian Sausage

10 lbs ground pork
4 tbsp salt
1 cups ice water (the original recipe called for 2)
1 tbsp cracked fennel seed
2 tsp coarse black pepper
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tbsp coriander
3 tsp crushed hot peppers

Combine all ingredients, mix well & stuff into hog casing.

The picture below is me rinsing the casings and looking for holes. About 7 had small holes and I set them aside, though we did use nearly all of them. We just cut the pieces smaller to avoid them and continued on with the idea that smaller sausages could be bun length.

After the casings were selected, you grease the stuffer attachment with crisco and gently (but with purpose) thread the casing on. Then run your meat mixture through the attachment and into the casing. At first we were rather slow but with practice we were able to speed up fairly significantly.

As you can see, the sausage was a great success! Can’t wait to taste it!

 

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Bluegrass Sundown ~ The Cocktail

Tags

beverage, Bluegrass Sundown, bourbon, cocktail, cream, hot, Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Kentucky Proud, Southern

On our recent tour of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, we visited Town Branch Distillery in Lexington. In addition to their Town Branch bourbon and Kentucky Ale beers, they also make Kentucky Sundown, a coffee flavored liquor with a bit of bourbon and sugar infused for additional layers of flavor. The back of the bottle features the recipe for a deliciously warm cocktail perfect for the rainy fall days the weatherman is predicting will come later this week.

Bluegrass Sundown ~ The Cocktail

• 2 ounces of Bluegrass Sundown
• 4 ounces of boiling hot water
• Heavy cream

Shake the Bluegrass Sundown well and measure out into a glass. Add the boiling water and stir. Tilt the back of a spoon touching the liquid and gently pour the heavy cream over the spoon. This allows the cream to float on the top. As you drink, the hot mixture will flow through the cold cream. The contrast is as divine as the flavor. Makes one cocktail.

Bourbon Hot Chocolate for One

Tags

adult, beverage, bourbon, chocolate, cocktail, hot, winter

When it gets just a little too cold outside, a good cup of hot chocolate will warm you, body and soul.

Adult Hot Chocolate for One (from Emeril)

• 1 cups whole milk
• 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
• 1/2 star anise
• Pinch of lime zest
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of grated nutmeg
• 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp bourbon

Directions

In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the chocolate, bourbon and cream. Heat over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Add the chocolate to the pan and continue to cook over low heat, whisking until all of the chocolate has melted. Add bourbon and stir to combine.

Photo from here.

Spicy Italian Sandwich

Tags

food, game day, Green Bay Packers, hot, Italian, pepperoni, salami, sandwich

Today is the first day of Greenbay Packer football. My husband is a huge fan. So, needless to say, he really looked forward to today’s game. Special events should be accompanied by special food like this yummy sandwich. It is perfectly quick so you too can watch the game.

Spicy Italian Sandwich 

• 1 petite boule
• 1/4 pound thinly sliced pepperoni
• 1/4 pound thinly sliced dry salami
• 1/4 pound thinly sliced ham
• 6 provolone or mozzarella cheese slices
• Olive tapenade
• 1/8 cup mayo
• 2 tbsp whole grain mustard

Split the bread in half using a serrated knife. Remove some of the center breading so that the bread half looks like a very shallow bowl. This makes room for the tapenade. Spread the bottom half of the bread with the mayo and the whole grain mustard.

In non-stick skillet, warm the meat in individual slices to help release a little extra flavor. Layer half of the pepperoni, then half the salami, half of the ham, and half of the cheese. Repeat the last step. On the top bread half, thickly spread the olive tapenade. Place the bread halved together and wrap the whole sandwich in foil.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the bread into the oven and bake 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and slice into 4 servings. Enjoy with a good beer!