Charcuterie Simplified

Sausage! Delicious for breakfast, lunch, dinner, game day, any time! Charcuterie is the art of sausage making, and while it might seem a complicated affair, it's truly not! A few years ago, I was gifted the sausage making attachments for my Kitchenaid, some casings and some Charcuterie how-to books. "Home Sausage Making" by Susan Mahnke Peery & Charles G. Reavis is a great starting point, with the book taking you from the Story of Sausage, through all the techniques, stuffing and cooking or smoking...then the recipes! It's a fun book to cook through. Cover shot by Blackenhall Farms.

Kitchenaid

It starts with the grind. The majority of recipes use pork, as the shoulder cut has the perfect meat to fat ratio for a delectable sausage product. And, while there are recipes using beef, lamb, chicken or game, we'll focus on pork today.

A coarse sausage would be the most basic of these...these are your breakfast sausages, your Italian or fresh brats. They're flavored boldly, and their juiciness is credited to the fat content...divine! When making coarse sausages, you'll want a ratio of about 75% meat to 25% fat...a well marbled piece of meat will do you well.

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Cut the pork into about one inch chunks. Place the chunks on a lined cookie sheet and chill them in the freezer until they're semi frozen. Grind according to the directions on your machine or grinder, using the large grind fitting.

Farmland

And, the best news is, if you don't have a grinder, you can still make your own sausage...just get your butcher to grind it for you, or purchase the pre-packaged fresh ground stuff!

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Basic Breakfast Sausage...you can do this either loose, for sausage patties, or in links. For links, you'll use 4' of small hog or sheep casings, that you've rinsed, soaked for a half hour, rinsed again by running water through the casing itself...one more soak in water with a tablespoon of white vinegar for every cup of cool water. This softens the casing and makes it more transparent, for a nicer looking finished product. Let the casings soak in this solution until you're ready to stuff, then give it one final good rinse out.

For three pounds of ground pork, your basic seasonings are:
1 tablespoon of kosher or coarse sea salt
1-1/2 teaspoons dried sage
3/4 teaspoon finely ground black or white pepper...use a medley if it makes you happy
3/4 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon of dried marjoram
1/8 teaspoon of ground clove
1/8 teaspoon (or to taste) of crushed red pepper flakes

Mix this into your coarse ground meat and toss well, to coat. Freeze this mixture for a half hour.

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Run this through the fine grind attachment. You're ready to stuff this...or patty it up! The beauty of making your own sausage is being able to season it to your own taste. If you like a sweeter sausage, add a little extra brown sugar! Like it hotter? Add more pepper flakes! Heck, toss in some minced jalapeno, if you want! Sky's the limit! Separate this into 3 one pound portions and season each differently! Whatever you like. That's what I like!

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And, there's even a hack for links without a casing attachment! Portion the links out into your favorite size, lay out on plastic wrap and roll, tightly, into link shape. Twist the ends to form a compact and firm link on each. You could freeze these for later, or steam them for 10 minutes, unwrap and pan sear in butter or oil for color.

With that, my Steemian friends, I'll close...it's definitely time for breakfast on this homestead!!