Farmhouse breakfast sausage

2 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 pounds Fresh pork butt, coarsely ground
1½ teaspoon Dried leaf thyme
1 teaspoon Crumbled, dried, sage leaves
1 teaspoon Salt
¾ teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon Red (cayenne) pepper

Directions

Beatrice Ojakangas

When farmers did their own butchering, there were lots of scraps left over and these were made into sausages. Sausages are basic to many cuisines, but especially German, Swiss, Dutch, French and Scandinavian. The taste of the sausages reflected the flavorings favored by each ethnic group. Today, about the only sausage people might make at home is made from game, or just for the fun of it. For the uninitiated, the first thought would be that sausage should be made of very lean meat; not true. For juiciness, the meat should be at least 30% fat. If you purchase a pork butt roast, the fat percentage is about right. Grind it yourself, or ask the butcher to do it for you. Then have some fun seasoning and flavoring your sausages.

About 2 ounces salted sausage casings (optional) In a large bowl, blend pork, thyme, sage, salt, black pepper and red pepper. Refrigerate overnight for flavors to blend. Shape into patties. Cook in a heavy skillet over medium heat until cooked through, turning once. For link sausages, purchase salted sausage casings from the meat market. Soak in cold water to remove salt, then slip end of casing over faucet in kitchen sink. Run cold water through to flush out inside of casings. This is more easily done if casings are cut into 20 to 24 inch links. Put meat mixture into a suasage-stuffing machine or into a large pastry bag with a ½ to 1 inch tip. Slip casings over end of pastry tip and press meat into casings. If sausage is hard to press into casings, add water to meat mixture to soften it. Makes 2 pounds sausage.

Note: Sausage casings are available from the butcher; extra casings may be frozen. FROM: Valerie Whittle, Feb-21-91 8:50pm Source: Country Tastes: Best Recipes from America's Kitchens;

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