I never back down from a challenge. And, anything food related, I’m always overly ambitious.
Let me again preface that between my mast-cell reactions and my husband’s red-meat allergy, our meat options are very limited at the moment. Like, down to chicken limited. And, for the most part, I don’t like dark meat (it’s a texture thing).
The only time I will willingly eat dark meat poultry is in turkey bacon or chicken sausage. And, even then I am way more particular than I should be.
Many people make their chicken sausage with chunks of skin and connective tissue to increase the fat content (otherwise, since chicken is so lean, it tends to dry out easily), but I find that leads to the addition of some “chunks” throughout the sausage with a less-than pleasant texture. I instead add a little stock and olive oil to my sausage.
I also incorporate both chicken breast and chicken thigh into my sausage – I find that it makes the dark meat taste more palatable to me. You can use all dark meat should you like – I would avoid using all white meat as there is a greater risk of the sausage drying out.
To make sausage, you do need a fair bit of specialized equipment:
A meat grinder (you can use pre-ground meat, but grinding
it yourself does allow you to incorporate the flavors you would like into the
ground meat itself)
Sausage casings (these come in a number of varieties. For this recipe, I used hog casings – yes, scrubbed and salted pig intestines – which, when properly dried and salted, last virtually forever in the refrigerator. There are vegan/vegetarian recipes as well. You can usually get casings from your local butcher, but if you can’t, The Sausage Maker online shop has a large variety of options for very affordable prices).
Sausage stuffing attachment/machine. I bought a stuffing attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer, but they have stand-alone models as well. Each machine will come with its own instructions for assembly and stuffing.
In terms of tips for making sausage, here are some good ones:
Keep your meat mixture cold (so the fat doesn’t melt) – refrigerate after grinding for at least an hour.
Leave 6” at the each end of your casing to tie off.
Fill sausage and THEN turn into links – this prevents build-up in the stuffer and air bubbles.
Let dry 1-2 hours before chilling them overnight with paper towels underneath. While drying, be sure to pop any visible air bubbles with a pin.
Cook the next day – so the flavors have had a chance to come together.
Final tip? It’s okay to not have perfect sausages your first go around. In fact, to not even have good sausages your first go around. Every mistake is a learning opportunity, so continue to challenge yourself!
"Pol-cakes" with Homemade Italian Sausage and Hot Thyme Honey
Ingredients
For the Polenta Cakes and honey
- leftover polenta chilled flat on sheet tray
- 1 cup honey
- 1/4-1 tsp cayenne pepper (you can also use 1-4 dried hot chili peppers of your choice) to taste
- 2-3 sprigs thyme fresh
For Sausage
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken meat (breast/thigh) cubed
- 1-2 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 c pine nuts toasted
- 4 oz sun-dried tomato chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp mushroom stock
Instructions
- Prepare honey: place honey, cayenne, and thyme into small saucepan. Heat until just under boiling. Pour into heat-safe container and let cook. Cover and let sit for at least 24 hours - the longer the better.
- Using round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut polenta into pancake-shaped pieces.
- Place on hot griddle (well-oiled), cook until browned. Flip and repeat.
- Using meat grinder, grind meat, and sun-dried tomatoes. Place into bowl. Add garlic powder, pine nuts, mushroom stock, olive oil, and salt. Mix with hands until incorporated. Chill for at least 30 minutes in regrigerator.
- Soak salted casings in warm water. Using sausage stuffing attachment, stuff chicken mixture into casing. Once stuffed, create links by twisting sausage at regular intervals. Dry sausage links for 1-2 hours, making sure to pop any visible air bubbles. Chill sausages overnight, on top of dry paper towels.
- To cook sausage: boil links (attached) until just under-done. Transfer to hot sauté pan, and finish cooking while browning the skin. Serve warm.
