Italian sausage

[Roxanne 21]

I'm looking for advice/suggestion/recipe for an Italian sweet and/or spicey sausage that you may have tried---or something that may look good to you. I am unable to find the actual thing here and for some strange reason I'm craving--don't know why because I was never a big sausage fan---but it's driving me NUTS!!!

Help will be appreciated----

[cjs]

Roxanne - I don't know if you want bulk sausage or stuffed, but here's one that I like a lot and you can go either way. Do you also want the instructions for prepping the casings?


Italian Sausage

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
6 feet medium casings
5 pounds boneless pork butt -- cubed
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
5 cloves garlic (optional) -- minced
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon anise seeds
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (1 to 3 Tbs) -- optional
1/3 cup flat-leaf Italian or curly parsley, -- coarsely chopped

1. Follow directions *To Prepare Casings for Stuffing.

2. Put the cubed pork through meat grinder with coarse blade in place.

3. In large bowl mix remaining ingredients with the ground meat.

4. Stuff mixture into casings and twist off into 4- to 5-inch sausages, or make one long coil.

5. Keep sausages loosely wrapped and refrigerated; use within 3 days. Freeze sausages that will not be used within that time.

6. To cook, place sausages in large skillet and add 1/4 cup water. Pierce sausages with 2-tined fork or needle in 2 or 3 places to allow for air expansion and to prevent bursting as sausage cooks. Cover. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes; turn sausages after 5 minutes.

7. Uncover sausage. Continue to cook until liquid evaporates and sausages brown.

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* Exported from MasterCook *

Sweet Italian Sausage

Recipe By :Cuisine - Jan/Feb '80

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 natural hog casings -- (2 to 3)
2 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder -- cut into 1 cubes
10 ounces pork fatback, partially frozen -- cut in 1/2" cubes
4 cloves garlic -- finely minced
1 1/2 teaspoons *finely ground fennel seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon to 3/4 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

*Makes about 3 pounds. Two tsp whole fennel seeds can be substituted for the 1 1/2 tsp ground fennel.

1. Prepare casings according to Basic Procedures (see Basic Procedures recipe).

2. Combine pork and fatback in large shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with garlic. Mix remaining ingredients in cup; mix well. Sprinkle evenly over meat; toss.

3. Prepare sausage mixture, adjust seasonings, stuff casings and ripen according to Basic Procedures (see Basic Procedures recipe).

4. Panfry or broil sausages, turning once, until brown and juices run pale pink when pierced with a fork.

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...and lastly here is a kind of tutorial on sausage making plus a couple recipes.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Sausage Making


When you get home, cut the meats into cubes, carefully separating the fat and lean. Weigh each separately, or estimate the proportions by measuring volume of each. Then grind them into a bowl and mix with the seasonings. The grinding is easier if the meats and fat are chilled. A good trick for getting the last bits of meat and fat thru the chopper is to put through some chunks of firm bread last-stop grinding as soon as you see the bread coming thru the blades.

Testing a Sample

You might try the lower amounts of salt, hot seasonings, and liquid in ea. recipe first, then taste your mixture: Just shape some into a patty, brown in butter, then let cool a few minutes to get an accurate taste. The liquid in the recipes affects juiciness somewhat, but has more to do with the consistency for stuffing into casings. It should be about the same consistency as for meat loaf.

BRATWURST Cut 3 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt or shoulder and 1/2 pound beef stew meat into cubes; add additional pork fat if needed to make about 1/3 fat and 2/3 lean/ wrap and chill as long as overnight.

First force meat and fat thru a food chopper fitted with a coarse blade; then put thru again using a fine blade. Mix ground meat well with 3-4 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. ground coriander, ¾ -1 tsp. pepper, 1 tsp. ground ginger, ground nutmeg, caraway seed, and 1/4 cup. dry white wine or water. Taste for fat and seasoning.

Shape into patties or stuff into casings directions follow). Makes about 4 pounds sausage.

ITALIAN CHEESE SAUSAGE. Cut 3 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt or shoulder into cubes, adding additional pork fat if needed to make about 1/3 fat and 2/3 lean; wrap and chill as long as overnight.

Fit food chopper with a coarse blade and put meat and fat thru twice. Crush 2 tsp. fennel seed and 1-1 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper with a mortar and pestle. Mix well with the ground meat, adding 1-2 cloves garlic (minced or pressed), 1 1/2-2 tsp. salt, 3/4-1 tsp. pepper, 3/4 cup. grated Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup. chopped parsley, and about 1/2 cup. dry red wine or water. Taste for fat and seasonings.

Shape into patties or stuff into casings.
Makes about 3 ½ pound sausage.

SPICY PORK BREAKFAST SAUSAGE. Cut 3 3/4 pound boneless pork butt or shoulder into cubes and dice 1 pound lean bacon. Consider the bacon as the fat when adjusting proportions of fat and lean meats; wrap and chill as long as overnight. Discard or freeze any excess meat fat.

Put pork and bacon thru the coarse blade of a food chopper twice. Mix well with 3 1/2 tsp. rubbed sage, 1 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne, 1-1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. pepper, and about 1/2 cup water. Taste for fat and seasonings.

Shape into patties or stuff into casings.
Makes about 4 3/4 pound sausage.
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I dearly love making sausage - whenever one of Roy's twins is here with us, they love to spend the day making all kinds.

I also must give credit here to my computer guru friend - BillyJ took all my sausage recipes from over the years (and you can imagine the originals he had to work with) and put them on a cd for me!! I will be forever grateful for that!

(p.s. Roxanne, is this more than you ever wanted to know about sausages??? )

[Roxanne 21]

WOW-----What can I possibly say to that!!! Thank you so much for the lesson on Sausage 101---some really wonderful pearls in there and I will keep very safely in my recipe treasure trove. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

No for the casing prep---I don't think I can handle that part just yet--and would you believe that I am a Registered Nurse and was the Head Nurse of the neurosurgical operating room in a major medical center--- I'm still a little queazy when it comes to that offal stuff though--maybe one of these days I'll grow up and out grow it--

Thanx again--one of these days I will have to look into that Mastercook site--

[cjs]

These recipes are not from the mastercook site - it's a program that I have on my computer for saving my recipes...or did I read that wrong?

have fun!

[cjs]

O.K., here's what I found and one of them must be the one Roxanne prefers......back to you, rox!! (you must hate that nickname, but I mean it lovingly )

[Roxanne 21]

NO PROBLEM!!! I have many nicknames but for some reason rox seems to be the preferred

SOOOO where is the recipe??? I was just going to type it to word and then into Mastercooks for future queries--might just do that anyway.....

[cjs]

I brot the "Italian Sausage" to the top for you!

[cjs]

ROXANNE - scroll up!!!!! on this thread.

[Roxanne 21]

DUHHHH!!!! I'm also computer challenged

Thanks a ton Jean---I'm copying as we speak-

[Lorraine]

And here I am with a bunch of pork butts / shoulders in the freezer. Thanks, for bumping it!!!!!