No I don't have a party going on right now at casa England, unless you count 1 male working from home, 1 male painter, 2 male cats and me making cured meats a "Party" but I am trying out a sausage recipe so that my husband can take advantage of the meat grinder/sausage stuffer that he so desparately wanted to add to our registry.
Even though nothing about this comes from things I grew, it will be mixed in with fresh tomato sauce come summertime. The recipe yields about 6 lbs of a basic meat mixture of pork loin and turkey (can easily be cut in half or doubled) and then each lb of the mixture can be made into a sausage of your choosing.
• Lean Chorizo
• Lean Country Sausage
• Lean Kielbasa
• Lean Italian Sausage
• Lean Andouille Sausage
Today I made the 3 lbs of the Basic Meat Mixture, and used 1 lb of it for Italian Sausage to go with my fresh tomato sauce. The other two lbs I used for the Chorizo and the Country Sausage. The only equipment you need for the Basic Mix is a food processor and browning sauce (found in most grocery stores by the packaged spices)
The Italian Sausage was perfect, just like regular sausage from the grocery store. We couldn't belive it was turkey and pork loin, instead of the regular fatty pork mix. I like mine a little on the spicy side, next time I will def. add something to spice it up (red pepper flakes, hot sauce etc.)
The Country Sausage tasted great too. I added in some extra sage and salt before blending. I rolled it into a log, and then put it in the freezer for 20 min so it was hard enough to slice into patties and cooked it for 3 min/side, it tasted so much like regular Bob Evans Breakfast Sausage patties from the grocery store, I was in heaven.
Having such amazing success with these two, I thought the Chorizo would be fantastic. wrong. I disliked it greatly, perhaps I blended it too long in the food processor, but it looked like dog food and didn't taste much better. Oh well 2/3 isn't bad :)
Adapted from http://homecooking.about.com
Basic Meat Mixture
2 pounds boneless, skinless turkey breast
1 pounds boneless pork loin
1 Tablespoons browning-and seasoning sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
Position knife blade in food processor bowl; add the turkey, pork, and seasonings. Process until smooth. Repeat procedure with remaining ingredients.
Yield: 3 pounds
Nutrition: 585 calories (24.6% from fat) per pound
Country Breakfast Sausage
1 pound Basic Meat Mixture (above)
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 teaspooon Salt
Vegetable cooking spray
Combine first 4 ingredients; roll into a log, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for about 20 min or harden. Slice into 8(2-ounce) patties. Coat each patty in cooking spray; place in a preheated nonstick skillet with over medium heat. Cook sausage patties 3 minutes on each side or until browned.
Yield: 4 servings
Nutrition: 172 calories (23% from fat) per patty, 30.3 g protein, 4.5 g fat (1.4 g saturated), 0.3 g carbohydrate, 0.1 g fiber, 88 mg cholesterol, 158 mg sodium, and 16 mg calcium.
Italian Sausage
1 pound Basic Meat Mixture (above)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon of Red Pepper flakes (adjust to your liking)
3/4 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
3/4 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 yard sausage casing (optional)
Vegetable cooking spray
Combine first 8 ingredients by pulsing with food processor (do not over process) or by hand;
Cook in nonstick pan for crumbled loose sausage
or
Cut casing into four (8-inch) pieces; slip one end of each casing over sausage funnel tip. Force each portion of meat mixture through funnel into each casing; twist ends. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Place over medium heat until hot. Cook sausage until browned, turning occasionally.
Yield: 4 servings
Nutrition: 174 calories (23% from fat) per link or 2 patties, 31.3 g protein, 4.6 g fat (1.3 g saturated), 2.1 g carbohydrate, 0.9 g fiber, 88 mg cholesterol, 304 mg sodium, and 23 mg calcium.
