Recipe Thread

[Fred]

Here is a basic sausage recipe.

For 1 Kilo you will need.

• Sausage skins: You can get them in Leclerc but the ones from Ferme de la Vallée de la Brame are much better.
  
• 800 grams of Pork I use 60% Shoulder & 40% Belly.
  
• 15 grams of salt.
  
• 3 grams of white pepper.
  
• 2 grams of nutmeg.
  
• 65 grams of rusk. (I've yet to be able to find a good rusk and use Biscottes in it's place) Though rusk would be better, so if you know where to get it let me know.
  
• 110 grams of Ice cold water.
  

You will also need a mincer, I got an old hand one from a car boot and found the sausage funnel at Thimonnier in Bussière-Poitevine.

OK lets go.

• Get your skins and leave in cold water to remove the salt.
  
• Mince your pork. Mix the shoulder and belly as you go, put it back in the fridge to get it nice and cold. An hour or so should do, it just makes it better to work with.
  
• Get a large bowl and add your Minced Pork, Salt, Pepper, & Nutmeg. don't add the rusk yet. and blend it all together.
  
• When thoroughly mixed add your Ice cold water and mix with your hands till the texture starts to become stiffer.
  
• Now add your rusk and mix thoroughly.
  
• When your happy it's all mixed in well stick it back in the fridge.
  

Now the fun part:
This is easier with two people, one to stuff and one to form the sausage into a round on a plate as it comes out.

• Go back to your skins and run some cold water through the inside, this just removes any remaining salt and helps the skins slide of the funnel.
  
• Obviously by now you have got your sausage funnel set up on your mincer, so feed enough skin on the funnel for the sausages. (I tend to put one length on, they are usually nice and long.) Make sure you leave about the length of two sausages at the end and DON'T tie a knot in it.
  
• Now as one shoves in the mix and turns the handle the other gently feeds the long sausage into a round on a plate. It will come out by itself but it helps to have someone at the other end.
  

Now you have a big round sausage on a plate, you can leave it like that or twist the skin to make a run of sausages. Bung it in the fridge and leave it overnight, this will help the flavour and let the meat settle.

As long as your meat has not been frozen you can freeze them for use later.

Tip: Once you have put your last bit of sausage mix through you mincer, it won't all come out and you may loose 1 sausage. So shove a bit of stale bread through to push the last bit out.
You could buy ready made mince but it just doesn't make a good sausage.

This is a basic recipe to get you going, and you can play with the flavours as you wish. I've tried herbs, sun dried tomato, even Beer in place of the water.

Enjoy.