To be Mrs. Marv…

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; nothing says love like the processing of raw meat. This is how we chose to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. Apparently, 12 is the meat anniversary. Marv knows these things so he bought us a sausage stuffer, 5lb capacity. Turns out this was a brilliant move as it cuts down the sausage stuffing time from a two person operation that takes 15 - 20 minutes to one person that takes 2-3 minutes.

Just before our anniversary I was volunteering at the Minnesota Living Green Expo and I got to help with a sausage making demo by a local sausage maker, Clancy’s Meats*. Aside from being a really nice group of folks, the way that the owner was talking about the creativity of making sausages was inspiring to me. I just had to go and make some of my own. I decided to make two different sausages; blueberry feta and aged cheddar & port sausages. I decided to go with pork as the meat because it goes really well with fruit and port. Other than that I just put things together that I think are really yummy.

Blueberry & Feta Sausages

2lbs pork shoulder
10oz blueberries, chopped into bits
2 t salt (approximately)
2 t onion powder
1 t marjoram
6 oz feta (French)
1/2 t nitrates

Cut the pork up into large chunks. Stick them in the freezer for until ice crystals start to form. Grind the chunks up using the food grinder attachment of a Kitchen Aid mixer (or buy pre-ground.) Add in the rest of the ingredients. Make a small test patty and cook it though. While patty is cooking, put meat back into the freezer. Taste to test the vibrancy of the spices. Add in more if it needs more. Repeat the test process until you think the ratio is right.

Put meat mixture through the grinder again. Stuff the sausage casing with the sausage mixture.

You can freeze the sausages at this point or cook them off. We smoked off some over wine barrel chips. Some others I steamed in a bamboo steamer. Once they were cooked through in the steamer, I browned the outsides in some olive oil. Served them with skin on red mashed potatoes and milk gravy.

Aged Cheddar & Port Sausages

2lbs pork shoulder
1/2 c ruby port
2 t garlic powder
1 - 2 t mustard
1 - 2 t black pepper
4 oz aged cheddar cheese, cut into smallish bits
1/2 t nitrates
sausage casings

Cut the pork up into large chunks. Stick them in the freezer for until ice crystals start to form. Grind the chunks up using the food grinder attachment of a Kitchen Aid mixer (or buy pre-ground.) Add in the rest of the ingredients and combine. Make a small test patty and cook it though. While patty is cooking, put meat back into the freezer. Taste to test the pungency of the spices. Add in more if it needs more. If the spices are too much add in some more port to thin it out. Repeat the test process until you think the balance is right.

Once the spices are adjusted to your liking, put meat mixture through the grinder attachment again. Stuff the sausage casing with the sausage mixture.

You can freeze the sausages at this point or cook them off. We smoked off some over wine barrel chips. Some others I simmered in 3/4 c water with 1/4 c port. (This really infused the casing with a nice port flavor.) Once they were cooked through, I dumped out the liquid, heated some olive oil in the pan and browned the outsides. Served them with skin on red mashed potatoes and milk gravy.

Enjoy!

* I would link to Clancy’s but I couldn’t find a web site. Perhaps they should hire me to make one for them.