For those of you who have followed my first two recipes, I thought I'd digress from burgers and meatballs, and make up a batch of the sausages that I originally asked everyone about with regards to fillers to use that can benefit diabetics.
As such, I present to you my take on the pork and leek sausage!
Before I get into this, I do have my own mincer and sausage stuffer (quite a large one as you'll see from the photos I've taken to document the process), but all you really need is a cheap mincer with sausage attachment and you'll be good to go for this recipe. Failing that, you can go for the McDonalds style sausage patties that they use in their breakfast muffins.
A note on casings! I personally use natural casings exclusively. This is my personal preference, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the ready to go collagen casings that you can buy. the natural casings are just what I'm used to, and I like the randomness you get with natural casings. I mean, how boring would it be to have 100% uniform sausages 100% of the time?!
They also come in a wide array of sizes. The sizes are in diameter, and are usually given in mm. To give you a reference point, 21-26mm range is typically used for classic breakfast sausages & chipolatas, and these are usually lamb casings. For a more dinner sized sausage like I have used, you want a hog casing. They range from 30-38mm in diameter, and are thicker than lamb casings which make them perfect for beginners to link and cook. They are a bit tougher to eat, but with proper preparation (i.e. an overnight soak in clean water, and a good wash through before linking), they can be every bit as delicate as lamb casings.
I'll list the recipe for a 1Kg (meat weight) batch of the sausages. I made 5Kg myself as I was fairly confident of how the results would pan out.
Ingredients
600g Pork Shoulder (rindless)
400g Belly pork (rindless)
1/4 tsp Sage
1 tsp Parsley
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Onion Powder
37g Chopped Leek
80g Oatmeal
80ml Water (can be adjusted to give you the consistency that you would like)
3g Salt
Method
For those of you with a mincer, chop the meat into cubes that will fit through the neck of your mincer.
As you can see in the picture above, I have a good ratio of fat to lean. I have the belly pork on top of the shoulder to give you a better idea of how much fat you are looking for ideally, however as ever you are welcome to have a play about with the recipe and tailor it to better suit your tastes.
Next you simply mince the meat through a coarse plate once.
Next it's a simple case of take your dry goods (including the leek) and mix it gently through the mince to make sure that the meat is not compressed and that the dry goods are evenly distributed throughout the mince.
Now it's time to work the meat to extract some myosin protein goodness! To do this, add in as much water as you think you'll need to get the consistency that you like. It's best to add it a little at a time so that you do not risk adding too much water. To mix, you want to work it into the mince by compressing it this time. This will allow the proteins in the meat to bind onto the water molecules, and over time it will become sticky and start binding together - this is a good thing. When it feels wet enough for you and is sticking together quite well, it's time to mince it for a second time on the medium plate.
Once you have minced it for a second time, it's time to transfer the mix into your sausage press if you have a separate one. You'll also need to have your casing of choice ready to go by this point.
This is also a good point for you to cook some of the mix off and taste it to see if it's how you like it. If it needs something else, or more of something already in there, this is the best time to add it to make sure it's right!
From this point, it's a simple case of working the stuffer to adequately fill the casing. Try not to overstuff the casings as they will simply burst when you either try to link them or cook them. The secret to find (and all it takes is a little time and practice), is when you press the joint for the link, you'll feel the meat flow away from where you are pressing (this is prior to twisting the link). Basically, you're aiming to stuff the casing just enough to allow this flow some room as this will firm up each individual link as you link them. If you find you have overstuffed one particular section, simply gently press the casing slightly and repeat this down the casing to move the meat about so that it is of a more consistent density. Again, this simply takes practice and patience.
Here's my stuffing in progress:
Once you have stuffed all of your mix, you simply need to link the sausages together. Explaining how to link sausages in writing is quite difficult to do at the best of times, but being left handed it makes it even harder, especially as most folk are right handed. There are loads of great video guides and tutorials that can show you how to link sausages out on the net, so I won't go into details here. If there's any lefties out there who are trying this and can't make sense of it, just give me a shout and I'll do what I can to help out!
As you can see from the picture below, the sausages that I made for this batch are rather large. This is intentional as I prefer a properly large sausage, but you can make them any size that you wish. I was using 34-38mm casings for this, linking them at about 5 inches per link, but I go by 4 finger widths myself - think holding your hand flat with your fingers together, it's the distance from the outside of your pinky finger to the outside of your index finger. Obviously if you have small hands, you'd have smaller sausages this way, but with practice you'll be able to make fairly consistent link lengths.
All that's left to do now is to separate your chain of links into bunches that you prefer to have (I did them in bunches of 6 myself), and then leave them in the fridge overnight to allow them to bloom. By bloom, I mean giving them time to allow the flavours to mingle and mature.
From here, it's a simple case of either freezing the ones you aren't going to eat for a while, or cooking them off and sampling your handiwork!
I vacuum packed mine and froze most (all it does is prevent freezer burn, but also keeps the kitchen tidy when you take them out to defrost too), but I kept enough aside for my parents to have them for dinner after they had bloomed, and also 18 for my sister and brother in law to taste test and let me know if there could be any improvements made to the recipe (it was a resounding 1 fault - I didn't make enough of them! And they also said they have never had a shop bought sausage that tastes that good either, which was nice to hear them say!)
To cook, simply put them in the oven at 175 degrees celsius for 20-25 minutes, and they'll be perfectly cooked through. They give off an amazing smell as they are cooking too.
I hope you enjoy them, and please feel free to give me feedback on how you got on, or if you are stuck at any stage too. I'll be here to help!
As such, I present to you my take on the pork and leek sausage!
Before I get into this, I do have my own mincer and sausage stuffer (quite a large one as you'll see from the photos I've taken to document the process), but all you really need is a cheap mincer with sausage attachment and you'll be good to go for this recipe. Failing that, you can go for the McDonalds style sausage patties that they use in their breakfast muffins.
A note on casings! I personally use natural casings exclusively. This is my personal preference, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the ready to go collagen casings that you can buy. the natural casings are just what I'm used to, and I like the randomness you get with natural casings. I mean, how boring would it be to have 100% uniform sausages 100% of the time?!
They also come in a wide array of sizes. The sizes are in diameter, and are usually given in mm. To give you a reference point, 21-26mm range is typically used for classic breakfast sausages & chipolatas, and these are usually lamb casings. For a more dinner sized sausage like I have used, you want a hog casing. They range from 30-38mm in diameter, and are thicker than lamb casings which make them perfect for beginners to link and cook. They are a bit tougher to eat, but with proper preparation (i.e. an overnight soak in clean water, and a good wash through before linking), they can be every bit as delicate as lamb casings.
I'll list the recipe for a 1Kg (meat weight) batch of the sausages. I made 5Kg myself as I was fairly confident of how the results would pan out.
Ingredients
600g Pork Shoulder (rindless)
400g Belly pork (rindless)
1/4 tsp Sage
1 tsp Parsley
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Onion Powder
37g Chopped Leek
80g Oatmeal
80ml Water (can be adjusted to give you the consistency that you would like)
3g Salt
Method
For those of you with a mincer, chop the meat into cubes that will fit through the neck of your mincer.
As you can see in the picture above, I have a good ratio of fat to lean. I have the belly pork on top of the shoulder to give you a better idea of how much fat you are looking for ideally, however as ever you are welcome to have a play about with the recipe and tailor it to better suit your tastes.
Next you simply mince the meat through a coarse plate once.
Next it's a simple case of take your dry goods (including the leek) and mix it gently through the mince to make sure that the meat is not compressed and that the dry goods are evenly distributed throughout the mince.
Now it's time to work the meat to extract some myosin protein goodness! To do this, add in as much water as you think you'll need to get the consistency that you like. It's best to add it a little at a time so that you do not risk adding too much water. To mix, you want to work it into the mince by compressing it this time. This will allow the proteins in the meat to bind onto the water molecules, and over time it will become sticky and start binding together - this is a good thing. When it feels wet enough for you and is sticking together quite well, it's time to mince it for a second time on the medium plate.
Once you have minced it for a second time, it's time to transfer the mix into your sausage press if you have a separate one. You'll also need to have your casing of choice ready to go by this point.
This is also a good point for you to cook some of the mix off and taste it to see if it's how you like it. If it needs something else, or more of something already in there, this is the best time to add it to make sure it's right!
From this point, it's a simple case of working the stuffer to adequately fill the casing. Try not to overstuff the casings as they will simply burst when you either try to link them or cook them. The secret to find (and all it takes is a little time and practice), is when you press the joint for the link, you'll feel the meat flow away from where you are pressing (this is prior to twisting the link). Basically, you're aiming to stuff the casing just enough to allow this flow some room as this will firm up each individual link as you link them. If you find you have overstuffed one particular section, simply gently press the casing slightly and repeat this down the casing to move the meat about so that it is of a more consistent density. Again, this simply takes practice and patience.
Here's my stuffing in progress:
Once you have stuffed all of your mix, you simply need to link the sausages together. Explaining how to link sausages in writing is quite difficult to do at the best of times, but being left handed it makes it even harder, especially as most folk are right handed. There are loads of great video guides and tutorials that can show you how to link sausages out on the net, so I won't go into details here. If there's any lefties out there who are trying this and can't make sense of it, just give me a shout and I'll do what I can to help out!
As you can see from the picture below, the sausages that I made for this batch are rather large. This is intentional as I prefer a properly large sausage, but you can make them any size that you wish. I was using 34-38mm casings for this, linking them at about 5 inches per link, but I go by 4 finger widths myself - think holding your hand flat with your fingers together, it's the distance from the outside of your pinky finger to the outside of your index finger. Obviously if you have small hands, you'd have smaller sausages this way, but with practice you'll be able to make fairly consistent link lengths.
All that's left to do now is to separate your chain of links into bunches that you prefer to have (I did them in bunches of 6 myself), and then leave them in the fridge overnight to allow them to bloom. By bloom, I mean giving them time to allow the flavours to mingle and mature.
From here, it's a simple case of either freezing the ones you aren't going to eat for a while, or cooking them off and sampling your handiwork!
I vacuum packed mine and froze most (all it does is prevent freezer burn, but also keeps the kitchen tidy when you take them out to defrost too), but I kept enough aside for my parents to have them for dinner after they had bloomed, and also 18 for my sister and brother in law to taste test and let me know if there could be any improvements made to the recipe (it was a resounding 1 fault - I didn't make enough of them! And they also said they have never had a shop bought sausage that tastes that good either, which was nice to hear them say!)
To cook, simply put them in the oven at 175 degrees celsius for 20-25 minutes, and they'll be perfectly cooked through. They give off an amazing smell as they are cooking too.
I hope you enjoy them, and please feel free to give me feedback on how you got on, or if you are stuck at any stage too. I'll be here to help!
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