Last year was our first experience making our own sausage. We loved it so much that it seemed to disappear within minutes. Okay, maybe not minutes, but close. Of course, we had sausage every morning and sometimes for dinner, but it still went fast.
Fast forward to 2011 and we're making sausage again. This time it is twice the fun since 2 of the boys got their deer. (We're still holding out hope for Annie Oakley and the Mister!) Twice the fun means twice the work, which translates into twice the spices, but everyone knows that 2 is always better than 1...unless we're talking squash, then I beg to differ.
Back to sausage...
Since it is deer season over much of the United States, I thought now would be a good time to share our recipe for sausage. While we didn't actually create this explosion of spicy goodness, I did write it down.
Minus the origin of the recipe. Because that's how I roll. It's an illness really. I get so excited about a recipe that I just jot it down on whatever is handy...the edge of the classifieds, the copyright page of a book I'm reading, junk mail, a napkin, my arm...
Don't judge.
In order to make this sausage, you'll need to pay a visit to the butcher. Because venison is so lean, a fatty meat needs to be added. Last year, the butcher recommended adding pork butt. Something you should probably know, because I didn't, is that pork butt does not come from the rear end of a pig. It in fact comes from the shoulder, which oddly enough makes it a lot more appetizing if you're just thinking about making this sausage. Of course, once made, it wouldn't matter if the added meat was rat. It's that good. (A big apology to my niece Gracie who just got a pet rat for her birthday. I'm sure it's a lovely creature. Honest.)
~The Players~
6 lbs. ground venison
2 lbs. ground pork butt
1/4 cup meat tenderizer (MSG free!)
1 Tb. ground black pepper
1 Tb. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tb. dried sage
Mix seasoning in a bowl. Add to meat after first grind. Mix well. Put meat and spices through grinder again. Pack and freeze.
Enjoy!
This post is linked to the Homestead Barn Hop!
My husband will probably want to kiss you for this. He's been looking for a recipe for over a year.
ReplyDeleteSo, on the "butt" is it a certain cut of the shoulder or just shoulder meat? 'Cause I got me some of that in the freezer. (Figured I throw a little redneck accent in since we're talking about hunting meat and all.)
The "butt" (seems so wrong now that I know) is a cut from the shoulder, but I'm not sure what part exactly...at the butcher, it was cheaper to buy it with the bone in. It's kind of a fatty piece of meat which is what you want for sausage.
ReplyDeleteLove the redneck! Hope your hubby likes this as much as we do!
Thanks for the recipe! Have you tried it with just your ground deer before? I made some with elk meat, no pork added - I just added a little oil to the pan. Maybe the pork gives it more flavor though.
ReplyDeleteElisabeth~We've tried it without the pork...it definitely has a more sausage-y flavor with it. We also tried it with beef suet...the pig won!
ReplyDeleteAh jeez, I just love sausage and that first picture makes me want to reach right into the screen and snag a couple of packages! ;-)
ReplyDeleteWow, very interesting post...learned a lot. Never had deer sausage before...dh is not a hunter.LOL.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding. Deer season is next weekend and we have 4 tags with a moose already in the freezer. I am all over this! I will let you know how it turns out. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteKim, When you go to whole food for casings, be sure to ask for hog casings as they're bigger. This time my dad & step mom forgot to ask and we got skinnier casings which I believe are from sheep. The skinnier casings are actually nice for making breakfast sausage links as they're just the right size for that.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever tried adding pork fat rather than adding the ground shoulder?
Blessings, ~Lisa :)