I know we're usually all about every day dinners but we happen to love our breakfasts too. We're getting by around here with 2 meals a day, at least we're trying to, so when we have breakfast we don't have lunch. Course heaven forbid we should have the same thing every day never mind that "light" just isn't in our vocabulary. I know, I hear ya!
Most all of our morning meals include some form of meat to satisfy the resident carnivore and there's only so much bacon and ham one can eat, at least that's my excuse. To be honest, I had a yen to make some bulk sausage so a little research and five pounds of ground pork, a bunch of spices and very little time resulted in 2 different kinds and 6 tidy rolls of bulk sausage sitting pretty in the freezer.
Maple Sage is my personal favorite and pretty much speaks for itself although I did add some poultry seasoning to the mix and a lot of coarse ground black pepper, along with salt, rubbed sage, minced onion and real maple syrup. As you know, Big Guy's into the spicy kind and with that in mind I threw in lots of red pepper flakes, freshly ground nutmeg, thyme, ginger, and paprika as well as salt and lots of black pepper. The key to success in the sausage department is to make sure your meat is very cold, that it isn't too lean and be sure to mix the spices into cold water and incorporate them into the ground meat using your hands. Mix gently too! Freeze the sausage in tubes wrapped air tight in plastic wrap and be sure to give them a few days to mellow out before you dig in.
My first batch went into one of Big Guy's very favorites - biscuits with sausage and gravy and I'm telling you, spicy sausage in a creamy gravy on top of flakey buttermilk biscuits isn't a bad way to start the day Thank goodness Big Guy's working his way through a very long honey do list and yours truly's spending her days staining cedar shakes, because we've gotta' wear off the calories somehow. Just sayin'.
The moral of the story ... give Jimmy Dean's the cold shoulder next time you're at the market and pick up some ground pork instead. Making your own sausage isn't rocket science and your tastebuds are going to thank you big time.
Make Your Own Breakfast Sausage lfrom JBug’s Kitchen Antics adapted from letsmakesausage.com)
Maple Sage:
2-1/2 pounds ground pork, very cold
1/4 cup very cold water
1/4 cup real maple syrup (I used “B” Grade Dark)
1 teaspoon non-iodized salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 medium onion, finely minced
Place ground pork in a large mixing bowl. Mix together all the remaining ingredients and pour over pork. Using your hands, mix thoroughly but gently to incorporate. Divide meat into 3 and shape into tubes. Wrap well in plastic wrap and place in a large zip top bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Spicy Breakfast Sausage:
2-1/2 pounds ground pork, very cold
1/2 cup very cold water
2 teaspoons non-iodized salt
2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes (more or less if you wish)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
Place ground pork in a large mixing bowl. Mix together all the remaining ingredients and pour over pork. Using your hands, mix thoroughly but gently to incorporate. Divide meat into 3 and shape into tubes. Wrap well in plastic wrap and place in a large zip top bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
A year ago - Southern Spoon Rolls
Two year's ago - Pina Colada Cupcakes
Four year's ago - Perky Pea Salad
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