Sausage!

big_onion

During my shopping trip over the weekend to stock up on supplies before starting this past Monday, I grabbed a package of $1.00 breakfast sausage. Sadly, I couldn't pronounce a quarter of the ingredients and didn't know what all the acronyms were for another half of them. Turned around and saw pork rib ends for $1.00/lb in 15-20 lb packs. SCORE.

Got home, trimmed off the meat, saved the bones (and some sinewy parts) for the dogs, and made about 20 lbs of sausage. Standard breakfast sausage, a cheesy Italian sausage (using some homemade "parmesan" type goat cheese), a Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute sausage (nothin' but meat, 21 SS, and salt), and a cheese (homemade feta that I had marinating, and some little mozz balls) and spinach sausage.

It's super easy (the process is easy, time commitment is large) and, since most store bought sausages have odd ingredients, preservatives, and sometimes fillers/binders, such as rusk or (basically) breadcrumbs, I thought these would be perfect to have on hand. Even before starting this diet I always made my own sausage. I only stuffed about 5 lbs of the last one. The breakfast sausage is going to be frozen into patties. All the rest is portioned off into 1.25 lb Ziplocs.

Anyone else make sausage? Got any recipes to share?

big_onion

I'll post an all time favorite. I wish I had some way of figuring out the nutritional info on this:

5 lbs chicken thighs, deboned (buy a bone-in pack, debone yourself, save the bones for stock)
5 tsp salt
1 container of feta, crumbled
1 lb of spinach, roughly chopped (it looks like a lot, but trust me it'll work)
2 red peppers, seeded, sliced, and roasted with skins removed (you can buy them, but making them is so much fun!) OR a handful of sun dried tomatoes
5 cloves of garlic, minced

Someone told me the best foods have red, white, and green in them. I liked the simplicity of this one, and that it covered meat, cheese, and veggies.

Honestly, it doesn't need other spices but you can add what you want. I used to do this skin off, since thighs had enough meat and chicken thigh meat doesn't really "dry out" like a ground, lean pork would, but many keep it on. Up to you, and how much fat you want. (Probably best to keep it on for keto!) Also, if you don't want the garlic, use garlic salt instead.

Put your chicken in the freezer for a bit on a tray, until it's a little firm to the touch. Thawed chicken in a grinder is super messy.
Grind chicken using a medium plate.
Chop the roasted red peppers or sun dried tomatoes. If you bought them, drain off the oil.
Loosely chop the spinach.
Crumble up the feta.
Mix everything together in a bowl.
Stuff into casings.
Let it sit for at least an hour in the fridge before using or freezing. This lets the flavors meld together, and for the salt to penetrate all the meat.

If you have no grinder or stuffer: 1) combine feta, spinach, and peppers in a food processor and pulse until chopped. Empty into a bowl; 2) Put the chicken into the food processor and pulse until chopped. Then mix everything together. (Never tried, but I imagine it'll work.)

I used to make "burgers" with this sausage and freakin' loved it. I'm looking forward to making it again.

bacitracin

OH MY DEAR AND FLUFFY LORD I WOULD BUY SO MUCH 21 SEASONING SALUTE SAUSAGE.

i'm throwing money at the screen, but i'm not getting any sausage!!! WHYYYYY

wvlurker

I think a meat grinder is on my shopping list now.

big_onion

Even if not for sausage, I think a grinder is essential in any home. You can buy some cheap cuts of meat (beef, pork, etc) and grind them up. The stuff you grind at home and the stuff you buy at the store pre-ground are totally different. Check a site like Butcher Packer for some ideas on price. Ignore premixed sausage seasonings. Google "Len Poli sausage" for a crap ton of recipes.

As for 21 SS, we have no Trader Joe's in Louisiana. I grab multiple jars of that when I visit my folks in NJ, or ask them to ship me some. So awesome. For the sausage, 1 tsp salt per pound ground pork, 1 tsp 21SS per lb. It HAS to sit overnight in the fridge, but its so worth it.

Edit: Yum. http://www.imgur.com/ecIxd.jpg

ketomaedchen

This sounds amazing. I wish I had the space in my teensyweensy kitchen for such gadgetry. Homemade sausage?? When's the r/keto picnic at your place??

big_onion

Not even room for a food processor? Aww.

I can only imagine a r/keto picnic. I think that would be heaven.