A nice Sausage recipe:
The recipe below, provided by Turley, proves the point. To make it, start with ground pork shoulder. At about 30% fat, it’s the perfect meat for sausage. If you can’t find it pre-ground, ask the butcher grind a pound for you. You can then follow this recipe for a simple breakfast sausage, or you can add a custom blend of herbs and spices to create your own masterpiece. “Don’t worry about what it’s supposed to taste like, but how you want it to taste,” says Turley. Who knows, you might discover a signature style waiting to be unleashed. To guide your experimentation, Turley suggests you check your cooked sausage for three sausage principles:
1. Juiciness
The finished sausage should be juicy–if it’s not, you probably need a fattier cut of meat.
2. Binding
After the sausage has cooled for a minute or two, cut into it with a sharp knife. If the meat holds together where cut, it’s good to go. If it’s crumbly, mix the raw pork for another couple minutes next time.
3. Flavor
To taste test your sausage, cook up a small sample first. That way, you can circle back to the raw mix and adjust the seasoning with ease. Turley recommends experimenting with fresh herbs, which deliver a complexity unrivaled by their dried and bottled counterparts.
Spicy Breakfast Sausage
Recipe by Ben Turley of The Meat Hook
What you’ll need:
1 lb ground pork
3 1/2 tsp fine salt
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried sage (or 3 Tbsp fresh minced sage)
1 Tbsp maple syrup
How to make it:
1. Using your hands, mix the sage and black pepper into the pork. “Treat the pork like dough, folding it over on itself to integrate the spices,” says Turley. Mix for a minute before you add the maple syrup, and then mix for another 4 minutes or so, until the meat starts sticking to itself rather than your hand. (You know it’s done when a small, flat patty can stick to your down-turned palm for more than 3 seconds.)
2. Divide the mixture into 8-10 portions and shape them into 2-inch patties. Cook the patties in a large skillet over medium-low heat until golden brown on both sides, 5-7 minutes total.
That’s it. Simple. You have prime-time sausage, ready for its cheese-plate debut or a range of omelets, soups, and sandwiches.
