Days off go something like this...

From the last blog post you may remember that we had a pretty super amazing experience with some fresh sausage.  To those of you who thought I would never venture into sausage making when I causally mentioned recreating that moment at Contigo in Austin I proudly say: “ I told ya so.”  And to those of you who will finish reading this post and realize that I failed to create that romantic nostalgia I was going for even though I did sweat in a kitchen for 4-6 hours I say: “Touchet.”

Here’s how this all went down:

I wrote a blog post about a great weekend getaway.
I wrote a blog post about a great weekend getaway BEFORE I ate dinner.
I got a great idea to recreate a great weekend getaway dinner.
I went to lunch with my mom at a fabulous local grocery store where she inspired me.
Enough said.

The beautiful food for thought:


As I mentioned before I went to lunch with my mom, and this picture in my head.  I then made a list of all the ingredients and equipment I would need to get in order to recreate this meal.  I decided to make a fresh dried cherry and ancho chile pork sausage.  Sounds simple, right?  Ha!  Adventures to follow.

After talking things over with the butcher at Central Market, I ended up across town at a Hispanic grocery store and using hand motions and broken Espanol I secured 4 lbs of cubed pork butt, about a pound of pork fat chunks and a package of hog casings. 

Side note: you don’t even want to imagine the hand motion/broken Spanish combination that I had to convey sausage casings!

I rounded out the afternoon with a trip to a hardware store and a household goods store yielding 2 different meat grinders (one had a sausage stuffer, but was a hand crank, the other fit on my kitchenaid mixer, but alas, had no stuffer).  It seemed I was swimming through this sausage adventure, so I decided what the heck?  I’ll throw in that home made sauerkraut too!  (Glutton for punishment!)

The dinner was a surprise for the boy, so I hauled my haul (you like that, right?) up the stairs and got to work.

I was so amped up about all this.  I started with the kraut.  It was beautiful, and had a tangy deliciousness that filled the house (exit neighbors lol).  Once I had that bubbling away, I began mixing my meat/fat/spices and freezing all my equipment.  From here things get a little gummy.  

The Hand Cranker

 I tried the hand crank grinder first.  I kept assuring myself that “anyone can grind a 100lbs. in an hour!” Just as the box stated.  I ground roughly a 1/2 cup before my weak little arm gave out, the thing gummed up, and I ran downstairs to fetch the easy, breezy, beautiful Kitchenaid attachment.  What a life altering experience. This is also the time the wine came this whole meaty shindig. I’m not quite sure who can actually grind 100 lbs. of meat in an hour with a hand grinder...if you find that person send them to my brother’s house, I’m

The star of the show...

Minor set-back we'll call a learning experience

sure he’ll be wanting to make sausage after he reads this post!  I ground almost all the rest of the meat with the kitchenaid attachment.  It still took longer than I expected.  The wine helped.

After making the sausage I rinsed my casings - there’s something I never thought I’d say out loud! This process was easier that I first thought would be, and also, didn’t smell.   The pleasant surprises end here.

My stuffer didn’t work, so I kind of “funneled” the meat into the casings.  Needless to say after this misadventure I realized I was supposed to dry these sausages for a day or so before cooking them.  I ended up throwing caution to the wind and tossin’ them on the grill pan.  Not a good idea.  The casings burst open!  Interestingly, after 4-6 hours of working on that sausage I didn’t cry.  I didn’t shed a single tear.  Those of you who know me, know this is unusual.  I simply told myself that this was a good first try and I would try try again.  I think I’ll consider that growth.


The boy assured me it tasted better than it looked.  Since then, I’ve decided to order a proper sausage stuffer.  And some better casings.  I’ll be ready next time I get in the mood for a sausage adventure!

The wine I paired with this sausage is a bargain bin special.  Palacio De Bornos is a wine from Spain made using the Verdejo grape.  The grape is native to north Africa but has a very nice expression from Spain as well.  Usually they use to it make sherry, but it’s becoming more popular in French styles nowadays.  It’s usually paired with fish because of it’s lemony characteristic, and most of the time it’s blended with sauvignon blanc, so that lets you know why I enjoy it.  This particular wine is very fruit forward on the nose.  Meyer lemon comes through on the palate with candied pineapple and mineral qualities.  I think it’s delicious, and probably is very nice with fish.  Because I sensed a bit of a sweetness to it, I decided that it would play nicely with the pork and the ancho chile.  Now the sour cherry in the sausage was probably too much, but all together I enjoyed.  I also used this wine IN the sausage since the recipe I modified called for a white.

Locals:  This wine is on sale at HEB.  You. Are. Welcome.  :)

BTW - I've been invited to blog about the Burleson Wine Crawl, which means I get to give away a free ticket!  Comment on this blog and tell me something you love to cook that has wine in the ingredients and I'll choose a lucky winner to go to the Crawl on November 10th!