Sausage Shootout

Morning earworm: From the Beginning, Emerson, Lake & Palmer - can't go wrong there.



Awoke this morning with a godawful screaming headache, of unknown origin. It is radiating down the left side of my neck, far enough that I suspect it might be of physical origin, rather than the usual caffeine depletion. I see some time on the mat today.

Yesterday saw an afternoon of kitchen R & D, in my first foray into sausage making. Four small batches were produced, all venison-based. I was surprised to find that most of the venison sausage recipes I have are half pork; I guess it is an easy way to include the requisite fat. Personally, I would be more inclined to just add some fatback, to more precisely monitor the fat : meat ratio - perhaps in the future, once I know what I'm doing.

Our contestants were bratwurst, chorizo, breakfast sausage and a straight venison sausage. A small patty of each was fried up for a sampler along with dinner. The Breakfast sausage was a clear winner, the chorizo a fair second. The brat was, surprisingly, rather lame - I didn't mind it, but my Wisconsin-native wife was unimpressed. The straight venison wasn't bad, but a bit dry, despite my allowing for it being virtually fat-free and cooking it in a bit of extra confit oil.

Today, larger batches for Thursday. I'm thinking of using the breakfast sausage in the cornbread dressing, and probably the chorizo with the turkey. The recipe chosen this year calls for Boudin, but that appears to be impossible to find here, as are several of the ingredients to make it, most notably pork liver. Probably just as well. I hope the throbbing in my skull subsides soon, so I can get out and do the rest of the grocering today - the store is to be avoided at all costs tomorrow, being Black Wednesday.

We all know about Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when all of the retail outlets are turned into a war zone by rabid, bloodthirsty consumers whipped into a feeding frenzy by the commercials. What I have found out is that on the Wednesday before, they do a live-fire practice run in the grocery stores, testing their battle readiness by clearing the shelves, prepared to fight to the death over that last can of pumpkin or fried onions. It is the ideal place not to be.

Honour the role.
Respect the person.