DADDY'S SAUSAGE

I do not ever recall eating store bought sausage growing up.  My father always made his own sausage. He would make it, package it and freeze it.  When someone would come to my parents house to do work, fix the plumbing, electrical or do something they would leave with a big bowl of pasta, some of daddy's sausage and meatballs and a jub of his homemade wine. I recall my mother telling a story of a woman who showed up at the house one afternoon. My dad met her at the meat counter where he was getting his pork butt to make sausage.  She wanted to know how to make them so daddy invited her to the house.  She made there before he did and you can imagine my mothers surprise when the woman came walking in the back door of the house.  Daddy arrived and showed her how to make the sausage and sent her home with a package of her own and jug of his wine.  Daddy made sweet, hot and liver sausages and a dried sausage that he cured in olive oil.  When I moved away from home my parents would send care packages.  They sent "dry" pacakages filled with homemade biscotti's and grape jelly filled cookies, oranges, grapefruits from thier trees and other treats from the garden. In the package my mom would include linen's, serving dishes and whatever she thought of, it was always a surprise.  The "meat" packages came in a box or a suitcase.  It would be filled with his homemade sausages, cutlets, seasoned roast beef, brisket and porchetta that my dad would deep freeze and send next day or if we were visiting would send home on the flight.

INGREDIENTS:      

• 3 Tablespoons dried fennel    
• 1 Tablespoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 Tablespoons Salt  
• 2 Tablespoons Black Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Garlic Salt
• Zest from a small lemon
• 4 Pounds Ground Pork Butt
• Pork Casings

Note - The recipe above was given to me by my dad.  To cut down on the salt, I often make it t substituting sea salt for the salt and fresh crushed garlic or garlic poweder instead of garlic salt.

Mix the ingredients together.   After the mixture is well mixed take a small amount to make a small sausage patty.  Fry the sausage patty in olive oil until cooked throughly.  Taste the patty to be sure that the flavor is good.  Make any adjustments that are necessary to the sausage mixture.  You can adjust by adding more lemon or pepper if the ground pork mixture is too salty. 

ALTERNATIVES: If you want to make garlic and cheese or tomato and cheese sausages you can lessen the salt as the cheese will add salt and mix in chunks of sharp provolone cheese and fresh minced garlic for the garlic and cheese and a couple of cans of whole cooked tomatos chopped into chunks and chunks of sharp provolone cheese for the tomato and cheese.  If you like herbs you can chop fresh herbs like sage, thyme and add to the mixture for a herb sausage.  Another alternative is to substitute fresh orange zest instead of the lemon. Keep in mind the changes will affect the flavor profile of the sausage.  If you are experimenting I would suggest that you take a small amount of mixture, about the size of a small meatball and add the ingredients you want to try, then cook it up and try it to see if you like the combination before making changes to the whole bowl of sausage meat.  Make the recipe your own, experiment and have fun with it and enjoy the process as well as the end result.  Once you have the taste to your liking you will have a special sausage recipe all your own.  Once you have found a taste to your liking you can then stuff the casing with the pork mixture to make the sausage.

You can also make little breakfast patties without the casings.  When my sister Anna tested this recipe for me she made them for her husband Rich and he loved them.

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