On Sausage

When we found out we were moving to Germany, I thought I would be able to find sausage readily, and I was right.  But I am unable to find the types of sausage I used in my cooking back in the US.  Specifically, Jason and I used a lot of hot Italian sausage for spaghetti and lasagna, and I also adore breakfast sausage.  But Germany has a rather large variety of cured sausages rather than fresh sausages.  Our state of Thuringia is known for it's bratwurst, and is considered the best in the country by many.  But our grocery store only has two types of fresh sausage.  However, Germany does have a regular supply of hackepeter, which is coarsely ground pork (with fat) seasoned with salt and pepper.  So I've learned to get creative and let me fingers do some searching.  My fingers returned with fantastic results!

I first went looking for Italian sausage.  I shopped more frequently downtown when we first moved here, and they had a slightly wider selection of fresh sausage.  The first time I went to make spaghetti, I picked out Zwiebelwurst (onion sausage), but it just wasn't quite right.  So I ran to Alton and haven't been back!

Italian Sausage (adapted from Alton Brown)
2 lbs high quality ground pork
1.5 t fennel seed
2 t kosher salt
1.5 t black pepper
1 T chopped parsley
1.5 t garlic powder
1.5 t crushed red pepper flakes

Mix all ingredients well.  Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours before cooking, preferably 24 hours.  If I forget to make the sausage the night before, I generally double the spices.


But it took a while for me to realize that I could make breakfast sausage.  Sitting at work one day this week, I had a sudden craving for Sausage Cheese Squares.  I think they got stuck in my head because I found a Pillsbury product in the grocery store this week... refrigerated Sunday rolls.  I've never seen crescent roll dough here, so I knew I would have to improvise.  I've had croissants on the brain lately, so I got the two confused.  I have a fear of making croissants (I'm sure I'll get over it when I have an oven that behaves and tons of kitchen gadgets at my disposal), so I decided to use biscuit dough instead.  And then I had to find a breakfast sausage recipe.  I was unsure how easy that would be, but I shouldn't have feared, Homesick Texan came to my rescue again.  I wasn't even searching her blog this time!  I just typed breakfast sausage recipe into google and Breakfast sausage to begin the day was the first hit!  No more waiting, I was going to have breakfast sausage!  Woohoo!

The results:

Jason: "I can't believe you got the sausage to taste like this."
Me: "I'm not sure about the biscuit dough, maybe I should find a crescent roll recipe and try that next time."
Jason: "No, I like it this way more..."
Me: "Really?  Okay!"
Jason: "It tastes so American."
(pause)
Jason: "You should blog about this."

Well there you have it.  I can and will make breakfast sausage on a more regular basis now.  I'm also wondering how things will go when we move back to the States.  I'm going to have to find a butcher, that's for sure!

Breakfast sausage Ingredients:
2 lbs of ground pork
1 tablespoon of sage
2 teaspoons of marjoram
2 teaspoons of thyme
2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Method:
1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Form into patties and fry six minutes on each side.
Keeps in the refrigerator for a week.
Lisa's Note: The spice measurements are not an exact science, and what I tend to do while mixing is pinch off a little bit and fry it up to see if I like the flavor. This is what I start with, but feel free to experiment.

I followed the spice quantities exactly, and it was perfect!  I crumbled it, put it on a layer of biscuit dough, smothered it with about 150grams of shredded white cheddar, topped it with another layer of biscuit dough, and put it in a hot oven.  Oh my yum.