• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

1 1⁄2 teaspoons/2 grams grated lemon zest

1 1⁄2 tablespoons/10 grams chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 ounce/25 grams nonfat dry milk powder (2 tablespoons)

5 feet/2 meters hog casings, soaked in tepid water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed

1. Partially freeze the diced veal and fat, then grind through the large die onto a baking sheet. Return to the freezer until crunchy but not frozen solid, about 20 minutes or so, depending on the temperature of your freezer.

2. Combine the meat and fat with the salt and crushed ice. Regrind this mixture through the small die into the mixer bowl set in a bowl of ice (see Note below).

3. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the pepper, mustard, mace, lemon zest, and parsley to the meat mixture and mix on high for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the dry milk powder and continue mixing for 2 more minutes.

4. Do a quenelle test to check the seasoning (keep the rest of the mixture refrigerated while you cook the quenelle), and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

5. Stuff the mixture into the casings and twist into 6-inch/15-centimeter links.

6. Cook the sausages in 170-degree-F./76-degree-C. water to an internal temperature of 150 degrees F./65 degrees C., about 15 to 20 minutes, transfer them to an ice bath and chill thoroughly (to room temperature or below). Refrigerate until ready to use.

7. To serve, gently grill, sauté, or roast until heated through.

Yield: About 2 pounds/1 kilogram sausage; about eight 6-inch/15-centimeter links

[ NOTE: See pages 135–140 for a detailed description of the basic grinding, mixing, stuffing, and cooking techniques. ]

MORTADELLA

Mortadella is a mild smooth sausage known for its prodigious girth and the large chunks of white pork fat that stud its interior. It originated in Bologna, Italy, and is similar in appearance and texture to the American sandwich meat popularized by Oscar Mayer, but the similarity ends there. It’s traditionally stuffed into beef middles, the big suckers, and either cut into cubes (as is more typical in Italy) or sliced thin, as part of a charcuterie plate. It would certainly be possible to make a large roulade using plastic wrap and poach it (think of it as a gigantic quenelle test—see page 136; it can be tricky, though, because of its size). This is a traditional 5-4-3 forcemeat, but its size—4 to 5 inches/10 to 12.5 centimeters in diameter, sometimes quite a bit larger—and the chunks of fat and other garnish options, such as pistachios, peppercorns, and olives, make it a very special sausage. And that’s no baloney.

1 pound/450 grams boneless lean pork shoulder butt, diced

2 tablespoons/30 milliliters dry white wine

1⁄2 teaspoon/3 grams minced garlic

3⁄4 ounce/20 grams kosher salt (11⁄2 tablespoons)

1⁄2 teaspoon/3 grams pink salt

12 ounces/335 grams pork back fat, diced

10 ounces/280 grams crushed ice

11⁄2 teaspoons/4 grams ground white pepper

1 teaspoon/4 grams ground mace

1 teaspoon/2 grams ground coriander seeds, toasted (see Note page 52)

1⁄4 teaspoon/0.5 gram ground bay leaf

1⁄2 teaspoon/1 gram freshly grated nutmeg

1⁄2 cup/70 grams nonfat dry milk powder

1⁄2 cup/120 grams finely diced pork back fat, blanched in boiling water for 1 minute, drained, and cooled

1⁄2 cup/80 grams pistachios, blanched and peeled

1 large beef middle, soaked in tepid water for at least 30 minutes and thoroughly rinsed (or use plastic wrap)

1. Combine the pork butt with the white wine, garlic, salt, and pink salt. Grind through the small die into a bowl set in ice (see Note below); immediately refrigerate. Grind the fat through the same die into another bowl set in ice; immediately freeze (keep the meat and fat separate).

2. Place the ground meat in the food processor, along with the ice, pepper, mace, coriander, bay leaf, and nutmeg, and process until the mixture reaches 40 degrees F./4 degrees C., about 5 minutes. Add the ground fat and continue to process until the mixture reaches a temperature of 45 degrees F./7 degrees C., about