Charcuterie_ The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing - Michael Ruhlman [69]
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked in tepid water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed
1. Combine salt, pink salt, and dextrose, then toss this cure with the beef. Grind through small die (see Note below). Refrigerate. Grind back fat and foie gras scraps and refrigerate. Keep separate from the meat.
2. Place the ground meat in a food processor, put the ice (or frozen braising liquid) on top of the meat, put the mustard, pepper and garlic powder on top of the ice.
3. Process until the mixture reaches a temperature of 40 degrees F./4 degrees C. Add the fat and foie gras and process to a temperature of 45 degrees F./7 degrees C. Add the dry milk powder and process until it reaches 58 degrees F./14 degrees C.
4. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the herbs, bacon, cooled sweetbreads, and cooled mushrooms.
5. Stuff into the hog casings and twist into 4-inch/10-centimeter links.
6. Poach the sausage in milk and stock with aromatics to an interior temperature of 150 degrees F./65 degrees C. Shock in an ice bath till completely chilled.
Yield: About 6 pounds/3 kilograms sausage; about forty-eight 4-inch/10-centimeter links
[ NOTE: See pages 135–140 for a detailed description of the basic grinding, mixing, stuffing, and cooking techniques. ]
BRAISED SWEETBREADS
2 pounds/1 kilogram sweetbreads
2 ounces/50 grams unsalted butter
1 cup/140 grams chopped onions
1⁄2 cup/70 grams chopped celery
1⁄2 cup/70 grams chopped parsnips
1 tablespoon/10 grams black peppercorns
A few branches of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 bottle (750 milliliters) sweet Madeira
1. Soak the sweetbreads in cold heavily salted water (1 cup per gallon/225 grams per 4 liters) for 12 to 24 hours, refrigerated, to remove excess blood.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F./160 degrees C.
3. In a heavy-bottomed ovenproof sauté pan large enough to contain the sweetbreads snugly in one layer, melt the butter over medium heat. Sauté the vegetables until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients (except the sweetbreads), bring to a simmer, and simmer gently for another 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, remove the sweetbreads from the salted water and rinse.
5. Add the sweetbreads to the simmering liquid, cover, and place the pan in the oven. Braise until the sweetbreads are tender, about 30 minutes.
6. Remove the sweetbreads from the braising liquid (reserve the liquid), allow them to cool, then remove any remaining pieces of fat or thin membrane. Crumble the sweetbreads into small pieces, about the size of a peanut, and refrigerate until ready to use.
7. Strain the braising liquid through a fine-mesh strainer. Allow it to cool to room temperature, then freeze for use in the sausage.
Yield: 2 pounds/1 kilogram sweetbreads
Smoked Sausage
Smoke can raise the craft of a fresh or emulsified sausage to a higher level. Smoked sausages, which may be cooked or uncooked, take on a rich appealing hue and a satisfying depth of flavor. All begin with either the fresh sausage or the emulsified sausage method. A cooked smoked sausage is smoked at a temperature of about 200 degrees F./93 degrees C., similar to the ideal poaching temperature. An uncooked smoked sausage is cold-smoked, smoked at a temperature that won’t cook the meat, 100 degrees F./37 degrees C. or lower. The latter are rarely eaten on their own but are almost always used as ingredients in a larger dish (Cajun andouille in a gumbo, for instance).
The sausages in the recipes for cooked smoked sausages here don’t have to be smoked–some of them are delicious roasted—and then, obviously, they are considered to be fresh sausages. But they are in this section for a reason—they’re great smoked. That also means they’re especially tasty on the grill, smoked or fresh, cooked-covered, over indirect heat. The emulsified sausages in the cooked-smoked section are here because they’re best smoked, but you can heat them any way you wish—grill, roast, or sauté—whether they’re smoked or not. Once they have been cooked, they can be eaten hot or cold.
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