Michael Symon's Live to Cook_ Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen - Michael Symon [37]
Using the paddle attachment on your mixer, mix the sausage on medium speed for 45 to 60 seconds, to bring everything together.
At this point you have three options. You can stuff it into casings, form it into patties, or crumble it. The sausage will keep for up to 1 week covered in the refrigerator, or freeze for up to 1 month. Cook to an internal temperature of 150°F before serving.
POACHED FOIE GRAS BRATWURST
This is a more complex, more expensive sausage than the other recipes in the book (though it’s not more difficult). An emulsified sausage—the ground meat and fat are puréed for a uniform and smooth texture—it’s probably most geared to restaurant chefs and ambitious home cooks because it requires a few extra steps. It’s a great sausage to make if your restaurant uses foie gras, because you might have a lot of trimmings to make use of. I created it for a dish called Picnic in Cleveland and served the sausage on grilled brioche with mustard and with Turnip Kraut. The industry magazine Food Arts recently chose it as one of their favorite recipes.
Makes about 2 pounds, or 16 to 20 4-inch links; serves 8 to 10
Foie Gras Bratwurst
¾ pound pork jowl, diced
½ pound veal shoulder, diced
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground white pepper
2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika
1 teaspoon pink salt
½ teaspoon ground mace
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ pound foie gras, cold
1 cup whole milk, frozen and cut into cubes
2 large egg whites, beaten until frothy
4 feet of hog casings, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes and then flushed with water
Poaching Stock
1 gallon Chicken Stock or water
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bunches of fresh marjoram
¼ cup kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled
To make the bratwurst, in a large bowl, combine the pork jowl, veal shoulder, kosher salt, white pepper, paprika, pink salt, mace, nutmeg, and cloves. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
Transfer the meat mixture to the freezer for 30 minutes, or until it is stiff but not frozen solid.
About 30 minutes before grinding, place all the equipment in the freezer.
Grind the meat mixture twice through a medium die or small die. Repeat with the foie gras, grinding through the same die. Cover and refrigerate separately for 30 minutes.
Put the ground meat in the bowl of a food processor with half of the frozen milk cubes and purée until smooth. Add the foie gras and remaining milk and purée until the foie gras is incorporated. Put the sausage mixture in a bowl set in an ice bath and then fold in the egg whites.
Stuff the casings and tie off with twine at 4-inch intervals.
To make the poaching liquid, combine the stock, onion, marjoram, salt, and garlic in a large pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes. Allow the poaching liquid to cool to 180°F; return the pot to low heat to maintain this temperature. Put the sausages into the poaching liquid and weight them down with a plate to ensure that they’re completely submerged. Cook until they reach an internal temperature of 150°F, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the sausages to an ice bath and chill thoroughly.
Reheat gently in a sauté pan to serve, or you can slice them and serve them cold.
Confit
Perhaps the easiest way to preserve meat at home is to confit it; typically duck, goose, or pork is briefly cured with salt and seasonings, cooked very gently for hours and hours—submerged in its own fat—and then cooled and chilled in the fat. The meat can then be reheated and the skin crisped for the most deeply seasoned, soul-satisfying, succulent morsels you’ve ever tasted.
Why is it so valuable to the cook? First, it’s one of those techniques that allows you to take a tough inexpensive or off cut of meat and transform it into a great dish. It allows you to infuse the meat with extraordinary flavor through the cure. The cooking method results in meat that is the ultimate in rich unctuousness.