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Chicken & Sage Sausages

It is satisfying to make fresh homemade sausages and I have resolved to make them more often. The whole thing takes less than an hour, and it would be easy to make double the amount and freeze some for later. The best thing is coming up with your own fillings – they can be as crazy or as normal as you like. I have plans for a mega chilli sausage but tonight I did a chicken + fresh herb version. Most recipes call for extra fat for a juicier sausage but if you want a few less calories you can go without – the sausage will be less juicy but still nice.

A few quick tips – Michael Ruhlman in Charcuterie and Paul Bertolli in Cooking By Hand both say a sausage stuffer should be used to fill sausage casings instead of a funnel on a grinder. The problem with the grinder is that chunks of fat can break down too much and then leak out when cooked instead of hanging around to add juicy flavour. This version is the cheapest sausage stuffer on Amazon that gets OK reviews while these ones cost nearly 3 times as much but get much better reviews all round. I’m sold, not that it takes much to make me want a new kitchen gadget, but until I can track one down the old funnel on the mincer is all I have. If using a grinder with funnel, Ruhlman suggests chilling the mince mixture before sending it through the grinder the second time to fill the sausages.

I used to find that fat and sinew got caught on the grinding plate of my grinder, eventually blocking it up and spoiling the texture. It seems like this happens to even the experts sometimes but making sure the die and cutting blade in my grinder were sharp made a big difference. I just rub the flat side of each on a fine diamond stone now and then. Storing the dies and cutter in a zip lock bag with a drop of oil rubbed over stops them from rusting. The other thing that helps is to dice the meat and then pop it in the freezer 30 minutes before starting.

chicken sage sausages (1 of 8)
Sage, rosemary, garlic powder, oregano, pepper, pimento

Ingredients

  • 750g/1.5lb Chicken thighs
  • 4-5 small sage leaves
  • 1 small sprig rosemary – about 1 tsp chopped
  • 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice (pimento)
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 generous tsp cooking salt
  • Sausage casings – natural casings need to be soaked in water before use, then flushed through with more water. Synthetic casings can be used dry.
chicken sage sausages (2 of 8)
If you notice the mine isn’t coming out cleanly, stop and take out the cutting die – it’s probably clogged with sinew

Making The Sausages

1. Chop fresh spices finely. Grind any dry spices that need it.

2. Cut chicken into rough chunks and spread out on a tray. Put it in the freezer about 30 minutes before grinding.

3. Pass chicken through the grinder – I used the finest die. When no more is coming out take half a slice of bread and send it through the grinder to push out the last bits. Stop when the bread starts to come through. It’s surprising how muc more this gets you, at least another sausage worth.

4. Time to get messy: Put the mince in a mixing bowl with all other ingredients and knead until well mixed and the meat feels sticky – a minute or two.

chicken sage sausages (3 of 8)

5. When filling I have been using the largest cutting die on my grinder so it doesn’t clog as much. I fit a length of casing over the funnel, working it right down until no more fits and tie a knot in the end.

6. I can just manage this next bit on my own but it’s more fun with an extra person helping – the meat mixture is fed into the grinder or stuffer and cranked or pressed through the funnel. The person on the casing end lets the casing slip off fast enough for the sausage to be plump but not stuffed tight so that it has room to cook.

chicken sage sausages (4 of 8)

7. I fill the whole length of the casing before twisting into sausages. When twisting , adjust the pressure in each link so that it isn’t too tight – keep in mind that twisting will make each sausage a bit tighter too. Alternate which way each link is twisted or else they’ll come undone – eg twist clockwise, then anti clockwise in order.

chicken sage sausages (5 of 8)

chicken sage sausages (6 of 8)
These were just a bit too tight – a couple split when cooking

I think sausages are best cooked over a moderate heat so they cook through and get nice and brown without burning. I tried par-cooking before I cut the links so the mix didn’t spill out the ends. Seemed to work.

chicken sage sausages (7 of 8)

Bangers and mash are a classic so we ate our sausages with buttery, garlicky pumpkin+sweet potato mash and gravy.

chicken sage sausages (8 of 8)

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Is this the best pumpkin soup recipe ever?

There’s no doubt Autumn is here – it’s been raining and leaves are turning yellow and orange. Today as I listened to the wind chimes jangling I started to think of comfort food, and since I have one of the seasons first home grown pumpkins waiting to be used this recipe was a natural choice. I don’t like to brag but my pumpkin soup recipe, refined through the years, is getting pretty good. It helped win my fiancées heart when I cooked it on our first date and if you choose to use it as a love potion too I can nearly guarantee your success.

Use the ripest pumpkin you can find – the flesh should be a deep yellow to orange when cut, depending on variety and the stem should appear dry. I used a butternut (also called a squash in some parts). Some recipes call for the pumpkin to be roasted to deepen the flavour before it is boiled but if you start with a ripe pumpkin, I don’t think it is necessary – although by all means give it a go if the pumpkin isn’t as ripe as you’d like. I suggest about 1kg of pumpkin but more or less is fine, depending on how much pumpkin you have. I used about 2/3 of the monster below.

pumpkin soup (1 of 1)

Ingredients

  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 large potato
  • 1 brown onion
  • 1 ripe pumpkin (about 1kg / 2lb)
  • 1 liter of stock – chicken or vegetable. Or water if you don’t have stock.
  • 1 rasher of good smoky bacon or pancetta
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated if possible
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • salt and pepper

To Serve

  • 1 small bunch of coriander (cilantro)
  • sour cream

1. Remove the bacon rind. Finely dice the bacon, onion, carrot and garlic. Add to a large saucepan over medium heat with the butter and olive oil.

2. While you’re stirring the onion etc, roughly dice the potato and peel and dice the pumpkin. It’s easy to peel the pumpkin by cutting thick slices first, then cutting the skin off each slice.

3. Once the onions are starting to look transparent, add the potato and pumpkin and stock. If there isn’t enough stock to cover the pumpkin top up the pan with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the pumpkin is soft and falling apart – about 1 hour.

4. Stir in the paprika, nutmeg and turmeric and simmer for another few minutes.

pumpkin soup (1 of 1)-2

5. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Use a hand blender to puree the soup in the pan until it’s smooth and creamy.

6. Taste and season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper to your taste.

7. Ladle into bowls and add a spoonful of sour cream to the middle of each one. Use a fork to twirl the sour cream in a little whirlpool pattern, but not so much that it is mixed in – just leave a few trails. Scatter each bowl with a little chopped coriander. Serve with a nice crusty white bread and butter.

pumpkin soup (1 of 1)-3
Mmmmmmm

More:

A good hand blender is the easiest way to get the soup nice and creamy – this Cuisinart one comes in every colour you could want.

Pumpkins are easy to grow if you have a little space, and very rewarding. Here is a pretty good guide.

My recipe is ‘straight’ pumpkin but I love a curried pumpkin soup too – here’s a take on that (and they make it look so good…)