Friday, March 25, 2011

Irish Sausage with Sauteed Cabbage


I made these sausages during my week-long St Patrick's Day celebration but didn't have time to get this post up until now. My daughters started spring break last Friday, March 18th so we headed for the Florida Keys for a mini vacation. The views in every direction were fabulous. We stayed 3 nights but we should have stayed longer. We had just gotten into true relaxation mode and then it was time to drive home.

Once home there were things to do, not the least of which is entertaining two 9 year olds who are off from school. We checked out Disney's Animal Kingdom on Wednesday and have been working on crafts for some upcoming events. They have a Harry Potter camp weekend coming up with the Girl Scouts and we made wands for a wanding ceremony. I will have to post pictures of those because they came out pretty cool and also show how the rest of my time is spent.

I do love experimenting with all kinds of different sausages. Here is the Irish version:

Homemade Irish Sausage
3 lbs fatty pork, cubed
3 slices white bread, cubed
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp sage
1/4 tsp nutmeg 2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/4 cup Guinness Stout

Combine all the ingredients except stout in a large bowl and mix well. Put through the small disk of a meat grinder. Once all the meat has been ground stir in the stout. Mix well. Stuff the sausage into casings. Twist it into 3-4 inch links.

Place the links in one layer on a platter and prick each in several places with a toothpick. Put in the refrigerator for 24 hours, turning after 12. Now you are ready to cook it or freeze it. I cooked half and froze the other half.

Cooking the Sausage: To cook the sausage place it in a skillet with one cup of chicken stock and bring it to a simmer. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. The stock will reduce down to a couple of tablespoons. Lightly oil the grill racks and heat the grill. Grill the sausage over medium heat, turning and basting with the reduced stock until nice and brown.



Serve with the cabbage:

Cabbage Sauteed with Onions and Bacon
1 small head cabbage, shredded
1 medium onion cut into thin slices
3-4 slices bacon, diced
1/4 cup chicken stock salt and pepper to taste

Saute the bacon until it is rendered and just starting to crisp. Add the onion and cook 3-4 minutes until wilted. Add the cabbage and continue to cook, stirring frequently 3-4 minutes. Add the stock and salt and pepper. Cook another 3-4 minutes until the stock is absorbed and the cabbage is tender. Serve with the sausage.

Bon Appetit!

5 comments:

  1. Thank you! and Thank you for being my biggest fan!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That sausage looks wicked good! It was so nice meeting you tonight at Whole Foods - see you in the morning.

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  3. Great idea. I actually bought Irish sausage and making this tonight (might add some cream to the cabbage).

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