Think back to the first time you and your friends tried mixing all the sodas in the pop fountain. You watched each different fizz cascade into the 64 oz. Big Gulp, mesmerized as the cola-colored puddle metamorphosed into a rust-colored, guaranteed gut-buster of a beverage. You thought to yourself, "Is this a good idea?"

And if you're anything like me, you said, "What the hell," and took a sip and even as you felt your Cheetoes and chocolate milk crawling back up your throat (with just a hint of Dr. Pepper), you swore to all your friends--you swore to God--that it was the "best thing ever made, try it, you gotta try it, just try it." And in the end, after fighting back your lunch, you decided it wasn't really that bad. And you took another sip.

That's what life is like in mredison's neighborhood. Welcome.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

ever wondered what's in the sausage?

I ate homemade biscuits and gravy tonight. With peas.

Earlier today, while Sig Oth and I were making a brown ale (birth date: 12/16/2008. Be there or be square), we were also trying to make bread. The dough didn't rise, though, and basically turned into a really big biscuit. Crap. Or so I thought. . .

I've been wanting to make homemade sausage for a while, but I haven't wanted to go through the hassle of finding casings and stuffing them. Plus, I wasn't really sure of the spice mix (sage and . . .sage?. I know the internet could make the process clearer, but I was having a lazy moment.

Here's what I ended up doing. I went to the store to see if there was any pork shoulder roast on sale. For those of you familiar with my adventures in slow cooking, you'll remember that a good day for me starts with a hideous-looking chunk of sinew, bone and pink meat. Tonight, though, no luck; pork shoulder roasts nowhere to be found. There was, however, country-style, boneless pork ribs on sale for $1.99/lb. I grabbed 2.5 pounds and headed back to the Mredison Family Compound and Estate.

So. . .sausage, right? Chop 1/4 onion and like 6 cloves of garlic. Cube the pork, put it in the food processor, and pulse 8 times. By the by, your food processor needs to be industrial as shit, or you'll end up with something between smashed pork cubes and a kitchen fire, if you do a good job of burning out your motor. Then. . .

Add some of the onion and garlic. Pulse three times. Add your spices. For my spice blend, I had salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, Herbes de Provence, basil, thyme, and oregano. There was no scientific process at work here; just go super easy on the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Pulse five more times. You know you've used enough when you can see the spices visibly intertwined with the meat, onion and garlic.

I didn't have casings, didn't wanna get casings, didn't wanna stuff sausages. So I fried up patties. This sausage is lean--no added fat--so I used a little butter and oil blend in the pan.

Putting it all together: take a slice of the biscuit bread, put the patties on top of it, pour some gravy on it (you can use a jar, a mix, or do it old school and make it yourself with pan drippings, flour and cream with lots of black pepper), and sprinkle peas on top.

This was the shizzle. I loved it. And for under $6 worth of supplies, you can too.
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