This recipe, originally titled Maple Deer Sausage, is originally for venison, but it works great for just pork.

Breakfast Sausage 2

• 5 lbs pork shoulder, cut in strips to fit in a grinder
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried marjoram
• 2 Tbsp kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp rubbed sage
• 1 Tbsp fine ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup
• 1/2 cup ice water

Grind the meat through a medium or coarse plate. The stuffer on my grinder requires a plate be installed, so I will do medium/coarse or coarse/coarse.

Combine the spices in a small container and mix with the 1/2 cup of ice water and the 1/2 cup real maple syrup.

Pour the spice mixture into the ground meat and mix thoroughly for at least 2 minutes. Use your hands for mixing to assure even distribution.

Once the sausage is fully mixed, stuff it immediately into casings and cool it down. I use smaller casings (22 to 24 mm).

Alternately, this works well as patties — I use 1/4 lb meat in a hamburger press for form the patties.

Note: The original recipe called for 3 lbs venison plus 2 lbs fatty pork shoulder or 1 lb lean pork + 1 lb pork fat.

Lamb Sausages

• 1 roma tomato, seeded & chopped
• 1/4 medium sweet onion, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• 1-1/2 lbs chopped lamb
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• garnish: tzatziki

Mix the tomato, onion, salt, pepper, sugar, and vinegar in a saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until the liquid is nearly evaporated. Remove from heat and chill.

Mix the lamb, parsley, oregano, egg, olive oil, and parmesan cheese. Mix in the cooled tomato mixture. Chill the mixture for 30 minutes to ensure that it is cold.

Form the lamb into lozenges about 4″ long and skewer. Grill for 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Serve with tzatziki or similar yogurt based savory sauce.

Notes: The recipe this is based on calls for chopped lamb; I find that ground lamb works fine, although the raw sausage doesn’t stay on the skewers very well.

Tuscan Sausage

• 3 lbs pork butt
• 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil or 1 Tbsp dried
• 4 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 2 tsp dried
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp coarsely ground pepper
• pinch allspice
• medium hog casings

Grind the pork through a “medium” plate and refrigerate while you get the ingredients ready. Once the meat is chilled, about 20 minutes, knead in all the ingredients until well mixed. Don’t overwork the sausage, it will get too warm.

Stuff the sausage into medium casings and tie into 6″ links.

Note: The above recipe calls for 3 pounds of sausage, I usually make 1/3 of this at a time, so cut the recipe accordingly. Sausage making isn’t an exact science, so don’t worry about being a little off on the quantities.

My sausage stuffer makes you use another grinding plate when you stuff. I use a large grinding plate for this, so I don’t “regrind” the sausage. This sausage is better if it stays a little “coarse”. The sausage will keep 3 days in the refrigerator. I usually make one day ahead, wrap in wax paper and place in the refrigerator to let flavors blend. I par boil the sausages for 20 minutes on a really low boil and then grill for 5 to 8 minutes to give them a little more flavor. This seems to work well.

Notes: Mike’s notes: I use course sea salt instead of kosher.

This one is labeled “I” because I have several different recipes I’ve tried, all successfully. I need to locate the other recipes and post them.

I also need to get the sausage stuffer attachment for my KitchenAid mixer. Currently I do this bulk sausage and form it into patties, but would like to do links.

Breakfast Sausage I

• 5 Tbsp salt
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 8 tsp rubbed sage
• 4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• coarsely ground fresh pork

In a jar mix together the first 5 ingredients.

For each pound of ground pork add 1 Tbsp of spice mixture dissolved in water; mix well.

Note: The original recipe calls for 1/2 water per pound of meat. This makes it soupy. I use 1/2 cup water for 4 to 5 lbs of meat.

I use this same seasoning for pork sausage and for venison sausage.

Note: I discovered that this recipe is NOT what’s in my recipe book. I suspect that I started with this one, and updated it as the seasonings were too light

Italian Sausage

• 1 pork butt, 4 to 5 lbs, coarsely ground for sausage

Seasonings:

• 3 tsp paprika or sweet red pepper, ground
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper, crushed
• 2 tsp salt
• 8 to 10 tsp fennel seed

Mix all ingredients together with 1/2 cup water. Mix well into the meat.

Make into patties, or may be used to make sausage links. This mixture will be a medium hot sausage.