Sausage Class and Black Pudding

Last Wednesday I went to a sausage making class.  It was fun, there were only six of us.  Class finished an hour early, so with that much time left over, I think it would've been better, if we were working on our own, instead of in two teams of three.  Anyway, at the end of the day, we each left with eight sausages.

We got to grind out own meat, and then stuff it into natural casings.  We didn't get to be creative with spices, only used salt and pepper.  The teacher said that he likes to taste the good quality meat.  I love meat, but using the right spices in the right amounts doesn't mask the quality,  it compliments it, giving the sausage depth.  He also didn't have set measurements as to how much salt and pepper to use per whatever amount of meat, and just poured both out of their containers.  That's how I do things, though I try to give some measurements here.

When I boiled the sausages, I added some marjoram, thyme, and garlic powder to the water.  Not the same as having the spices in the meat, but it still added a bit more flavour, and took the meaty edge off.

I sauteed the green and yellow beans in butter, and then sprinkled with maple smoked rock salt.  I added some 10% M.F. plain yogurt to the mashed potatoes.  Sometimes I use sour cream or butter.  I don't like using anything liquidy, like milk or stock, because of the taste and texture. 

I still have a few sausages left, so I will make a different dish with them, and post in another blog.

After class, I picked up some pig skin sausage, Cotechino, it's amazing, the texture and flavour.  It was pricey, but what a treat!  I also got a black pudding, because I love black pudding and blood sausage.  Depending on country of origin/ recipe, there are so many variations.  Sometimes they are too salty, but this one was great.

I fried it up with shallots.

I also fried up some zucchini in butter, and sprinkled with maple smoked rock salt (I love this salt).

It was a very tasty lunch, and very filling.