Breakfast Sausage

We enjoyed the homemade sausage links with biscuits for Sunday morning breakfast. The sausages tasted just like they should. So flavorful with fresh herbs, but no artificial ingredients or nitrates or anything we didn't choose.



We used instructions from Alton brown--going all out with a meat grinder and sausage stuffer.  It was great, but we've now made this a number of times using just plain ground pork and adding the seasonings as well..  I just try not to overwork the ground pork, and it has turned out fine and easy.



Breakfast Sausage Recipe-adapted from Alton Brown

2 pounds pork butt (2 1/2 pounds with bone), diced into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 pound fat back, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Combine diced pork with all other ingredients and chill for 1 hour. Using the fine blade of a grinder, grind the pork. Form into 1-inch rounds. Refrigerate and use within 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. For immediate use, saute patties over medium-low heat in a non-stick pan. Saute until brown and cooked through, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. 

Pork Egg Rolls

If my husband and I had a theme in our kitchen, it would probably be something along the lines of "We could make that ourselves-right?" We figure that there really shouldn't be much that they sell at the grocery stores that we shouldn't be able to make at home in our own kitchen (and a for lot cheaper for the most part.) This doesn't mean that we never buy those items, but it is kind of fun to know that you are capable of making your own granola bars, doughnuts, and even marshmallows if the need or desire arose.

So the most recent experiment was egg rolls. For some reason the only food in the Ethnic Foods section of Kansas Grocery stores is frozen burritos. Isn't there some old adage about Neccessity breeds industry or inventiveness...help me out here. Anyhow, point is, we needed some egg rolls in our diet and so I went to a favorite recipe site and looked at a few different ones and put together this recipe. (I can have whatever I want in my egg roll dangit!) Enjoy!

Homemade Pork Egg Rolls

Ingredients:1 Pkg. 7-inch Egg Roll Wrappers (found in most produce departments)

4 cups Shredded Cabbage
2 Shredded Carrots
2 Stalks of Celery diced
½ Onion diced
½ teaspoon Ground Ginger
½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
½ lb of Ground Pork

To Make Filling:
Season the pork with the spices and some salt. Cook pork thoroughly and drain.

Sauté vegetables until mostly tender, and toss with pork.



To fill wrappers:

This is what the wrappers that they sell in my grocery store look like. You find them off on the side of the produce department by the tofu. (I can tell they are authentic based on their brand name.)

First, get a small bowl of water for wetting the edges of the wrappers. Then set up your workstation something like this:

Put a wrapper down with a corner pointing towards you.

Place ¼ C filling in the lower half.

Fold bottom corner up over filling.

Moisten the other 3 corners.



Fold the two side corners in.


Then roll tightly to secure filling inside.


Voila!



Cooking:
Pan-fry in shallow oil heated to 375* until golden brown.

Serve immediately with soy sauce or sweet & sour sauce for dipping.



You can also freeze for later use.
To reheat from frozen, preheat oven to 450 degrees, and bake for 30 minutes.

Makes 16