Cheddar/Jalapeno Sausage

[rgreenberg2000]

My daughter requested some jalapeno sausage for when she's home from school for Thanksgiving, so I decided to find a recipe that included some cheese to make up for her. What I ended up doing is using the Jalapeno Sausage recipe at meatsandsausages.com (https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausag ... no-sausage) as my base recipe. I omitted the wine, onion and cilantro, and added 8oz of sharp cheddar cheese to a 5lb batch. I also made this up as a 100% pork sausage (though I'll definitely try it again with the 70/30 beef/pork ratio in the original!)

2270g Pork (70/30)
1.8% Salt, kosher
.25% Black pepper
.1% Cumin, ground
.35% Garlic, minced
.3% Jalapeno, minced (I used four jalapeños)
227g Sharp cheddar cheese, small dice (Tillamook)
227g Water
32-35mm Hog Casings (LEM)

The meat and fat were ground through my 10mm plate, then the 4mm plate (I REALLY need to order a 7mm plate), mixed thoroughly with water, seasonings, jalapeno, and cheese until very tacky, then stuffed into casings. I put them in the fridge overnight, and will get them poached off this morning, but I couldn't resist cooking up a couple of fresh links last night. I really like how they turned out. A good level of heat from the chiles, balanced by the gooeyness of the cheese. I think I'll bump the salt to 2% next time, and increase the black pepper (maybe as much as double.) I did pan saute these on a gentle heat to avoid melting the cheese out, and it worked well. I'll try high-temp cheese next time to see what the difference is.

[Butterbean]

Those look really good. Jalapeño and cheese is one of my favorites. I normally smoke mine though but either way is good. I think the only difference you will see in the cheese is it won't be so runny. Flavor is still there. Just for sh!ts and giggles try doing the mince the way you did only take half of it and not grind it but once then mix them all together. I like messing around with different mince combinations using the same recipe but it doesn't take much to amuse me. Again, it looks wonderful and thanks for sharing the recipe.

[rgreenberg2000]

Thanks, Butterbean. I was pleased with how these turned out. I've read about doing the mince that way for some varied texture, and I'll give it a try for sure.....maybe when my hi-temp cheese gets here....

R

[Butterbean]

Thanks, Butterbean. I was pleased with how these turned out. I've read about doing the mince that way for some varied texture, and I'll give it a try for sure.....maybe when my hi-temp cheese gets here....

R

I can't say it does anything to the flavor but I think its pretty cool looking. I'm working on a venison/pork krakowska at the moment that I hope turns out having some neat contrasts in the sausage. With the lockdown I'm going old school and have been curing the meats for a few days now and am stuffing things now. I've always felt this method made for a better sausage but I'm bad about getting in a hurry and want to do things yesterday. Problem with this method though is the lag time makes me think I'm not doing anything so I kept making more stuff. At the moment I've got jerky, breakfast sausages, patty sausages, summer sausage, krakowski, cajun sausage and am trying Redzed's new venison sausage in the works. I just hope I can keep track of everything and not have a train wreck. Gonna be a long day.

[rgreenberg2000]

At the moment I've got jerky, breakfast sausages, patty sausages, summer sausage, krakowski, cajun sausage and am trying Redzed's new venison sausage in the works. I just hope I can keep track of everything and not have a train wreck. Gonna be a long day.

Yikes, that is going to be a long day! I've had a few of those..... beer, sourdough, ribs, sausage......gets tiring, but more satisfying than a day at the keyboard!

R

[Butterbean]

At the moment I've got jerky, breakfast sausages, patty sausages, summer sausage, krakowski, cajun sausage and am trying Redzed's new venison sausage in the works. I just hope I can keep track of everything and not have a train wreck. Gonna be a long day.

Yikes, that is going to be a long day! I've had a few of those..... beer, sourdough, ribs, sausage......gets tiring, but more satisfying than a day at the keyboard!

R

In theory I was going to have three helpers but my daughter - a nursing student - has the covid so I'm social distancing from both her and my wife because we don't know who has it and who doesn't - of course my wife is also a nurse and has already had it so I don't know if she counts or not but I'm not taking any chances. My two sons aren't coming till they are sure I'm not infected as well. We can stay clear of my daughter. I'm scheduled to be tested on Monday with the gold standard test. Pretty sure I don't have it but who knows with this thing and I don't want to be responsible for giving it to someone who can't handle it. And if I do turn out to have it then it will be an interesting question on what to do with all this meat. Pretty sure I don't have it. To be safe I've been drinking plenty of fresh homemade lemonade laced with alcohol because I think Vitamin C and alcohol are both enemies of covid. Plus it puts a spring in my step.

[rgreenberg2000]

In theory I was going to have three helpers but my daughter - a nursing student - has the covid so I'm social distancing from both her and my wife because we don't know who has it and who doesn't - of course my wife is also a nurse and has already had it so I don't know if she counts or not but I'm not taking any chances. My two sons aren't coming till they are sure I'm not infected as well. We can stay clear of my daughter. I'm scheduled to be tested on Monday with the gold standard test. Pretty sure I don't have it but who knows with this thing and I don't want to be responsible for giving it to someone who can't handle it. And if I do turn out to have it then it will be an interesting question on what to do with all this meat. Pretty sure I don't have it. To be safe I've been drinking plenty of fresh homemade lemonade laced with alcohol because I think Vitamin C and alcohol are both enemies of covid. Plus it puts a spring in my step.

Wow! Sorry to hear your daughter has it, hope you don't! I have been taking a daily dose of alcohol mixed with various things (some of which probably have Vitamin C in them) since March. Sometimes I take a double dose. I mean, it's not like I have to drive anywhere!

Be well, fingers are crossed!

R

[Butterbean]

Thanks. She's feeling puny today but I believe she is at the crux of it now and I feel she will begin getting better shortly. Funny thing is her boyfriend is asymptotic and was planning on going to work Monday till she jumped him and he has been tested but we are awaiting the results. I'm sure he has it but if he doesn't either they are kissing wrong or he might be a good study subject in case he has some immunity to it for some reason. I don't know. Strange times for sure.