Garlic Sausage - a step towards making a cassoulet

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 05:32

This is one of my steps towards making a cassoulet. I want a garlic sausage that is fine ground. I used pork belly as I wanted a high fat content sausage

Garlic Sausage

Pork 1Kg
Salt 16g
White Pepper 3g
Cognac 100g
Herb de Provance* 3g
Garlic 12g

*My Herb de Provance Mix (version 6)
1 Tbsp thyme
2 Tbsp Chervil
2 Tbsp Basil
2 Tbsp Rosemary
1 Tbsp Winter Savory
2 tsp Lavender Flowers (Isn`t Provance famous for its lavender!)
2 tsp Tarragon
1 tsp Fennel seeds
1 1/2 tsp Oregano
1 1/2 tsp marjoram
1 tsp Mint
2 powdered bay leaves
Use dried herbs.
Have yet to work out weights

Prepartion:
Mix together all of the ingredients and store in a tightly sealed container; or mix in a food processor to obtain a finer mixture if desired). This blend is excellent in soups, on potatoes, rice, pasta, meat, poultry, fish, roasted vegetables, sausages or bread. Mix with 1/4 lb butter for a real treat.

Ingredents

Stuffed Sausage

Poached in water and home made chicken stock. Poached at 75 degrees until internal temperature was 69 degrees took 30 mins.

Taste

Verdict
Wonderful subtle flavour. Could push up the garlic content. Would make a great cured sausage. May be too subtle for my cassoulet. Would work in a clear broth pasta/bean soup.

Decision
Will use it in my cassoulet. Tomorrow's project

Post by **redzed** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 06:54

Mark that looks like a wonderful savoury sausage. And with that herb potpourri, your house must smell divine. Thanks for the recipe and enjoy that cassoulet! Hope you pair it with a fine Pinot Noir from the South Island.

cogboy · Post by **cogboy** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 10:54

The sausage looks great ,I love garlic sausage !

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:06

Nice goin' Mark,
Wow, cognac and winter savory.... very interesting! I'll bet your kitchen smells great. What are you going to call this sausage? How about Canterbury Garlic Sausage?

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

nadin · Post by **nadin** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 13:13

looks like traditional Easter Polish (kielbasa biala ) sausage but I never used cognac,I'll give it a try soon!

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 10:10

Thanks for the comments. It is interesting how so many countries have similar style sausages. I wonder if anyone has researched of how and where sausages evolved and how the evolution of the sausage is linked to the migration of sausages.

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 10:36

Well I made the cassoulet.

The bacon I cut it up into 1 cm chunks. I did not take a picture of the uncooked bacon that I used. The bacon was dry cured for 6 days and smoked for four hours.

Browning the Sausage (cut up into 1 cm thick rounds)

Browning the Chicken Thighs

The final meal

Ingredients
I dont have a recipe, just play about with the volumes at the time.
Other ingredients used were carrots, celery, ground pepper, herbs de provance, onions + one whole one with cloves pushed in, bay leaf, a few fennel seeds, tin tomatoes (wrong time of year for fresh ones, home made chicken stock, a large pinch of raw sugar as the tomatoes were a bit tart. I did not wash the pan until I had and softened/browned all the ingredients. Because I had seasoned the chicken before browning it and of the bacon and sausage had salt in it I did not need extra salt.

After I made the bacon it tasted too smoked, but the taste mellowed. The smokiness in the cassoulet was just a nice hint.

For a special occasion I would have used a duck and sprinkled dry bread crumbs on it. For the last 15-20 mins of baking (I used the stove top to cook the meal. This was a first for this recipe. Traditionally white beans are used, but I prefer the more colourful and the slightly nutty flavour of borlotti beans. Some recipes use lamb or mutton. Others use rabbit. Its all about what is available (and in my case cost), the occasion (mine is for day in day out meals) taste and whether you regard or disregard tradition (and whose tradition).

I thought the taste of the sausage would be lost, but it was not. Next time I would not change anything. Then perhaps I could call it a traditional mak cassoulet

cogboy · Post by **cogboy** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 10:59

I'll be over for dinner ! Looks scrumptious.

Post by **redzed** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 16:46

Great looking dish!

A hearty meal fit for a lumberjack! I have a bag of peruano beans in the cupboard and will give it a shot when the weather cools off a bit.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 23:29

I wanna go by your house!

Looks great, congrats!

Post by **Butterbean** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 02:14

Looks great!