Turkey and Sage Sausage

Have you ever made your own sausage?  Or thought about making your own sausage?  I know, sounds a little odd.

We were watching an Iron Chef America episode a while back.  We love that show.  Especially when Bobby Flay cooks.  His food always tastes good.

I digress.  We were watching Iron Chef Michael Symon.  He's fantastic and lots of fun to watch.  They were chatting with him (while he was trying to cook 5 incredible dishes in an hour) about his restaurants and he said that he ground all of his own sausage for his restaurant.  I thought that was interesting.

Fast forward about six months - I saw an article in Food Network magazine, and in it was a recipe for sausage from Michael Symon.  It seemed easy enough and I thought I would try it.  I made some modifications, and here's how we did it:

Turkey and Sage Sausage

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless turkey thighs, cubed
• 1 1/2 pound pork butt, cubed
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh sage
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 chopped jalapenos
• Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup cold whole milk
• 1/2 cup white wine, chilled
• 1 8-foot hog casing, soaked in water 30 minutes and then flushed with water
• Crusty buns, for serving

Directions:

Combine the turkey, pork butt, sage, garlic, chives, pepper, jalapenos, and 2 tablespoons salt in a large bowl. 

At least 30 minutes before grinding the meat, place all of your tools (including the meat grinder parts, stand mixer bowl, stand mixer paddle attachment and sausage stuffer parts) in the freezer to chill.

Using your meat grinder, grind the marinated meat mixture through the small die plate into the chilled bowl of the stand mixer. (Take my advice - read the instructions on your meat grinder.  Doing it right makes the job a lot faster and easier!)

Refrigerate at least 30 minutes, then return the mixture to the mixer. Add the milk and wine and beat on medium speed using the chilled paddle attachment until combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Stuff the sausages.  (My advice from above?  Stands here as well.)  When you have stuffed the sausages, they will look like this!  Like actual sausage from the meat counter!

Before cooking, pierce each sausage several times with a pin. Grill over medium heat until the center registers 160 degrees F, 10 to 12 minutes. (You can also pan-fry or broil the sausages.) Serve in split toasted buns.

I ate mine with my homemade tomato ketchup.  Yummy.  I will totally be making these again - only next time, I may try basil instead of sage.  And more jalapenos (or maybe even a ghost pepper)!  Maybe add some chicken in place of the turkey.  Lots of combinations, and I can't wait to try again!

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