Breakfast Sausage Recipe

My last post was a recipe for Venison Chorizo.  So, I got a request for breakfast sausage as an option for all those less than prime cuts of venison and other meats in the freezer.  Here’s the recipe I use.

Enjoy!

 

ingredients:

• 1 tablespoons rosemary
• 1 tablespoon fennel
• 1 tablespoon salt (to taste)
• 2 tablespoons black pepper (fresh peppercorns if possible)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (to taste)
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds lean ground meat

method:

1. Use a mortar and pestle to grind the spices, sugar, salt, and garlic to a well ground mixture.  a simple electric coffee grinder kept just for this purpose will do
2. Add oil and mix well.
3. Mix the spice mixture with the ground meat until well mixed. You may wish to do this in a food processor or Kitchen Aid with attachment as it will take a couple of minutes.
4. Refrigerate overnight before cooking and serving for best results. 

Makes 12 sausage patties. 

 

Notes: This recipe works for any ground meat you prefer.  Try venison or javelina.

You could modify this, using less sugar and Italian herbs instead of some of the other herbs and make Italian sausage. 

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Chili in August

A few days ago my oldest daughter and friend came by for dinner.  She had called me earlier in the month saying she was craving my chili so we decided it would be nice, even in the heat of August, to cook up a batch.  So I put a pot on using ground venison in place of hamburger.  Yummy!

Ingredients:

2 14.5oz cans mexican style stewed tomatos

1 lrg./32oz can pinto beans

1 15oz can black beans

1 15oz can kidney beans

• (or cook up a batch-o-beans from scratch if you like)

1 lb. hamburger (or ground meat of your choice- I like wild game)

1 yellow onion diced small

2-4 tbls chili powder (to taste)

1 tbls cumin (to taste)

salt and pepper to taste

 

Optional:

substitute 1 Lawry’s chili seasoning package in place of seasonings and ease up on the salt

sauté chopped celery and/or 1 green bell pepper chopped with the onion.

 

Method:

1. brown the hamburger in a large heavey dutch oven (be careful not to over-cook and dry out the meat)
2. add onion just to carmelize slightly.
3. blend the mexican stewed tomatos quickly in a food processor. (looks like salsa)
4. add tomatoes, beans, and seasonings.
5. bring to a slow boil, stir occasionally so as not to scorch on the bottom of the pan.
6. reduce to simmer and cook for 20 min. to incorporate flavors.  
7. taste test for salt and pepper.
8. serve with cornbread or tortillas.

enjoy!

Proverbs 23:1  When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you;

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Javelina in Fire Roasted Chipotlé Stew is HOT!

Well folks, I had originally meant to prepare the Javelina rib roast I defrosted the other day, chile verde style but alas, I had no ortega green chilies in the house and had already gone shopping earlier in the day. I really didn’t want to leave the house yet again, after a very long day of running around town doing errands, so I opted to experiment. I used the next best thing… Fire Roasted Chipotlé Salsa!! 

I was rewarded with a hardy approval from my family and the rifle tote’n hunter that donated the Javelina. We also had some out of town guests, one of which is a 14 year old Japanese student who was brave enough to try the “desert pig” that was placed before him to try. He ate the whole thing even after finishing his hamburger and german potato salad.

My taste-buds and my ego are satisfied.

I do hope that someone out there will try my recipe and send me some feed back on how they liked it. According to “Rifle Tote’n Hunter” this recipe really did work great. It wasn’t gamey and it was quite tender with a kick from the chipotlés.

Next time I’ll try the chile verde recipe but for now Javelina in Fire Roasted Chipotlé Stew is HOT!

Javelina in Fire Roasted Chipotlé Stew 

optional meat choices: turkey, chicken, beef…. oh anything will do if it works in a stew.


 

3 Tbl. good cooking oil
Rib Roast of Javelina (2 full racks)
2- 14.5 oz cans Mexican Stewed Tomatoes
2- cubes Knorr Chicken Bullion with Tomato
2 Tbl. sweet red chili powder
1- 16 oz jar Arriba Fire Roasted Mexican Chipotle Salsa (medium heat)
or similar product if Arriba brand is not available
36 oz water or enough to cover ribs
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream for ganish

Method:
Remove Ribs from butcher wrapper and inspect for debris from the field. Rinse under cool water as needed being careful to clean away dirt, foreign objects or bone shards.

Using a sharp boning knife remove the white membrane that lies along the outside or “skinside” of the ribs. This will facilitate the cleaning process. Cut each rack in half cross wise between the rib bones so you have a total of 4 similar sized sections of ribs.

In a very hot, large dutch oven briefly heat oil until it just begins to smoke. Brown rib sections on all sides turning every few minutes to prevent burning.

Reduce heat to medium and add the remaining ingredients (except sour cream). Bring to a slow boil. Place the dutch oven, covered, in a 200°F oven (or use a crock pot on high heat) for approximately 4-6 hours or until the meat softens and comes away from the bone easily and is easy to shred.

Remove rib sections from sauce and shred the meat into bite sized pieces discarding any bone or cartilage. Return shredded meat to the Chipotlé stew and reheat for serving.

Serve over hot white rice, garnish with sour cream and set out some warm flour tortillas. Enjoy!

Proverbs 12:27 The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting,
But diligence is man’s precious possession.

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Do YOU eat THAT?

Both my daughters have somehow found something they have in common. Their guys like to hunt! Now for some of you that might be normal but if you grew up in Riverside California you don’t usually meet someone who goes hunting on a regular basis… like anytime they can get away into the wild.

“Why did I share that?” you may ask…. Well, I get to reap the benefits. Since I grew up eating a variety of the “unusual” (chicken feet, beef tongue, heart and tripe, kidneys, liver, chicken livers, calves brains,… OK, I’ll stop there) and have had some foreign foods that most Southern California city slickers would balk at (I think I ate dog once, but that’s for another blog) I’m not afraid to try something that’s not on the ordinary menu. And, for the past few months I have had the luxury of pounds and pounds of wild game in my freezer and consequently in my stew pot! YUM!

I wont go on about the benefits of wild game compared to processed, over medicated, hormone pumped meats you’ll find behind your butchers counter… ooops I almost got on my soapbox. 🙂

Here is a list of a few things I’ve had the chance to prepare for friends and family:

Buffaloaf – meatloaf made with ground buffalo
Buffalo Stroganoff– by far everyones favorite
Country Fried Buffalo
Slow Cooker Buffalo Pot Roast
Javelina and Venison Breakfast Sausage
Venison Steaks with crimini mushrooms and garlic
Javelina and Venison Chorizo

So far my freezer has been cold storage for Venison, buffalo and Javelina. I hope to try rabbit, quail and turkey someday, but that really depends on the hunting pleasures of my supplier who, for his own protection, shall remain anonymous. And, NO, I wont give up his identity so don’t ask.

To the hunter: Many kudos for your generosity in sharing your prize with this adventurous cook. You know who you are… come by anytime I’ve got game on the table and have a bite to eat with us!

And for those of you who might be inspired to try something off the beaten path, I’ll post some of my recipes to these wonderful alternatives to commercial meats in the future.

Talk to me about your wild games…

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