Homemade Sausage

*To the veggies/vegan leaning folks on WFDM - I hope you aren't sicked out by some meat processing photos.
I learned a bunch of new things about sausage: you can use the meat without casing and eat it like a breakfast patty, in sauce or on pizza, OR you can put the filling in the casing, giving you brats or italian sausage or whatever. The casings for these came from Kramarczuk's in Northeast. If you want to make sausage but not worry about meat grinders or casings, you can make these sausages with a food processor. Make extra and freeze patties until you want to eat them.

The first recipe is from Savoring the Seasons (Lucia's cookbook), and is called "Uncle Byron's Game Sausage." It is sweeter, with fresh parsley and onions, and not as spicy as the second one, which we'll just call "Sage Sausage" due to the predominant sage flavor (along with a random selection of spices from the spice drawer). I used a venison/bacon combo in these because My Charming Companion has an abundant supply of venison, but certainly pork is more traditional.

Uncle Byron's Game Sausage *makes 4 pounds
3 lbs venison/game meat
1 lb bacon
2 c. peeled, finely chopped onions
1 red bell pepper, seeded, deveined, finely chopped
1 c. finely chopped parsley
2 T. finely chopped garlic
2 T. seeded, finely chopped fresh hot chili peppers
2 t. crushed, dried hot pepper
2 t. dried thyme
1/4 c. fennel seed
1/2 t. allspice
1 T. salt
Coarsely grind meat, bacon, and onion in a food processor or meat grinder. Turn into a bowl and mix together remaining ingredients, using your hands if needed, until the seasonings/flavors are evenly distributed. To cook: shape into patties and saute or grill until middle is not pink or crumble a large portion into a skillet and cook.

Sage Sausage
6 lbs venison
2 lbs bacon
3 T. sage
2 T. salt
2 t. pepper
1/4 c. fennel seed
3 heads garlic, finely chopped
2 T. paprika
1 t. cayenne
1 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. coriander
Prepare same as above!