Faux Focus

I was going to proselytize on focused work today.  Something that I recently realized is quite important to me and almost non-existent and un-attainable in my current employment.  I’m beginning to understand that, for me, focused work is one of the cornerstones of really enjoying my time.  I was gonna talk about that....but I’m not very focused this morning so I thought I’d share a couple of recipes from the breakfast cookbook I’ve been working on.

Evernote has been a godsend for collecting recipes.  I can’t recommend it enough.

Knob Lick Pork Sausage

Adapted from Bruce Aidells' Kentucky Style Pork Sausage

Ingredients:

• 3# pork butt (include all fat) - OR - 2# pork butt and 1# back fat
• 1½ T. kosher salt
• 1 T. black pepper
• 1 T. ground sage
• 1 t. ground cayenne pepper
• 1½ t. ground coriander
• ½ t. grated nutmeg
• ½ c. water (optional, will help if putting into casing)

Method:

Cut pork (and back fat if using) into ¾" pieces, strips or cubes or whatever is small enough to pass through the feed tube of your grinder.  Mix the rest of the ingredients together and then massage into the pork.  Refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.  When you put the meat into the fridge to soak up the spices, put the pieces of your grinder into the freezer (see note.)

After the overnight rest, put the mixture into the freezer for 15-30 minutes and then grind the mixture with the large hole (usually ⅜") plate.  If you notice the fat starting to melt, stop immediately and put everything (meat and grinder parts) into the freezer for 15-30 minutes.  When fully ground fry a small patty of the sausage and taste it to see if any seasonings need adjusting.  Regrind the sausage with a smaller plate if you wish.

Notes:

Ultimately its up to you how fine you want your sausage ground.  The same recipe can be ground differently for different purposes.

If you plan on freezing some sausage for later use (up to 3 months in the freezer) you should consider increasing the spices.  In my experience the freezer will mute the spice level.

Keep the parts to your grinder as cold as you can by putting them in the freezer whenever they are not in use.  Use a large freezer bag to keep them from contaminating anything in your chill chest.  

I wish I had some photos to go along with these.  I follow several cooking/food porn blogs who do have great photos to punctuate their posts:

David Lebovitz - Testing this one.  US expatriate chef in France.

Joy the Baker - Required reading for recipes and the human experience.

Judicial Peach - Attorneys think they can do anything.  

Marge Perry’s A Sweet and Savory Life - Cooking Light contributor.

simply breakfast - Mostly photos.  Fantastic ones.

the meaning of pie - I like pie.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Fantastic home recipes.  Photos of most all steps in the recipes.  The definition of the genre to me.

smitten kitchen - Another definer of genre, from the city point of view.

Sweet Maria’s Coffee Listings - I roast my own coffee from time to time, in a hot air popcorn popper.  Good fun and great coffee.

Had a version of this next one in Portland at Tasty n Son’s restaurant.  Eyeopening experience.  Everything we ate that morning was stand-out stellar.  Even the bacon cheeseburger my daughter ordered.  I made the version below and it comes very, very close.

Shashuka

From Serious Eats

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, small dice
• 3 bell peppers, roasted, peeled, and cut into bite sized chunks
• 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 pound merguez sausage, sliced 1/2-inch thick
• 1 tablespoon ras el hanout
• 1 teaspoon Spanish sweet smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 fifteen-ounce cans fire-roasted tomatoes
• 8 extra-large eggs
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro, stems included
• 2 tablespoons harissa (optional)
• Warm crusty bread, for serving

Method:

In a large (12-inch) pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and peppers and cook, stirring occassionally, until golden, then add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the merguez sausage slices and cook for a few more minutes, until almost cooked through.

Lower the heat to medium-low and add the paprika, cumin, ras el hanout, and salt. Cook until the spices marry and lightly toast, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil, then simmer for a few minutes until thickened.

Crack the eggs into the sauce and cover. Simmer gently until the whites are set and the yolk is still runny.

Spoon some sauce into shallow bowls and top with the eggs. Sprinkle with cilantro and, if desired, dollop with a little harissa. Serve with the bread.