I'm bi-vegetarian.

[madbaker]

Lamb Merguez

2 lbs lamb shoulder, diced (I used fresh lamb stew meat from the lamb we bought from the curvy upstairs neighbor's cousin)
1/2 lb pork back fat, diced (I used a combination of lamb fat from above and ham fat)
4 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp paprika (for these two I used two seeded paprika peppers instead)
18 grams garlic
3/4 cup diced roasted bellpeppers
3/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp oregano

Grind meat, fat, garlic and peppers together. Mix all together thoroughly. Stuff into casings. Cook.

What worked: I hot-smoked these.
Wow. This fit my mental conception of what merguez is supposed to be: faintly lamby, spicy, quite juicy from the lamb and the bellpeppers, and smoky from the cooking process. The paprika peppers from our CSA farmers put the sausage on the edge of spice I like - lip-tingling, but not so much that the other flavors can't be tasted. It went very well with couscous and sauteed bellpeppers and onions.

Yum. It got two thumbs up from the neighbors, who authorized this message.

What didn't: Crisis narrowly averted when I realized that the recipe called for 18 grams of garlic, not 18 ounces. Recipes shouldn't jump back and forth between units of measurement.

Will I make it again? A couple years ago for a Resolution Recipe (!) I made a different Merguez recipe which I liked but never made again. This one hit all the right notes, so if I make a merguez again it'll be this one.

Oh, and a few bonus points for getting the header and cut-tag reference.

Comments

I told the barber I'd like a hard man.

[lifeofglamour.livejournal.com]

Where can I redeem my bonus points?

A redeeming feature

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Send in the points to the address provided on the punchcard.

[misagillian.livejournal.com]

If I had been drinking anything, I'd probably have spit all over my keyboard. :)

[misagillian.livejournal.com]

re: the cut tag / header reference, not the lovely recipe.