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madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Lombard Sausages.
2 pounds cooked poultry meat
1 pound raw pork shoulder butt
1/2 ounces raw pork back fat
4 teaspoons "Fine Spices" mixture (see below) (should be about 3 Tbsp, I think)
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon whole black pepper
1/2 teaspoon curing salt #2
1/4 teaspoon Mold-600 Bactoferm Sausage Mould
1/2 cup distilled water
casings: beef middles
white wine and water
Grind the meats and chop the fat, then mix together. Stir in the spices and curing salt #2; continue to mix until the meat becomes tacky. Wash the casings thoroughly and knot the bottom of each casing used. Stuff and tie off at six-inch lengths, piercing with a needle as necessary to fill evenly. Knot to finish.
Cold smoke in a very thin smoke for 2-3 hours. Half an hour before removing the sausages from the smoke, whisk together the Bactoferm Mould culture and the distilled water. Let sit for 30 minutes to activate. Coat the sausages with the mixture and then hang them in a cool (50-60ยบ Fahrenheit) space to dry for 2-4 weeks. When ready to cook, soak in fresh water for (time). Braise the sausages in half wine and water sufficient to 1/3 the sausage height until cooked, approximately (time).
I used duck breast for the river bird meat as it is cheaper and more readily available than the others listed. Pork back fat is the preferred lard for modern sausage making. I added in curing salt #2 for safety reasons; it helps prevent botulism bacteria from forming during the curing process and does not noticeably change the flavors. The Bactoferm sausage mold is a commercial culture of harmless edible mold used in modern processes to help prevent more toxic molds from forming; it also adds flavor and aids in the drying process.
For the "fine spices" I used a mixture from the same work as cited in Wheaton:
Sources
Anonymous; Ariane Helou trans. Livre Fort Excellent. Lyon, 1542. Facsimile copy.
Marianski, Stanley, and Adam Marianski. Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages. Seminole, FL: Bookmagic, 2010. ISBN 978-0982426739.
Wheaton, Barbara Ketcham. Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. ISBN 0-684-81857-4.
What worked: Since I dipped them in Bactoferm, they didn't instantly mold over and have to be thrown away like last time.
What didn't: However... Sadly, these were hanging during three weeks of solid storms. They developed a bit of green mold a couple times - despite the Bactoferm! I removed it with a salt scrub, but I think they probably also need to smoke longer - like for one week. I tried putting them back in to smoke but this weakened the casings after their previous hang time, and when we re-hung them they simply ripped out. So they aren't as dry as they should be.
The recipe calls for beef bungs (which are huge). As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
ken_albala commented, "...like a huge turkey bologna, if you've ever had the misfortune to eat such a thing. And it should dry really solid I'm guessing, which is why it's soaked and cooked in water and wine so long. I'm picturing something like a little football in shape. I think it would be the equivalent of several weeks in fairly cold smoke so it becomes dry and hard as a rock. That's the only way I can imagine this working."
Finally, how did they taste? Meh. Quite bland; given the braising I think I'll more than double the spices. The texture was almost liver-y, which was odd. I assume it's because of the duck meat, although I was thinking I need to up the proportion of duck from 4/7 to 6/9. I suspect that this was used as an ingredient and not a main dish. I have part of one braised up which I will cook with greens this week. The remaining half-dozen will sit in the bottom of the fridge to dry out further, then get used similarly. They might work okay in a stew or as part of a cassoulet.
Will I make it again? I've got some substantial work to do before I can consider this done. Yes, but I won't be in a hurry and it may be in a year or so, when I finish up the current batch.
Take cooked meat of capons, woodcocks, partridges, or river birds, and a bit of pork with rich lard to enrich it. Chop all well together, season with fine spices and salt and some whole round pepper, then make your sausages in good-sized beef bungs, well cleaned, about half a foot long as full as you can make them. And put them to dry outside the chimney away from the fire, and they will keep two or three years, raw. And they must be soaked then set to cook in water and wine for a long time. (Livre Fort Excellent, 1542)
2 pounds cooked poultry meat
1 pound raw pork shoulder butt
1/2 ounces raw pork back fat
4 teaspoons "Fine Spices" mixture (see below) (should be about 3 Tbsp, I think)
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon whole black pepper
1/2 teaspoon curing salt #2
1/4 teaspoon Mold-600 Bactoferm Sausage Mould
1/2 cup distilled water
casings: beef middles
white wine and water
Grind the meats and chop the fat, then mix together. Stir in the spices and curing salt #2; continue to mix until the meat becomes tacky. Wash the casings thoroughly and knot the bottom of each casing used. Stuff and tie off at six-inch lengths, piercing with a needle as necessary to fill evenly. Knot to finish.
Cold smoke in a very thin smoke for 2-3 hours. Half an hour before removing the sausages from the smoke, whisk together the Bactoferm Mould culture and the distilled water. Let sit for 30 minutes to activate. Coat the sausages with the mixture and then hang them in a cool (50-60ยบ Fahrenheit) space to dry for 2-4 weeks. When ready to cook, soak in fresh water for (time). Braise the sausages in half wine and water sufficient to 1/3 the sausage height until cooked, approximately (time).
I used duck breast for the river bird meat as it is cheaper and more readily available than the others listed. Pork back fat is the preferred lard for modern sausage making. I added in curing salt #2 for safety reasons; it helps prevent botulism bacteria from forming during the curing process and does not noticeably change the flavors. The Bactoferm sausage mold is a commercial culture of harmless edible mold used in modern processes to help prevent more toxic molds from forming; it also adds flavor and aids in the drying process.
For the "fine spices" I used a mixture from the same work as cited in Wheaton:
Menues espices. Prenez z iiij de Gingembre z iiii de canella z ii de poyure rond z I de poyure long ij de noix de muscade z i de cloux de Giroffle z i de Graine de paradis z i de muscade z i de Garingal et i le tout mis en pouldre et passes par lesset.(Take four ounces ginger, four ounces cinnamon, two ounces round pepper, one ounce long pepper, two ounces nutmeg, one ounce cloves, one ounce grains of paradise, one ounce mace, one ounce galingale, and make it all into powder and pass it through the sifter.)
Sources
Anonymous; Ariane Helou trans. Livre Fort Excellent. Lyon, 1542. Facsimile copy.
Marianski, Stanley, and Adam Marianski. Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages. Seminole, FL: Bookmagic, 2010. ISBN 978-0982426739.
Wheaton, Barbara Ketcham. Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. ISBN 0-684-81857-4.
What worked: Since I dipped them in Bactoferm, they didn't instantly mold over and have to be thrown away like last time.
What didn't: However... Sadly, these were hanging during three weeks of solid storms. They developed a bit of green mold a couple times - despite the Bactoferm! I removed it with a salt scrub, but I think they probably also need to smoke longer - like for one week. I tried putting them back in to smoke but this weakened the casings after their previous hang time, and when we re-hung them they simply ripped out. So they aren't as dry as they should be.
The recipe calls for beef bungs (which are huge). As
ken_albala commented, "...like a huge turkey bologna, if you've ever had the misfortune to eat such a thing. And it should dry really solid I'm guessing, which is why it's soaked and cooked in water and wine so long. I'm picturing something like a little football in shape. I think it would be the equivalent of several weeks in fairly cold smoke so it becomes dry and hard as a rock. That's the only way I can imagine this working."Finally, how did they taste? Meh. Quite bland; given the braising I think I'll more than double the spices. The texture was almost liver-y, which was odd. I assume it's because of the duck meat, although I was thinking I need to up the proportion of duck from 4/7 to 6/9. I suspect that this was used as an ingredient and not a main dish. I have part of one braised up which I will cook with greens this week. The remaining half-dozen will sit in the bottom of the fridge to dry out further, then get used similarly. They might work okay in a stew or as part of a cassoulet.
Will I make it again? I've got some substantial work to do before I can consider this done. Yes, but I won't be in a hurry and it may be in a year or so, when I finish up the current batch.
