Making sausages (and other food)

After the delivery of the kitchenaid grinder and the stuffer during the week, it was time to make sausages. It is not really a process for the squeamish. It took a lot of time and effort, but the result means that I would recommend to everyone to make your own sausages. Robin came to help and join in the fun. We did the sausages, and a few other things for a party last night at a colleague's house.


Llew got some pork shoulder and cut it up into 2cm chunks. Then it got pushed though the grinder. This was the easy bit and it ground up really well, but not mushy.



Llew actually put it through twice, the second time adding the spices (which he had toasted and ground himself).


Then it was time to put some of the mixture in the stuffer. I had the wonderful job of untangling and rinsing the sausage cases. 8 pieces totalling 50 feet. And this was the real stuff if you know what I mean, nothing human made.


So once the meat was in and the case was on and tied, it was pushing time!


This is what comes out the other end. Innuendos? What innuendos?


The stuffer was really hard to push. Probably because it goes from a diameter of 80mm down to 15mm quite steeply. We ended up putting it on a chair to get better leverage. Llew and Robin took turns while I supervised the other end. It came out nice and evenly and the casings worked well. They never tore or got a hole in them.


After about an hour, it was all done. This is the first completed one. We did 5 lengths all up. Llew then pricked and poached them and then dry fried them in a pan.

Unfortunately, by this stage we were running late and we were being picked up for the party and so didn't get a photo of the completed product. To look at you wouldn't know they were home-made. To taste you would. They were wonderful and all got eaten.


The other food that we made were puff rolls with home-made sun dried tomato paste and refried bean and smoked jalepino paste. They were a hit and all went.


Also a pavlova (of course using the kitchenaid). It mixed perfectly and was nice and stiff, but unfortunately again, we were running late so couldn't let it cool properly so it collapsed a bit. We also did not get a photo, but someone had to lick the beater and the bowl!!!


At the party, Llew covered it with cream (pre-whipped in the kitchenaid) and strawberries, banana, and kiwifruit. It was a huge hit too and nearly all went. People were a bit full. Remember that everyone brought a dish, so there was miles of food.