Monday in May

Fruilian Sausage with Asparagus Risotto.

Sorry I missed you last week, me and the boys went to Columbus while the Bonne Femme was in the UK conducting some business (she brought me some snappy kitchen linens from Fortnum & Mason, every boy's dream huh?).

The first week of May is a good time to get away from Chicago, Spring in the Windy had sputtered and the breeze turned off Lake drawing a cold wind over sleepy buds causing them to hit the snooze button. Meanwhile in Columbus, a Provence to Chicago's Paris on the Prairie, The sorrel is already going to seed and the poppies are about to pop. With the good weather and the bug less evenings, It's time to have our first outdoor dinner party. Hey, how about some sausage?

I decided I to make Fruilian Sausage again. I first wrote about it in New Stuffer New Sausage Recipe. I like this sausage a lot because it combines ingredients of the pan-Italian fresh sausage with ingredients that would be associated with a German link. We also had a lot of fun making it.

photo credit harryspiderman

I started with the recipe by Brian (My Man in the Oranges) and added some quatre épices. Here's the ingredient list:

5 lb Pork shoulder, cubed

40g Salt

9 g black peppercorns

8 g whole coriander

8 g whole mustard seeds

20 juniper berries

1 g ground clove

1 g ground ginger

less than a gram of grated nutmeg

235 ml chilled white wine.

I toasted the coriander and the mustard in a dry skillet, then combined them with the peppercorns, juniper berries and ran them though the spice mill. Mix the spices plus the salt and ground spices with the pork, let the mixture chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Grind through the small plate then using the paddle attachment or a really big spoon, stir in the chilled wine and continue to mix until it starts to come together, about one minute. Stuff into casings.

OK, once the sausage is set for the grill, we work on the asparagus risotto. I got the recpice from the May 2nd New York Times.

Mom made a strawberry-rhubarb pie. Let's get this party started.

Have you ever used a knife to pop open a bottle of prosecco? Yeah, me neither. After several timid tries and some coaching from Grandma, we got to drinkin.

Good eatin on a Monday night in May. Stay tuned the week just got started. We've got more sausage from Columbus coming up.

Cheers.