Liver sausage and other names

Liver sausage. Liver. Just the word makes some people uncomfortable, whereas others may refer to the belly or the loin or the ham with delicious anticipation. I have always liked liver, as kid I remember smooshing chicken liver pate on club crackers at Christmas parties. Fat and unami whipped together in a spreadable paste, what's not to love?

I have several posts about making liver sausage/pate. In this episode I do a sliceable liver sausage, and I'll show you a restaurant trick of forming sausages with plastic wrap.



Liver Sausage

Yield : 4 1/2 pounds more than plenty for a party. It freezes uncooked very nicely.

900 g (2lbs) Pork shoulder cut up
650 g (1-1/2lbs) Pork liver cut up
450 g (1 lb) Pork fat cut up

30g salt
4 g pink salt
7g white pepper
5g mustard seed
1g mace

20g garlic
2g fresh bay

100 ml beer

Run the meats, or as the pros say, proteins, through the grinder. spread it out on lined baking sheet and throw it in the freezer for 20 minutes.

In the meantime combine the salts and spices and and process them in the spice grinder.

Mince the garlic and set aside. BTW Last month, I saw the video of how to peel garlic in ten seconds, it works. It claims you don't need special equipment, but I would recommend getting some stainless bowls, they're cheap. Find them at a restaurant supply store or K-Mart. Here's the video from Saveur Magazine.

Back to the recipe.

Remove the veins and pulverize the fresh bay leaves. Set aside. I don't recommend using dried. Go buy a bay tree.

The 20 minutes is up on the meats in the freezer, now that it's a little crunchy run it though the grinder again. Now using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, or a really big spoon, beat in, one at a time, the spices, the herbs and the beer. Continue to mix until the pate comes together about a minute or two.



A word about beer. In the past I have used a white wine or a Fino in my liver sausage. A boozy beer like an IPA or a barley wine works really well here. As I have mentioned before it is not the beer flavor (which is important) but the alcohol that grabs and amps the flavors in our mixture. Give it a try, or eliminate the booze altogether and use water.



Roulades, torchons oh my.

When I first started prepping at the gastro-brew-pub, the chef had a chicken skin torchon on the menu. I had never heard of a torchon as a preparation (it's French for kitchen towel, I have many torchons in my kitchen), furthermore a chicken skin rolled is a galantine, right? That evening I raced through all my old cookbooks, Larousse, Escoffier, I could not find any reference to torchon. On the Internet I found the French Laundry, were they took foie gras rolled it in a kitchen towel twisted tight and poached it. Foie gras au torchon. Whatever, food names always sound more interesting in French.



When a new chef came on, he had us roll pate in plastic; a roulade, one cook said. Uh well sort of...A torchon, yeah I guess...with all the cooking school training between us we never came up with the term for rolling sausage in plastic. Whatever the name, it's a good method to make sausage with out casings, it just requires a trip to the restaurant supply for a big roll of plastic. I used an 18" roll.



In these pictures I made 1lb packages, but I suggest you start with 225g (8 oz) portions. wipe down the counter with a damp cloth and lay out the plastic. Make an log on the middle of the film. Start rolling. pull the ends taught, squeeze the middle, keep rolling.



I often got in trouble for not rolling enough plastic. So when you think you have done plenty, just roll a little bit more.



Pull off a long length of plastic to tie off an end. Repeat for the other side.



Now it gets interesting. If you have a partner, tightening the rolls is easy, but solo works too. Using a sausage pricker or a cake tester make some holes in the plastic, pay close attention to air pockets, so that they can get squeezed out.





Working in a team, one person holds the package vertically and twists it tight while the other makes knots. In the solo version, the package lays flat and the series of knots on both ends makes the roll tighter and tighter. Just keep putting one knot on top of the other.



At this point you could throw the sausage rolls into the freezer and cook them off as needed. For cooking, make sure they are fully thawed, and poach in a water bath for 25-30 minutes or to when the internal temperature reaches 145F.



By upping the proportion of pork and lowering the amount of fat, I get a nice sliceable liver sausage. Perfect for the holiday smorgasbord. Give it a try.



Cheers.

Caul of May

Recipes (sorta)

Crépinettes des volailes et épinards

Gayettes de Provence

May came and went in a wink, but this time I headed the call of the poppy. May 1998 I was in France for the first time. The ditches in SW France were clogged with these red weeds. I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to live anywhere else. Superlative proclomations aside, I managed to land in the Chicago Southland and in our little suburban garden I wanted to grow poppies. Year after year the rabbits took care to foil my French fantasies until this year: Four fine pops.

Alas the poppies remind me of recipe that has watched May come a go several times. My mom had a copy of Colors of Provence, from the library. In it I found recipe calling for a mixture of pork and poppy greens wrapped in caul fat called calliettes. The author was kind enough for those of us without easy access to young shoots to subsitute any early green such as chard or spinach. I thought what a perfect way to celebrate Spring, sausage and greens wrapped wrapped in fat. But wait, what's caul fat?



The Oxford Companion immediatelty turns to Jane Grigson to describe caul:

"The caul is a large web of fat which encloses the intestines. It is not the fattly frill called mudgeon or mesentery that actually holds the intestines together - what the French call fraise - but a cloth like semi-transparent sheet about a metre square, or a little less. If you see it at all in a butcher's shop, it will most likely be hanging in a greyish-yellowy droop, looking like a worn out dishcloth. Unappetising. Something you would never think of asking for unless you knew its value and usefulness..."

Ask.

I stopped by my local abattoir (T&J Meat Packing, Chicago Heights) and nervously asked. The man behind the counter twisted a doubtful wince then walked into the back. You see I have been going here for several years and have never seen caul in the cases, I didn't want to make him go in the back...He returned with what looked like a knot of kitchen twine with a piece of shoe leather attached. I said, "Yeah that looks like it." He said "Ok, you want the spleen (the shoe leather)?" Uh no, thanks.



Calliettes, Crépinettes, Gayettes, oh my.

While I was sure the recipe from Colors was pure gold, I wanted to find other recipes. I quickly learned that caillettes was part of a larger family of fat wrapped treats including crépinettes, gayettes and boulettes. At this point I will not claim to be an authority on what is what, but the different names seem to be based on the size and shape of the sausage. Caillettes, French for bird's eggs are small and round, Crépinettes are larger, flat and either round or triangular, Gayettes rectangular bricks and boulettes small like large bullets. I'm sure some Franco-Foodie nerd could ring in and school me on the exact differences but that's all I could find. Pork and Sons was the only other cookbook I could find with a caillettes recipe, but all my other sources were lousy with Crépinette recipes so I started there.



If you are to believe old French cookbooks, the crépinette can be made up a multitude of ways but it is always served with a puréed (pronounced, mashed) potatoes. I liked Pork and Sons suggestion of a shreaded potato cake so I went with that. I used Chicken and spinach for my first crépinette. Here are the quantities I used:

10oz (285g) of Spinach
1 medium yellow onion chopped
1 lb (455g) Chicken ground
1t (7g) Salt
2g White pepper
2g brown mustard seed
2g coriander
5g milk powder







First I cooked down the spinach and onion in a little butter, then I wrung out all the moisture I could out of the cooked spinach mixture.

I combined the spinach and onion with the rest of the ingredients and beat them a bit with the paddle on my stand mixer.



I cut the caul in to 5 x 5 squares and put a few of ounces of the mixture in the middle.



Once wrapped, I dusted the packages with a little flour, browned them in a pan, and finished them in a hot oven.



Yield: 8 Crépinettes

Note: Caul, as I mentioned, comes by the fist, one will suffice for this recipe, but try to get a couple in case they are busted up. I never paid never more than sixty cents a pound for this throw away item, but then not everyone lives as close as I do to the Heights. Once you get your caul, soak it in several changes of water, it will keep in the fridge, in water, for a couple of weeks.



Leftover crépinette is very good for lunch



Gayettes de Provence



In her book Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery, Grigson suggests a recipe for Gayettes de Provence, hey that's liver pâté wrapped in caul, I got a recipe for that, yo. Both Grigson and Larousse romanticize the gayette as a French picnic staple smeared on bread with a bit of butter and mustard. (If that's not love, I don't know what is.)



Ok before I give this next recipe I have to apologize. I didn't work out a yield, and ended up with a lot of pâté. I used maybe two cauls then stuffed the rest into a casings. But I will give you this recipe anyway just because it tastes so darn good. Once made you can put this pâté in caul or casings or even a loaf pan, it doesn't really matter, in the end it ends up smooshed on bread.

Gayette de provence (de MAC) BETA

1.5 lb liver
1.5 lb Pork shoulder
1 lb Pork fat
1/2 lb pork heart (or just use more liver)
1/2 lb ice crushed

32g salt
10g white pepper, ground
3g ginger ground
3g mustard ground
2g coriander ground
1g mace ground

15g garlic minced

Fresh herbs: Thyme, parsley, hyssop, TT

To make this sausage, I took and emulsified approach. I coursely ground the liver, shoulder, heart and fat separately. I combined the shoulder, heart, fat and ice on a sheet tray and put it into the freezer until crunchy.







I put the liver into the mixing bowl the ground the chilled mixture through the fine plate on top.



Using the paddle I beat this mixture for a few minutes. During this time I added all the other spices.



I formed the gayettes into logs and wrapped them in caul.





Cook them 15-20 minutes in the oven to an internal temp of 155F. Chill in an ice bath then refrigerate until ready to use.







Gayette my favorite way, for breakfast.



Oh May where have you gone? Time to eat.

Cheers.

References (all links to WorldCat, so you can find these books at a library near you)

Colors of Provence by Beihn

The Oxford Companion by Davidson

Pork and Sons by Reynaud

Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery by Grigson

Larousse by Montagné

French Provincial Cooking by David

Pâté Maison

Dear Mom:

I'm sorry we didn't get to make sausage this weekend. But boy did we get a lot of stuff done. Tell Dad thanks for helping finish the wall and for running the gas line. The wall is still standing, I still cannot believe we found all this stone in our yard.



Yesterday I made a pâté out of the chicken livers. Pâté is French for paste, and as a culinary term it could be a dough formula, or meat pie, or as in this case a spreadable paste formed in a terrine.



I had a little over a pound (520g) of chicken livers, along with about 9 ounces (260g) of fat from the smoked ham and a shallot that weighed 2 ounces (60g)

I minced and sauteed the shallot in a little butter then added maybe 2T (30ml) of Fino and cooked it dry (au sec). I chilled the cooked shallots.

Meanwhile I minced the ham fat in the cuisinart added two cold eggs, pulsed, added the chicken livers (rinsed and drained first), pulsed, then added shallots and some seasoning: Salt 1-1/2t (10g), Black pepper 1t (3g), quatre épices 1 1/2t (6g), fresh ground mustard seed 1/2t (2g), and fresh ground coriander 1 t (2g).



I gave that all a quick spin in the food processor then poured it into a muslin lined pan. Topped with fresh bay leaves I cooked the mixture in a water bath in a 325F oven. About forty minutes later the internal temp read 165F, I set it out to cool. I chilled it overnight and had some for breakfast this morning.



Any there you go, a little love on toast. I hope you have nice week thanks and again for coming to visit.

I love you.
Andrew

Pound for pound

Liver Sausage, the third time's the charm. August in Columbus.

"I've never been more ready in my entire life

To do this right now

Never

It's all been leading up to this moment

All right now right here

My whole life..

Right here"

Two Friday's ago me and the boys were rolling Northbound on Governor's Highway. At the time I was very down on the Southland, because I had been driving to all corner's of this huge sud-surbopolis looking for something I couldn't find. In the strip mall at the corner of Vollmer I was surprised to see what looked like a mini-circus set up in the lot. It was the Farmer's market in Olympia Fields. I promised the boys they could pat the pony at the petting zoo as I wheeled around to the lot. Amongst the cheese stand, the Labriola bread table and many vegetable vendors, I found the Dickman's. They raise pasture fed poultry, Bonne Femme, found them last year for our Thanksgiving turkey, but I didn't know they worked the market circuit. From their stand the Dickmans sell Chickens, eggs, and other assorted products. Mr Dickman told me they take birds to the processor about every three weeks, and that following Monday was processing day. They would have fresh Chicken all that week. At the time, I was excited, but I was heading out of town and I would not be able to go to Olympia Fields the following Friday. I went home and made mayonnaise with the eggs I bought. Then over the weekend, it hit me, so on Monday I called, and on the phone Mrs. Dickman answered: "Yeah I have chicken livers, we are just heading back from the processor now, how much are you looking for?"

On Tuesday, I went to the farmer's market in Richton Park and picked up about two pounds of fresh, grass fed, chicken livers.

Next stop le potager de saucisson.

Thyme

Fresh bay leaf

Hyssop

Garlic

I didn't use a book on this one, so feel free to adjust for taste.

MAC's Herbed Liver Sausage

921 g (about 2 lbs.) Fresh pasture fed chicken livers

580 g Pork shoulder, diced

160 g Pork fat (from shoulder), diced

32 g Salt

9 g Quatre-épices (white pepper, nutmeg, ginger, clove)

4 g White peppercorns

3 g (1 large clove) garlic, minced

1 g Fresh thyme, chopped

4 Fresh bay leaves, veins removed, minced

the leaves from 1 stem of Hyssop, chopped

2 large cold eggs

25 ml Fino (dry white wine sherry)

Hog Casings

I started out rinsing the livers, the setting them in a colander, over a bowl to drain in the fridge for an hour. I ground the peppercorns fine and combined them with the other spices (not herbs)and salt and mixed them with the cubed pork and pork fat.

Since the day was hot and I needed to keep my ingredients cold, I chilled the grinder attachment and the bowl in the freezer then set the bowl in ice while grinding. I ground the pork mixture first then the livers. I used the small grinding plate.

Using the paddle attachment, I added the herbs, the eggs, and the fino, and mixed until it all came together about two minutes. The consistency is a little runny, but it will be okay.

I stuffed them into hog casings. I suppose you could pack the mixture into a terrine (pronounced loaf pan), but I like the look and the portability of the casing.

I decided to poach the sausage in the oven. I used these really cool roasting pans I got from IKEA . I preheated the oven to 325F., then filled the pan to just under the rack with boiling water. I inserted a temp probe and inverted another pan on top and into the oven.

After about forty minutes the internal temperature read 165F., time for the ice bath.

After about 20 minutes on ice I put the sausage (Still in the rack pan) in the fridge to rest, uncovered, overnight.

The next day I put the Sausage into a Ziploc, because it was time to go to Columbus. As I have mentioned in previous posts, August is our favorite time to go to Columbus. Mom and Dad (and Buzz) have been working on the South side of the house and It has gone from spooky-no-doorbell haunted house to respectable country estate (in the middle of Clintonville).

The kids and Grandpa Bob stayed in the pool the whole time.

Mom made chicken tikka marsala from this month's Cook's Illustrated, and nan.

Once again I had to use a knife to open the sparkling wine (I would be happy to do this at your next party).

For serving the liver sausage, grab some bread, cut desired amount of pâté, squeeze from casing, spread on bread. Isle of Mull Cheddar from Katzinger's makes a nice accompaniment.

Cheers.