Baked Beans gobble up leftover Sausage

If you flip back a few posts, you'll see we had a sausage extravaganza on the weekend. And that means leftover sausage. My husband woke up the next morning with baked beans on his lips. Well, not literally, but he was planting the request firmly in the kitchen side of my brain.

(pictured: ready for the oven.)

So baked beans it was.

I always start with dry beans. We have a pint sized slow cooker that's just right for cooking small amounts of beans. So in went 1.5 cups of beans, 1/4 onion, 1 big carrot (in pieces) and a bay leaf. Cover with water and 4-5 hours later, it's soft beans. (OK, I did this twice cause I wanted a big batch.)

Meanwhile, sauté some chopped bacon (4-5 slices) and onion (1/2) until cooked.

Mix the cooked beans (and any remaining water) with:
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
several grinds of pepper
the cooked bacon-onion melange
oodles of sliced leftover sausage
water not quite to cover

Pour into a bean pot (or two small bean pots) and bake covered at 325F for 1.5 hours. Take off the lid. If the beans are too runny, bake longer, until you have achieved the richness and thickness and flavourfulness that screams "EAT ME".

Then eat me, er, them.

Saskatchewan Sausage Extravganza

We do sausage very well in Saskatchewan, and yesterday we even made our own - a fennel laced Italian sausage. Altogether, we grilled about 10 different Saskatchewan-made sausages. We bought some beer and invited some friends. Now, I'd call that a party!!

Soup as Medicine

Why does a good brothy soup make my nose run? Even when I don't have a cold? It feels so therapeutic, cleansing, healthy.

If I did have a head cold, I'd want a bowl of this soup. It's an old Polish recipe that can be made entirely with Saskatchewan ingredients. Tip: I often use Kissel sauerkraut, made at Lumsden and sold in the produce section of bigger grocery stores.

 

Bigos
This soup is particularly suited to using leftover meat of any sort.

1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 loose cup dried mushrooms (I used chanterelle)
1/4 cup canola oil (or drippings from a roast)
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 lb bacon, chopped
4 cooked farmer's sausages, sliced (I used leftover bratwurst and pork roast)
10 frozen tomatoes, thawed (I used fresh - it's that time of year)
1/2 medium cabbage head, shaved
1/2 lb sauerkraut
2 tbsp plum jam (or other thick jam)

Pour the boiling water over the mushrooms and leave to soften.

Heat the oil in a stew pot. Cook the onions and garlic until soft. Stir in the paprika, salt and pepper. Add the bacon and garlic. When the bacon and onions are fully cooked, add the meat, tomatoes, cabbage, sauerkraut, mushrooms and mushroom water. Add enough cold water to just about cover the contents of the pot. Place the lid and simmer for several hours, until the cabbage is meltingly cooked. Stir in plum jam and cook until melted.

Like all soups and stews, bigos gets better every time you cool and reheat it, so plan to eat it over a few days. Or as long as your cold lasts.

Sausage 101

Ralph's dad was a butcher so he's got sausage in his blood. Well, at least in his stomach. As do we! So when Ralph invited us to his house to make sausage, we where there with beer.

Filling the natural casing with Italian-spiced ground pork and nothing else (no filler, fake smoke, nitrites, etc.)

On the grill

Delicious on a bun with sautéed peppers, oniond and mustard.

The thing is, I have all the equipment for making sausage but I never do. That has got the change!

I smell more homemade sausage grilling in my future.

Salami Love

Do not - I repeat Do Not - drive between Saskatoon and Humboldt without stopping in the town of Bruno to buy sausage at the Pulvermacher grocery store.

Jerome and Peter Pulvermacher make sausage the same way their grandfather did when he came to Canada 100+ years ago.

Today I'm loving their salami, which is made the old traditional way by naturally fermenting the meat. Their pepperoni is also worth the trip. It's as far from that fat greasy mass-produced pizza pepperoni as one can get. I think I'll head to the fridge right now for a little pepperoni love...

Sausage in the News

I love King of the Koubassa, the annual sausage judging extravaganza in Saskatoon. But I think I love this news coverage even more.

Warning, this news clip contains suggestive language that might not be suitable for children. Watch...

Tips for a successful King of the Koubassa

1) Arrive early and get a table near the koubassa.

2) Go with friends (or make friends) to plan a sausage strategy for your table.

3) Assign each person two numbers (say, sausages 1 & 2) -- get enough of these sausages to share with everyone in your group.

4) Don't forget to assign someone to get napkins and pickles for everyone.

5) Score each sausage as you go along, picking two or three favourites.

6) Retaste your top favourites to narrow it down to one. Yes, it's difficult, but sausage supremacy depends on your diligence and perseverance.

7) Remember the sausage you loved the most. Even if it doesn't win the contest, it'll be a winner in your house every time you serve it!

King of the Koubassa

If you love koubassa like I love koubassa, you've got to attend King of the Koubassa -- the annual blind taste taste and voter's choice sausage awards extravaganza held every February in Saskatoon.

You might call it the Oscars of the sausage world -- but no, Oscar Mayer won't be there because only Saskatchewan koubassa is allowed! Entries come from excellent butchers across the province. The defending champion is the Saskatoon Co-op. I'm rooting for my personal favourites, Emco Meats and the Smokehaus.

When: Thursday, Feb. 9, 7 pm

Where: Prairieland Park, Saskatoon

Cost: $25

Tickets: picatic or 1-866-300-2666

Proceeds support the Red Cross anti-bullying program 

 

Tomorrow: Amy's tips for a successful King of the Koubassa.

 

Crowning the King of Kovbasa

The 2011 King of the Kovbasa was crowned last night in Saskatoon. After a blind taste test and secret ballot (by 500 discerning palates) the unanimous winner was the koubasa made by the Saskatoon Co-op Marketplace on Attridge!

It was also my personal favourite. My top three included the koubasa from Emco Meats in Saskatoon and the Smokehaus in Martensville. Which, I might add, are also my personal favourite koubasa when I'm not blind taste-testing.

It's always a colourful sight as great platters of sausage are ceremoniously carried into the hall by members of the Pavlychenko Folklorique Ensemble dressed in traditional Ukrainian folk costumes, accompanied by lively accordion music and rhythmic clapping from the crowd.

This was the tenth annual King of the Kovbasa -- definitely a highlight of the culinary calendar in Saskatoon!

Great garlic sausage!

My brother-in-law Tony is a connoisseur of garlic sausage so I bought him a package from West Bridgeford Meats in Tugaske. I visited West Bridgeford last week in order to write an article for Prairies North magazine. It's a very neat operation...

Doris and Shane Oram run a butcher shop in the former grocery store and a certified abbatoir on their farm west of Tugaske. In order to finance the operation, they sold shares to local livestock farmers, who supply the meat. The company website includes bios, pictures and farming practices for many of those farmers, and each one is assigned a number that appears on the package. Customers can browse the website and choose the meat that fits their personal preferences.

Tony says the sausages were fabulous and he'd definately buy them again.

King of the Kovbasa 2009

Saskatoon's 8th annual King of the Kovbasa -- 12 Feb., 2009.

Working my way through 12 different kovbasa was a labour of love aided by crackers, cheese and Ukrainian beer.

My three finalists.

All the entrants were listed in the program -- without numbers.

Not all kovbasa are created equally -- but most of them are pretty darn good. It was hard to narrow it down to a favourite, but this was it -- #1 -- the overall winner from Smokehaus Meats in Martensville.

Newspaper Column - Sausage Fest

Published in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, 16 July 2007.

Pictured: Annie grills sausage purchased from a butcher in Yorkton.

A few years ago, my husband was feeling homesick for Wisconsin – the land of good sausage and better beer – so he invited some friends over and cooked up some bratwurst in the Wisconsin tradition: Heat a pot of water, pour in a bottle of beer, add a whole bunch of sliced onion and boil the brats. When cooked, grill the brats on the BBQ and serve in a bun with the onions and ketchup. His sausage ‘fix’ has became Sausage Fest, a summer sausage feast in our back yard. Sausage Fest has two rules: you bring the sausage and he provides the beer. And it better be a Saskatchewan-made sausage.

If I had to name a food that is quintessential Saskatchewan, a food that represents different geographies and ethnic traditions, a food with a long history and, I hope, an even longer future, I would have to name the sausage. I could design a bumper sticker that says “I brake for sausage” for all those people like myself who can’t resist pulling over at a farm or butcher sign advertising handmade sausage for sale.

I’d give one of those bumper stickers to Tim Ouellette, a bone fide sausage addict.
Tim works for Tourism Saskatchewan, a job which takes him around the province. I imagine he visits many museums, bed and breakfasts, tourist sites and the like, but the souvenir he always brings home is sausage. Tim is working on a project to advance farm and food tourism in Saskatchewan, and I hope his itinerary includes a few rural butchers.

Like many families, mine has a sausage tradition. Dad’s homemade sausage is always on the table at special family dinners, along with the turkey at Christmas and the ham at Easter.
But I had never made sausage myself until this spring when my husband and I got together with our friends Ralph and Lisa Bock. Ralph’s dad was a butcher so he knows sausage from a very early age. I hauled my Kitchen Aid mixer over to their house. It has a special attachment for grinding meat and another for stuffing it into the sausage skins, which had never been used. The dough hook got a good workout mixing the meat. We made bratwurst, breakfast sausage and koubasa, which Ralph smoked in his back yard.

For Sausage Fest, Ralph and Lisa brought their homemade Italian chorizo; Tim brought a farmers’ sausage from the butcher in Lumsden. In fact, our BBQ looked like a mini sausage United Nations, from fat bison sausage to skinny pepperoni, from the Lebanese Aleppo kebob to French merguez, from curry sausage to koubasa, from venison to lamb. My husband put some Oom-Pa-Pa music on the stereo, donned his Green Bay Packer socks and felt right at home.

For dessert, Meringue Nests with Fresh Berries (recipe)

Week 12 - WISCONSIN BRATS

Saskatchewan Menu of the Week -- 4 July 2005

Breakfast – Yogurt.
Lunch – Open-face grilled cheese and tomato.
Dinner – Wisconsin-style bratwurst. Buns. Potato salad. Apple pie.

WISCONSIN BRATS
My husband grew up in Wisconsin where there is a strong German heritage and bratwurst is cooked in a particular style. Once, several years ago, a friend told him his brats were better than lobster! He’s been living on that compliment ever since. We buy the bratwurst at Emco Meats, where the German butcher makes them authenticly.

First, buy a good quality brat that doesn’t have too much fat. Boil the sausages in a pot of beer and sliced onions. Grill the boiled bratwurst on the BBQ. While they’re grilling, scoop out the onions and brown them in butter. Enjoy the bratwurst in a bun with onions and mustard.

Counting Down - TOAD IN THE HOLE

There is green in my garden! The snow is slowly melting, exposing a small patch of damp, dark earth where, last October, I planted two short rows of seeds. Today, I can distinctly see two rows of tiny green shoots. I can’t remember exactly what’s there, but I think it’s a mixture of radish, lettuce and arugula.

This is exciting, because it means I'm one step closer to starting a new culinary adventure I'm calling "Home for Dinner." For one year, I'm going to cook almost exclusively with the foods of Saskatchewan, eating what’s in season and preserving the bounty for winter months. I plan to start the first day I eat something green out of my garden.

"Home for Dinner" is not just about Saskatchewan. It’s a philosophy and a lifestyle that can be embraced no matter where you live. If I can do it in Saskatchewan, you can do it anywhere! Here are some good reasons to be "Home for Dinner" no matter where you call home:

Tastier food – Local produce is usually picked just before it’s sold, so it’s fresher and more flavourful. Local farmers who aren’t mass producing for a distant market are more likely to care about the quality and flavour of their food.

Healthier food – Local produce is less likely to have been treated with preservation and ripening agents. If you shop for food produced with organic principles, you will be exposed to fewer chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Environmentally friendly food – Think of all the fuel that is used to truck lettuce from Mexico and bananas from Costa Rica. That's a lot of greenhouse gases.

Food for the local economy – Farming is a tough business, especially if you’re small and trying to do something unique on your land. Reward the farmers who are producing good healthy food and keep your food dollars in the local economy.

Tonight we had Toad-in-the-Hole with onion gravy, a dish from England made with Saskatchewan ingredients (adapted from a recipe in Martha Stewart Living). My version includes eggs and sausages from a local farm, rosemary and onions from the farmers’ market, locally-made mustard and a rich chicken stock I made myself.

Toad-in-the-Hole
2 large eggs
2/3 cups milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp mustard
1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp butter
6 pork breakfast sausages
1 tbsp fresh rosemary

Whisk everything together but the sausages and rosemary, season with salt & pepper and let sit for 20 minutes. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Pour the batter into the dish, sprinkle with rosemary and arrange the sausages on top. Bake at 400F for 25-30 minutes, until the egg is set. Serve with onion gravy or tomato chutney.

Onion Gravy
3 tbsp butter
2 onions halved and sliced
1 tbsp flour
1 cup chicken stock
dash of Worcestershire sauce

Melt the butter in a large skillet and stir in the onions. Cook on medium heat until the onions are golden. Stir in the flour until completely absorbed by the butter. Add the stock and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer a few minutes until thick. Season with salt and pepper. Serve on Toad-in-the-Hole.

Sources: Bennett farm eggs, sausages from the Saskatoon Farmers' Market; rosemary from a pot in my windowsill.