Apple and Bourbon Sausages

Ever since I cooked bourbon glazed pigs cheeks I’ve been gagging to explore the unchartered waters of cooking with bourbon. It seems swine and bourbon have a natural affinity. So much so that a bar called PDT in New York even make a cocktail with bacon and bourbon!



This sausage recipe is very simple. Take your 60/40 mixture of minced belly pork and shoulder and add some salt and a few turns of freshly ground pepper. Then add a finely chopped apple such as a Cox. Then add a double measure of bourbon. I used Maker’s Mark, but you could use Jim Beam. Given that I work with the nice folk at Beam Global, there’s normally a drop or two floating around in the office. To finish the mix add a handful of breadcrumbs and a dollop of mustard. Since making these Londoneating has made the inspired suggestion of adding a touch of maple syrup. It seems a dose of sugar is quite a common technique in sausage making. Apparently it helps the sausages to caramelise.



Then set the gears in motion and fill your casings. Leave them to rest overnight in the fridge. These sausages are wonderfully comforting. They are great cooked in a glaze made from soy, mustard, honey and bourbon and served with a giant pillow of celeriac mash, some buttered spinach and lashing of left over marinade-cum-gravy. Just like the pigs cheeks below.



Or if you are feeling more patriotic, do something more British, such as a toad in the hole with a bourbon based gravy. Cowie's Mum, who is an expert at making all things battery and British, whipped this up without a recipe. But if you need one, why not sneak a peak at Delia. The key thing is to get your dripping nice and hot before hand and get ready to eat it as soon as it comes out of the oven, otherwise it might flop.



Grog-wise, Gareth from Bibendum suggests slucing these down with a bottle of New World chardonnay whereas Fiona thinks a medium cider would do the job as it links back to the apples.

This is part of a series of posts about experimental sausages and a potential sausage-fest