tristar

I found one in Professional Charcuterie by Kinsella and Harvey. I'm not sure I can quote the recipe, so I'll just list some ingredients and see if it will fly. They call for beef at the standard ratio of 20 percent fat and then salt, sage, thyme, cloves, nutmeg, onion powder and dried parsley. Hope that helps ← Yes, thanks, it does - this is really the best forum ever; having posted that rather desperate query, I discovered that bangers are also Oxford sausages, and that I did have a recipe - which apart from calling for pork and veal is seasoned as you have said. It wouldn't have occured to me to make them with beef, truthfully. So the pork should be just about thawed in the morning, and I'll have a go at them :-) Would it be right to assume that trying to make skinless sausages at home would be pushing the envelope? I have what is probably a lifetime supply of hog casings, but not sure I can find sheep casings locally, and skinless has its attraction - thanks! ← Traditionally British bangers are made with pork, Oxford sausages are a mixture of half pork and half veal, but the critical Ingredient in any British Banger is rusk or breadcrumbs. [snip] ← I made them today - I split the difference between two recipes, very like the two you have offered but not identical .. Mace seems to be pretty nearly a requisite, and it turned out I don't have any, so I went with a pinch more nutmeg and a hit of savory. Will have to get some mace. The test fry came out very well, and I went ahead and stuffed them. As I have not stuffed any before, these aren't as pretty as they might be, but I'm sure another foray or two will mend that. We will eat the first round tomorrow, by which time the seasoning should have matured a little, and I expect they will be better in the skins than the bit I test fried. Thank you for the recipes - all input gratefully accepted. I have a hunch this will be an ongoing project! Lynn ← Just watch out that it doesn't take over your life Lynn Regards, Richard

I found one in Professional Charcuterie by Kinsella and Harvey. I'm not sure I can quote the recipe, so I'll just list some ingredients and see if it will fly. They call for beef at the standard ratio of 20 percent fat and then salt, sage, thyme, cloves, nutmeg, onion powder and dried parsley. Hope that helps ← Yes, thanks, it does - this is really the best forum ever; having posted that rather desperate query, I discovered that bangers are also Oxford sausages, and that I did have a recipe - which apart from calling for pork and veal is seasoned as you have said. It wouldn't have occured to me to make them with beef, truthfully. So the pork should be just about thawed in the morning, and I'll have a go at them :-) Would it be right to assume that trying to make skinless sausages at home would be pushing the envelope? I have what is probably a lifetime supply of hog casings, but not sure I can find sheep casings locally, and skinless has its attraction - thanks! ← Traditionally British bangers are made with pork, Oxford sausages are a mixture of half pork and half veal, but the critical Ingredient in any British Banger is rusk or breadcrumbs. A typical Oxford Sausage recipe is as follows: 1/2 lb ground lean pork 1/2 lb lean ground veal or lamb 6 ounces suet fresh breadcrumbs, made from 3 slices of white bread,including crust 1 teaspoon seasoning salt 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon mace 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme 1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram 2 teaspoons dried sage 2 teaspoons onion powder 1 teaspoon finely grated lemons, rind of 1 large egg prepared hog casings (can't get sausage casings, shape the sausage mixture into patties instead of link sausages) Knead together the pork, veal, fat, and bread. Stir the salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg, mace, thyme, marjoram, sage, onion powder and lemon peel into the egg, and then knead into the meat mixture. At this point, fry a small sausage patty and taste it so that you can adjust the seasonings, because the recipe so far is fairly mild. Firmly stuff the mixture into the prepared hog (sausage) casings. Prick any air pockets with a pin. Poach, broil, grill, or fry them before serving. Serve the bangers, drowned in nice thick onion and mushroom gravy, with a heap of mashed potatoes. The raw sausages can be refrigerated for 3 days, cooked sausages for 1 week. They can also be frozen (raw, poached, or broiled) for 3 months. A more traditional British recipe for Bangers: British Breakfast Sausage courtesy of Len Poli 2 1/2 lb Pork shoulder, cut in cubes and chilled well 1 lb Fresh pork fat, cut in cubes and chilled well 2 tsp. Salt 1/2 cup Rusk or dry bread crumbs 1 tsp. Ground white pepper 3/4 tsp. Rubbed sage 1/2 tsp. Mace 1/4 tsp. Ground ginger 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg 3/4 cup Chicken broth Grind pork and fat together using the medium plate of your meat grinder. Add all ingredients except stock, mixing well. Grind again through a finer plate. Add in the broth and mix well. Stuff mixture into casings and tie in 4-5 inch lengths. Best Regards, Richard

Hi All, One thing which hasn't been mentioned here which I find to be a great advantage for the piston type stuffers, grizzly et al. is the far better definition of the finished product. back when I was using a KA type stuffer (actually Kenwood) my forcemeat tended to become smeared leading to loss of texture and an apparent breakdown of the bind, This has not happened since using a piston type hand cranked stuffer. For me they win hands down just for this alone. Best Regards, Richard

Hi Abra, Fantastic documentary, very well done, that is the sort of thing which will encourage newcomers into our 'hardcore' ;-) world! Regards, Richard

Belimbing in English is also called, Bimbling plum (West Indies) and Cucumber tree. My Belimbing is the fruit variety known as Star Fruit, and I really don't know what to do with it apart from making juice? It started fruiting two years ago and hasn't stopped! I wanted to make some preserves from it but cannot find pectin, has anybody tried making preserves of this fruit without pectin or is there another way of doing it? Any help would be appreciated!

FYI, I tried using some crushed ice in the water for my Italian sausage primary bind yesterday, and had bits of ice flying around the kitchen. Probably obvious, but 1-2 minutes of paddling doesn't melt ice in cold meat. Not that it was entirely cold, mind you. I wasn't careful enough with the temperature of the meat, and the emulsion never took. So, since I've lovingly depicted successes, here's the disaster's gory detail: It may look oddly juicy, but take my word for it: it's dry, crumbly, and truly unpleasant to bite. I crushed a bit into some tomato sauce on the plate, and that seemed to redeem it slightly, so sauce it will be. ← Did you use any chicken skin Chris? I have read somewhere that different meats have differing amounts of water soluble protein and it is the water soluble protein which effects the bind. It is possible that the chicken skin is where the most water soluble protein is? I have not had any problems with my chicken sausages apart from those to which I didn't add chicken skin, as I said in an earlier post, I now normally add egg to give me the bind in those.

I have some potted and some direct in the ground, I ran out of space and having only a small plot of land need to keep moving the chillies to take advantage of the sun! Potted citrus do quite well here in Jakarta if kept well fed and watered, especially the smaller types such as Jeruk Nipis or Kafir Lime, which will fruit heavily and you only need small amounts to flavour your dishes. I was at first worried about harvesting the leaves of the Kafir Lime, but it doesn't seem to do any harm at all.

Petai, Jambu Air, Mango, Belimbing and some chillies!

You can use the wood of apple, jambu air, pear, any of the fruit trees other than mango, although I would imagine that apple and pear would only be available in the higher areas, sorry I don't know the name of Jambu Air in Malay only in Indonesian.

Hi Aidan, I don't see any problems with substituting the crushed ice with stock, but I would be sure to skim off any fat from the stock before freezing, I believe the rendered fat would smear in your sausages and could possibly make them oily or spoil the texture. I normally make my chicken sausages with added chicken skin and fat, plus the crushed ice! or if using chicken meat only I make a mouselline sausage with double cream and egg! Not for the calorie conscious of course! Regards. Richard

And that does mean saturated! I used a locally available block salt which comes in pyramid shapes about three inches tall, I have found that once the salt is saturated the blocks become water logged and actually help in transferring the moisture to the atmosphere in the refrigerator as they stick up above the water about two inches. Saves having to use a container which has a large suface area of water! ← What kind of store would sell block salt? I have never seen that anywhere. ← Hi Francois. You don't say where you live, but I am in Indonesia. I would suggest that you try an asian store for these, the ones I have look like a pyramid but with the top cut off flat. They are widely available in Java and are certainly available in China as well. I believe that in the West something similar is sold for water softeners and dishwashers, and for horse and cattle mineral supplements! It doesn't matter if it is not for human consumption as you will not be consuming it, you are just using it to maintain the moisture level in the atmosphere of your refrigerator! Regards, Richard

Hi Gul, The easiest way to get started is to go to Ace Hardware, the American harware chain, they stock hickory and mesquite wood chips for barbeques. If however you wish to try something with a more local flavour try to get some fruit wood however don't be tempted to use mango wood as this apparently produces toxins, I have been told that it is possible to use mangrove wood and also wood and roots from tea plants, however I have yet to give them a try here in Indonesia. Coconut husks are also usable, but I have found that sometimes the result is not to everybodies taste, tending a little to bitterness! Good Luck, Richard

And that does mean saturated! I used a locally available block salt which comes in pyramid shapes about three inches tall, I have found that once the salt is saturated the blocks become water logged and actually help in transferring the moisture to the atmosphere in the refrigerator as they stick up above the water about two inches. Saves having to use a container which has a large suface area of water!

I like the board as well, but my solution was simpler, whiteboard marker and the front door of the refrigerator!

ecr, My humblest apologies for missing your question, I was not monitoring the thread! Oncom is technically decribed as 'fermented defatted soyabean, coconut or groundnut' it is basically the ground material which is leftover after extracting the milk or oil, which is them innoculated with a fungal spore and left for two days wrapped in banana leaves or plastic sheet. An Article on Culture Foods Give a little more information as well as some pictures. It is a dry cake as you can see from the pictures on the link and can be prepared a number of ways, I like it cut into bit sized pieces, deep fried until the outside is crisp and then accompanied with dry fried, garlic, shallot onions and hot chillies, another preparation method is to prepare 'bumbu kuning' yellow spice paste and cook the oncom in the paste, adding coconut milk at the last moment to produce a creamy sauce. It is seldom seem for sale ready to eat but is widely available in Traditional Markets and Supermarkets, I really love it, but my wife considers it peasant food so doesn't eat it very much at all! Best Regards, Richard

This may not be strictly true, in my experience some form of humidifier is needed, but not necessarily a dehumidifier. The cooling system in most of these devices tends to pull the humidity down anyway. Just look at a typical refrigerator which is quite arid, and will dry out the contents if they are not covered or in containers. My modified refrigerator has no problems with high humidity which the condensation of the water vapour on the cooling element doesn't take care of, the humidity will rise as new product is introduced but I have never found that the time taken to reduce this to my working levels has given me any cause for concern. This time taken to reduce the humidity is normally less than 12 hours in my case, but does depend on the quantity and moisture levels of the new product introduced, this may slightly lengthen the time taken to dry existing product but this hobby is not for the impatient anyway is it? How many others on this forum would be prepared to wait 18 months for a slice of ham? Regards, Richard

Hi All, Curley leaved parsley, is always listed as Peterseli in the supermarkets in Indonesia. I have found the following resource to be most helpfull when I need to translate the names of herbs or spices Spice Index Regards, Richard

I've been working on this, but the task gets more and mroe daunting every day. But, if it helps, in the lower LEFT* corner, there is a search window that allows you to only search this topic. It is most helpful! *Edited to change right to LEFT corner for the search button ← this is an interesting comment on a couple levels but it compels me now to note fyi, that we are working on a revised charcuterie to include a few new recipes that people seem to want and to revise some older ones. my current obsession is to create a foolproof hot dog recipe for the home suasage maker. anyone want to help me test a new method? grinder, food processor, stuffer, and pink salt would be required in addition to standard items. ← My all beef version of the Chicago Style Hotdog in the book has been turning out great but if you want volunteers to test something new, just count me in. For the revised charcuterie I personally would like to see more non-pork recipes, I know that in this thread that is a nearly sacreligious statement, but it can be done! Best Regards, Richard

I think I may be about to throw the cat amongst the pigeons, but..... Effects of indigenous starter cultures on the microbial and physicochemical characteristics of Urutan, a Balinese fermented sausage. I think I will be trying it when I get home.

For me the simpler the better, place the monkfish, seasoned with a little coarse salt and some freshly ground black pepper into a small pan on a bed of julienned carrots and some scallions sliced lengthways, top with a crushed stem of lemongrass and some ripped cilantro. Add boiling water to half the height of the bedding vegetables, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the monkfish is cooked. Remove the monkfish, and thicken the remaining liquid by increasing the heat and adding a generous knob of butter, check for seasoning. Place the monkfish back onto the carrot and scallions, and drizzle over the enriched sauce, and sprinkle fresh ripped cilantro on top!

My pleasure Caroline, glad to be able to contribute something useful to this wonderful forum.

Looks real good Ron, why don't we have a drooling smiley!

Welcome Kevin, I don't use pork so cannot tell you about the storage of hog casings, but sheep casings will last indefinitely as long as they are occassionally resalted and stored in the refigerator. I live in a very humid climate and the inside of my storage container (an old icecream tub) when opened becomes somewhat damp, I just sprinkle some additional coarse salt on top of the remaining casings replace the lid on the container and return them to the fridge. My present batch of casings have been in use for 15 months with no sign of deterioration whatsoever. Regards, Richard

Hi All, For those interested in European style cheeses, the following forum may be worth a sniff : Sausage Making.org's Cheese Forum Best Regards, Richard

In Indonesia these peppers are know as Cabe Rawit and are commonly served as an accompaniment to 'Gorengan' which are best translated as 'Fried Stuff' such as battered tempeh, deep fried boiled yam, fried stuffed tofu, banana fritters etc, they are sold door to door around the residential areas by a guy carrying a big wok of hot oil and a kerosene burner on one end and a small food container/seat at the other end of a short bamboo pole balanced on his shoulder! You do find that you get used to the heat, even my 4 year old son eats them with his afternoon snack! As for the things I will never do again in the kitchen, recently having bought some Ice Cream in a local supermarket I asked the young lady behind the fish counter for some ice, on returning home, I opened the plastic bad and put my hand in to remove the ice which was there. The instant stinging told me to put my hand under the tap where I was confronted by mysterious clouds of vapour. The shop assistant had given me Dry Ice! Luckily no permanent harm was done and the children really seemed to enjoy watching daddy dancing by the taps shrouded in mist! Regards, Richard