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Southern California Artisinal Breakfast Sausages


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I've searched high and low on eGullet as well as through Google. I came up empty-handed on D'Artagnan, Dean & Deluca, Neiman Ranch, and Snake River Farms. Amazon.com's searches through the food section were relatively fruitless. Even Aidell's offering seemed questionable (turkey?). All I really want are some absolutely gorgeous, hand-made breakfast links with lovely maple flavor. I can find unbelievable, small-batch bacons with ease, but finding a proper breakfast sausage made from pork is something elusive apparently. Are there any fine-foods markets in the LA/OC area with access to killer, restaurant-quality breakfast links? Bristol Farms makes a horrible fresh breakfast sausage so I'll rule that one out right away.

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only help.

R. Jason Coulston

jason@popcling.com

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I'm not a big breakfast sausage fan but you might check with Surfas and see what they carry in their refrigerated of frozen section. You might also check with some of the butchers at Farmer's Market -- the "original" one at 3rd & Fairfax.

Good luck and do report back on what turns up.

So long and thanks for all the fish.
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Ever thought of making your own?
Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only help.

The fork, Jason, use the fork ...

Absolutely. I've made sausages before, but, frankly, I just don't want to again. There are fine artisans out there and they've already gone through all of the trials and tribulations. I just want to find them.

R. Jason Coulston

jason@popcling.com

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Nice find! I'm familiar with Fra'Mani and some of their other products (Cowgirl & Cheese Shop at Silverlake both sell their salamis). Ordering up a 5 lb. packages seems a bit much but I suppose I could just freeze the 4 lbs. I wouldn't use in the first go around.

Edited by SiseFromm (log)

R. Jason Coulston

jason@popcling.com

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There is a place on Olympic near Robertson (next to crazy fish) that makes all kinds of sausage. I imagine they have something that passes for b'fast sausage. FWIW I make sausage with Muscovy duck breast cut into chunks and dried apple, caramelized onions and sage mixed together . Left in fridge for a couple of days then through my ancient hand grinder and I just cook in patties. YUM! If I want to make more of a dinner sausage I add roasted garlic (in place of apple) and a nice grind of black pepper.

David

David West

A.K.A. The Mushroom Man

Founder of http://finepalatefoods.com/

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I'm not expecting much, but I did order some pork breakfast sausages from Omaha Steaks. We'll see. It will be a good experiment but my previous experiences with Omaha haven't been very memorable. By the way, those Fra'Mani sausages, which I assume are delicious, are whopping in at $20/lb. if my math is right. Ouch!

R. Jason Coulston

jason@popcling.com

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There is a place on Olympic near Robertson (next to crazy fish) that makes all kinds of sausage.

David

I think the place you are thinking of is on Olympic at Doheny; north side of the street. The place has been there forever and most everything they have is German-style. Excellent quality but subtle flavors. Definitely worth a visit.

Bob Sherwood

____________

“When the wolf is at the door, one should invite him in and have him for dinner.”

- M.F.K. Fisher

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Just an FYI, those Omaha Steaks sausages arrive pre-cooked and only require gentle reheating in an oven from frozen state. They're okay, but not mind-blowing. Very large and very fatty. The texture is decent enough but the casing doesn't 't have a great snap. They're more chewy than anything else. I think I'm going to bite teh bullet and order up those Fra'Mani sausages. If Bouchon is using them, I really don't need any further endorsement.

R. Jason Coulston

jason@popcling.com

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you might try the venerable mail order Burgers Smokehouse.

www.smokehouse.com

"A man's got to believe in something...I believe I'll have another drink." -W.C. Fields

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you might try the venerable mail order Burgers Smokehouse. 

www.smokehouse.com

I might have to give that one a try. I see they have breakfast patties on the site. That might do even though I was thinking more about links. I might just have to make them myself as you mentioned. I can always order up meats from Neiman Ranch and grind them myself in my Kitchen Aid mixer.

Jason~

Why don't you ask someone at the places that carry the FraMani brsnd if they can get you thise? Lookslike Whole Foods carries them !

http://www.framani.com/stores_restaurants.htm

I think I've seen Fra'Mani salami in the deli case near the pate and hams, so it is possible they allow for special orders on the sausage. I'm in the Newport location often enough so I'll ask around when I'm there.

R. Jason Coulston

jason@popcling.com

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Jason, I got some info on Fra'Mani breakfast sausages.

Unfortunately, there are presently no retailers in the LA area carrying the breakfast sausages. :sad:

You can try special ordering them or ordering them online.

I know that ordering online can be expensive. Mind you, that's the price of shipping and handling next day because they ship it fresh not frozen.

Wish you well!

Russell J. Wong aka "rjwong"

Food and I, we go way back ...

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  • 1 month later...

The quest has been completed! Resident foodie expert and culinary adventurer Russell J. Wong hooked me up big time! He dragged a couple of packs of Fra'Mani breakfast sausages directly from the source. Not only that, he brought them to me while I was in the middle of running our booth at the Vinyl Toy Network show in Pasadena over the weekend. What a trooper.

As for the sausages, they’re beautiful. I cooked two of them this morning with a classic breakfast of eggs over easy and toasted country bread. The sausages are plump and slightly larger than a typical grocery store link. The skin is taut and crisps up nicely to a deep golden brown. The fat to meat ratio is balanced as they stay moist but aren't overly greasy. The flavor is classic and spiked with sage . . . they aren't over or under seasoned. Though not overpowering, they clearly deliver a proper breakfast sausage punch. These are the best I’ve found in my search for great breakfast sausages.

Thanks RJ!

R. Jason Coulston

jason@popcling.com

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