Spices for Sausage Patties

[Shel_B]

Toots has been after me to make her some sausage patties, you might call them breakfast sausage, but in reality, she'll probably want them for dinner with eggs and potatoes.

 

Now, I've not made sausage patties before, at least not pork patties, which is her preference.  She also likes the taste of fennel in her sausage, and she doesn't like her food too hot.  So, a mild fennel flavored sausage is the starting point.  How might fennel pollen work?  I've never used it - does it taste like fennel seeds, or is it milder, stronger ... ?  Beyond that, I'm sort of stumped.  What other spices might work well for this type of sausage?

 

Would mace be a nice addition?  It doesn't seem to be used that often, so might it add an interesting flavor component?  I think we'd both like to stay away from sage, or at least minimize it's use - too much like Thanksgiving turkey stuffing - but it seems to be a somewhat typical seasoning for sausage, so I'd certainly consider it.

 

What else might make for an interesting and perhaps complex flavor profile?

Edited July 18, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[SobaAddict70]

fennel, orange zest (not really a spice but it goes well with fennel), ginger.  ancho chile flakes if you can get those; ancho chiles aren't "hot" so much as "fruity".  black peppercorns.  nutmeg.  those are my recs.

 

you might also find this useful:  http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-grind-your-own-sausage-79778

[Shel_B]

Never would have thought to use orange zest.

 

Ancho is easy to come by, and I'm quite familiar with it.  I might also play around with Aleppo pepper, as it's not too hot but has a nice flavor (to my taste).

 

No meat grinder here.  I'll be dicing by hand or with the food processor.

[heidih]

Shel - what if you had Toots over for a mini tasting  session since you are doing this to her palate? Chop a small quantity of meat and perhaps start with 3 simple versions. She likes fennel seed so mix up a simple salt, pepper, fennelseed plus a touch paprika or your Aleppo. Then try a more traditional one lightly seasoned with a poultry seasoning mix (typically marjoram, thyme, coriander, black pepper, rosemary, savory and sage and salt). For the third something more non-standard like Soba's suggestion above.  As we are taught to do with stuffing mixes, you then pan fry just a tablespoon or so of each for the tasting. 

Edited July 18, 2014 by heidih (log)

[MSRadell]

The spices that Soba suggested are along the lines of what I used many times, I also use a little bit of Thyme and Paprika as well as some Sage but you said you'd prefer not to use that.

[Blether]

I have a plan to make lamb sausages with garlic, black pepper and heavily-reduced red wine.  And no rosemary!

 

I've never heard of fennel pollen as a food ingredient.  I'd have expected you to grind up fennel seeds?  That said, building around fennel and aiming for complexity, I'd look at heavily-reduced white wine, brown-fried onions, maybe a splash of a compatible vinegar and your choice of pepper - chile/black/white/as you like, just enough to give some character without being hot.  Maybe green peppercorns, for me.

 

If you're interested strictly in spices, then apart from pepper, yes, mace, and also allspice & coriander are traditional as ingredients in British sausages, at least.

 

ETA - oh, and won't your meat counter grind for you?

Edited July 18, 2014 by Blether (log)

[Shel_B]

I've never heard of fennel pollen as a food ingredient.  I'd have expected you to grind up fennel seeds?  That said, building around fennel and aiming for complexity, I'd look at heavily-reduced white wine, brown-fried onions, maybe a splash of a compatible vinegar and your choice of pepper - chile/black/white/as you like, just enough to give some character without being hot.  Maybe green peppercorns, for me.

 

If you're interested strictly in spices, then apart from pepper, yes, mace, and also allspice & coriander are traditional as ingredients in British sausages, at least.

 

ETA - oh, and won't your meat counter grind for you?

 

There was a sausage recipe in Bon Appetit (http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/sun-dried-tomato-and-fennel-sausage-patties-with-creamy-polenta)  that suggested using fennel pollen or ground fennel seeds.  Never having used the pollen, I was wondering about its flavor profile.

 

I suppose my butcher would grind the meat for me ... never thought about it as we don't eat meat very much, and it's not too often I get to the butcher.  Doing it myself may allow for better control over the texture - I'd have to talk to the butcher about that - and I certainly don't mind the extra work.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[CatPoet]

We make a  pork sausage with  fennel seeds,fried apple and onion and a bit of fresh sage.  It is really lovely.

[jayt90]

There was a sausage recipe in Bon Appetit (http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/sun-dried-tomato-and-fennel-sausage-patties-with-creamy-polenta)  that suggested using fennel pollen or ground fennel seeds.  Never having used the pollen, I was wondering about its flavor profile.

 

.

Fennel seeds are somewhat coarse and unreliable in a sausage mix, but ground up fennel was a revelation to me, and I wondered if fennel pollen was similar. 

I haven't tried the pollen yet, but I'm very happy with ground fennel, coriander and cumin in sausages.

[Shel_B]

Fennel seeds are somewhat coarse and unreliable in a sausage mix, but ground up fennel was a revelation to me, and I wondered if fennel pollen was similar. 

I haven't tried the pollen yet, but I'm very happy with ground fennel, coriander and cumin in sausages.

 

There are numerous sweet Italian sausage varieties around here that include whole fennel seeds, and neither Toots nor I have found them to be an issue in any way.  What do you mean by "unreliable?"

 

Is the fennel, coriander, and cumin the only spices, with perhaps the addition of S&P, that you use in your sausage?

Edited July 18, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[AAQuesada]

Fennel pollen has a very sweet, strong fennel flavor. I like it quite a bit. personally I like fresh sage in my breakfast patties, but sounds like you are going for for of a mild italian sausage.. My local korean market has a really nice coarse ground pork that is great for stuff like that. Maybe you can find something similar. 

 

Oh and btw, If you decide to use orange zest I highly recommend drying your own. Take the zest off with a peeler and dry in the microwave on low power (in between some paper towels) 15 seconds at a time. until you have your desired dryness. Then blitz in the coffee grinder. Incredible for dried spice blends or ratatoille, pork braises ect...

[rotuts]

Ive used and have all the Penzey's sausage blends:

 

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyssausageseasonings.html?id=ZmwyNNhj

 

I like them a lot.

 

well, not the italian, as Im not so keen on fennel.  I do use fennel when making Lasagna meat sauce, but I add my own

 

less then what some might use.

 

some times I add other things to these, esp. Spanish Smoked Paprika.

 

the Lazy Man's sausage blends.

[Duvel]

A typical german sausage ("Hausmacher" type, coarse ground) would be spiced with marjoram, macis, dried ginger, cardamom and salt. Maybe some lemon peel (finely grated, e.g. with a microplane).