This is the best time of year to give thanks for the summer splendor and extend those good feeling well into the winter. This past summer I have made a habit of hoarding as much local meats and produce that my small fridge will allow, with the intent on preserving and freezing my absolute favorites. Late summer here in Vermont means apples, apples and more apples! The local orchards are packed to the gills with people searching for their favorite variety. I recently went picking at Shelburne Orchards with my girlfriend Molly. We had an exceptional time basking in the sun and working each row of the orchard like pro's! During our time there, we sampled the most amazing ginger apple nectar. This stuff is no joke! After sampling this, you cold actually feel your whole being body open up and tingle. The label on the bottle says it's "Life Changing." I completely agree! I'm even more curious to see how this stuff works during the cold and flu season.
Ginger Power!!
-10# Ground Pork
-3 Cups Panko
-10 Teaspoons Salt
-3 Teaspoons Black Pepper
-3 Teaspoons Cayenne
-1 Teaspoon Mace
-1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
-1 Teaspoon Thyme
-1 Teaspoon Marjoram
-10 Teaspoons Sage
-10 Eggs
While at Shelburne Orchards, I was able to round up about eleven pounds of ridiculously good apples. The variety I had were Golden Delicious, Macun, Macintosh and Fuji apples. There were even a few Honey Crisp mixed in with the harvest. A great way to preserve these are to cook them down and make the best applesauce ever! Usually, I cook the apples on the stove top and run the apples through a food mill to get a great sauce. Molly's mom told me about baking the apples in the oven for a delectable baked applesauce. I needed to try this, and put my own special twist on this classic. How about baked maple applesauce. Yes!
First, I had to peel and quarter eleven pounds of apples. When you do this, have a big pot of cold water nearby to put the quartered apples in so they won't oxidize. If you are doing this the day before, squeeze two lemons into the water to help prevent browning. Once you are finished, put the apples in your favorite oven ready pot.
Add a big handful of apple peels to the pot. After the cooking is over, it is very easy to fish them out. In order to make this maple apple sauce, I added two cups of maple sugar and one quarter cup of maple syrup. We take our maple syrup seriously here in VT; use the best quality you can, but avoid the fake store brand (It's not even maple syrup! Shhh.....)
Preheat the oven to 350. Next, add one tablespoon of cinnamon, one quarter stick of butter and one teaspoon of nutmeg. While the oven is heating, stir the apples to evenly distribute the sugar and spices. Cover the pot and bake in the oven for 1.5 hours. Your house or apartment will smell unbelievable!
When the apples are done, remove the peels and whisk until smooth. The sauce will be a lot darker than the store bought brands, but oh so good! I usually pack the sauce into jars and refrigerate until I plan on using them. This is so good on oatmeal with peanut butter. Seriously!
The next project was completely random. It was a rainy day, the temperature outside was hovering around 38 with a few sleet pellets mixed in. I was reading an article on BBC about how Bangers and Mash were making a comeback due to the economy. I decided to give it a try. Making sausage is very easy for the home cook. If you have the equipment, spices, and time, you're in business! The term "Bangers" evolved during WWII. This was due to the sausage maker adding too much water to bulk up the amount of sausage being produced. When these were cooked, they had a tendency to explode, hence the name Bangers.
Before you begin grinding pork or scaling spices, set up your sausage maker.
Once this is set, start breaking down your pork. You can use boneless butt or shoulder skinned, but you will need to add two pounds of pork belly to the recipe to make up for the lean pork. If you don't have pork belly available, use one pound of uncured bacon. Grind the pork and fat together and place in an accommodating container and refrigerate. Keep the pork as cold as you can! While it's in the fridge, rinse ten feet of hog casings and soak them in tepid water.
Next, scale your ingredients. The recipe for 10# of bangers is....
English Bangers
-10# Ground Pork
-3 Cups Panko
-10 Teaspoons Salt
-3 Teaspoons Black Pepper
-3 Teaspoons Cayenne
-1 Teaspoon Mace
-1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
-1 Teaspoon Thyme
-1 Teaspoon Marjoram
-10 Teaspoons Sage
-10 Eggs
Place the pork in your electric mixer and add the ingredients until incorporated. Try not to over mix the pork. The friction will start to break down the fat and it will become too greasy. Thread the casings onto the stuffer, and fill with the banger mixture. Roll the sausages out until finished. Twist off three inch links. You can get demos of this on Youtube or go back to my Meat Candy entry from a few months ago. All in all, it's very easy to accomplish, and you are rewarded with ten pounds of fresh English Bangers. Wrap tightly and freeze, or vacuum seal until a later date.
The fun doesn't stop there! I had another ten pounds of pork butt ready to go! Hot Italian Sausage is a staple around here. This is one of the more versatile sausages you can make. This recipe is a little different than others. Most of the recipes for this use cayenne pepper for the heat. This is a little too much for this humble sausage. I use chipotle powder for the heat and a little smoke. This rounds out the sausage to make it even more user friendly. Use the same set up instructions as above.....
Hot Italian Sausage
-10# Ground Pork
-2 Cups Cold Red wine
-2 Cups Chopped Parsley
-10 Teaspoons Salt
-2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
-2 Tablespoons Ground Pepper
-6 Teaspoons Chipotle Powder
-10 Tablespoons Fennel Seed
-4 Teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes
-10 Tablespoons Smoked Paprika
Stocking up the fridge and freezer sounds like a daunting task to some. It is in your best interest to have these kinds of prepared foods available to you. Even today, I had about fifteen whole shallots laying around. I grabbed my knife, sliced the shallots and caramelized them. Now I will have caramelized shallots for anything my heart desires. Doing little things around your home kitchen on your day off will pay off big in the long run!
~Peace
