Tyrolean Sausage Recipes

HOMEMADE LUGANEGA SAUSAGES

Steps:

• Pour the wine over the bay leaves in a small bowl. Whack the garlic cloves with the side of a knife and toss them into the bowl. Let steep at room temperature for about 2 hours.
• Grind the pork directly into a bowl, using a disc with holes about 3 1/6 inch in diameter. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, and allspice over the meat. Fish the garlic and bay leaves out of the wine, wrap them in cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel, and dunk the package in the wine. Squeeze the cheesecloth package over the meat in the bowl. Repeat until you have used up the remaining wine. The flavor of the garlic and bay leaves should permeate the meat. Toss every thing together thoroughly. Cover the bowl and let rest in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.
• Meanwhile, push about 1 inch or so of one end of the casing over the spout of the faucet of your sink, making sure that the rest of the casing is in the sink. Run cold water slowly through the casing for a minute or two. Repeat if you are using more than one piece of casing.
• Remove the casing from the spout and fill with marinated pork following the manufacturer's directions that come with your sausage stuffer. Twist the sausage into 3½-inch links as you go.
• VARIATION
• Italian-American Fennel Sausage
• Choose wider sausage casings--about 1 1/2 inches in diameter--for these sausages. Prepare the sausage mixture as above, omitting the allspice ans adding 1 tablespoon fennel seeds and 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (makes about 18 links).

RAYMOND BLANC'S CASSOULET

Steps:

• To cut the meats, roll up the pork rind like a Swiss roll. With the seam underneath, use a very sharp knife to cut the roll across into thin slices, then chop the rolled-up slices across into dice. Chop the bacon into small cubes (lardons). Cut the garlic sausage into 1cm thick slices.
• Drain the soaked beans and discard the soaking water. Tip the beans into a large saucepan, add the diced pork rind and lardons and cover with fresh cold water. Bring to the boil and blanch for 15-20 minutes. Drain the beans, rind and lardons into a colander, and discard the cooking water.
• Roughly chop the celery, onion and carrot. Peel the garlic cloves but leave them whole. Cut each tomato into eight wedges. (You never see tomatoes in a traditional cassoulet, but chef Raymond Blanc likes them for their colour and sweetness, so he puts a couple in.) Preheat the oven to 120C/fan 100C. (If cooking in a gas oven, use mark 2.)
• Heat the goose fat or olive oil in a 26cm flameproof casserole or deep overproof sauté pan over a low heat and sweat the celery, onion, carrot and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bouquet garni and cook slowly to get a sugary caramelisation (about 5 minutes). Add the sausage, beans, pork rind and lardons and pour in 1.2 litres/2 pints water. Bring to the boil, skim off the scum, then add the salt, pepper, clove and lemon juice.
• Transfer the casserole to the oven and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours, stirring every hour. At the end of this time, the beans will be soft and creamy in texture and the juices should have thickened. You may need to cook it for longer than 2 hours (say up to 2½ hours) to get to this stage - it depends
• Remove the cassoulet from the oven. Bury the duck legs in the beans and sprinkle over the goose fat or olive oil, breadcrumbs and garlic. Return to the oven and cook for a further 2 hours. Serve the cassoulet in bowls, sprinkled with chopped parsley.