Charcutepalooza 6 - Stuff it!

I am not sure where to start here. You see last month when we did the grinding challenge for Charcutepalooza, we didn't know that it was a seperate challange and we stuffed. Yes, we had the casings and we had the meat. What were we suppose to do? We were suppose to wait until this month to stuff. Needless to say we have been cooking with sausages for 2 months. I refuse to make any sausage jokes here. To tell you the truth I am tired of em. 2 months of em.

We have enjoyed our voyage into sausage making. We have done Merquez sausage, Toulouse sausage, Duck sausage and my favorite Chinese Duck Liver sausage.



Sausage making takes lots of patience and lots of time.



I have to say that for all the work it is well worth it. I don't think anything I have ever bought has been as good as what we have been making.



It is sorta funny because I didn't grow up eating pork. I didn't taste pork until I was much older. I don't think my mother likes the idea of me playing with pork as much as I do. While not all this sausage is pork most of it is. Hey, I have a stash of pork that will take a while to use.



So since we already stuffed sausage last month we decided to do more this month. We decided on duck this time. I don't mean to make you feel squoogy, but I have refrained in the past showing pictures of what I am working with. I didn't want to offend followers. This time I am showing the duck. It is my duck and I can do what I want. Not only that but you have to be a little impressed that *I* butchered Mr. Quackers by myself.



We bought the Mr. Duck in an Asian market and he was fresh (it might have been a she I don't know how to tell the difference though). I thought that they had taken out the liver but they hadn't. I did use some chicken liver in the sausage as well because there wasn't enough duck liver alone.




We then processed all the meat into sausage. We made the bones and head into the stock.



We made Chinese sausage out of the duck liver, some pork fat, and lots of seasoning.



We cooked some up and looked at each other as any good coconspirators do...with glee. I can NOT tell you how incredible this sausage was. It made me want to dance and dance. We made a simple dish out of this Chinese sausage and we have lots more to experiment with.



The other recipe we were going to make was one that called for a brown chicken stock to go in the duck sausage dish. I thought it was insane not to use the duck bones to make the Brown stock.



Good move on my part.



The other duck sausage was a Mario Batalli recipe (I hate using TV chefs recipes but I did it anyhow).





The Toulose type duck sausage has gone into lots of stuff too. I put it in our Chicago style pizza that I posted yesterday.



I also jumped ship on Mr Batalli. Sorry Mario. I made your sausage recipe but dumped the other part of your recipe. I found another recipe that looked way better and actually called for Pancetta. *I* have that! So, this recipe really called for 5lbs of duck and I just swapped that for the sausage. This recipe will make you swoon. I swear.



I am always happy when I get to use my very own pancetta.



Love how it browns up. I also browned up the duck sausage.



Anything with Anchovies in it is A-1 in MY book



This duck stock was unbelievable. I mean really unbelievable (ok, thanks Mario B for this part of the recipe)



2 hours of simmering and it was done.



Oh Yum! I end this post by chanting "I love you Charcutepalooza, I love you Charcutepalooza.." Quack!


Adapted from The Union Square Cafe Cookbook
Danny Meyer and Michael Romano
Serves 10

Printable Version

About 10 links Duck Sausage
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 fresh thyme sprigs
3 bay leaves
1/2 pound pancetta, cut into 1 x 1/4-inch pieces
3 large onions, peeled and coarsely chopped (6 cups)
1 head garlic, cloves peeled and minced
1 2-ounce jar or can of anchovy fillets, drained and minced (optional)
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices (3 cups)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups white wine
1 cup pitted and coarsely chopped nicoise or gaeta black olives
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 16-ounce can peeled tomatoes, drained and crushed
6 cups Duck Stock
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 pounds rigatoni or wide-mouthed maccheroni
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano


Thirty minutes before cooking, sprinkle the duck pieces with salt and pepper on both sides. Tie the thyme sprigs and bay leaves together with a piece of kitchen string.

Heat a large, heavy Dutch oven or saucepan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain.
In the same pot, brown the duck pieces on both sides over high heat, a few pieces at a time. Transfer each batch to drain in a colander. Pour out all but ¼ cup duck fat and reduce the heat to medium.

Add the onions and garlic to the pot and cook, stirring, until translucent. Stir in the anchovies and carrots and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the flour and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring until the flour absorbs the duck fat. Stir in the wine and olives and increase the heat to medium-high.

Return the duck pieces to the pot. Add the crisp pancetta, thyme and bay leaves, cayenne, balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, and stock. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and continue cooking an additional 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the duck is fork tender. Remove from the heat and skim as much duck fat as possible from the top of the pot, using a bulb-baster or ladle. Remove the thyme and bay leaves and discard. Adjust the seasoning, return the pot to low heat, and keep warm. If made a day in advance, you can eliminate skimming the fat. Transfer the stew to a large bowl, bring to room temperature, cover tightly, and refrigerate. The fat will rise to the top and harden, making it easy to remove before you reheat.

In a large pot, bring 1 gallon of water to a rolling boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and pour into a warm serving bowl. Immediately toss with the Parmigiano. Transfer the duck to a warm, deep-welled platter. Serve the duck and its sauce with the pasta.


Brown Duck Stock:
Adapted from Mario Batali

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 1/2 pounds Duck bones
3 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 onions, coarsely chopped
4 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 bunch parsley stems

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil over high heat until smoking. Add all the Duck parts and brown all over, stirring to avoid burning. Remove the duck and reserve. Add the carrots, onions, and celery to the pot and cook until soft and browned. Return the chicken to the pot and add 3 quarts of water, the tomato paste, peppercorns, and parsley. Stir with a wooden spoon to dislodge the browned duck and vegetables bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring almost to a boil, then reduce heat and cook at a low simmer until reduced by half, about 2 hours, occasionally skimming excess fat. Remove from heat, strain, and press on the solids with the bottom of a ladle to extract out all liquids. Stir the stock to facilitate cooling and set aside. Refrigerate stock in small containers for up to a week or freeze for up to a month.

Yield: 1 1/2 quarts



Claypot Rice With Chinese Sausage
adapted from Serious Eats

Printable Version

4 links Chinese Duck Liver Sausage
1 cup rice
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup of thinly sliced vegetables, such as bok choy, if desired
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Cut the sausage on a bias into 1/4 inch sections. Alternatively, dice the sausage if you prefer a finer mixture of rice and pork.

Over low heat, slowly heat a medium-sized claypot on the stove, taking care to do so gradually to prevent the pot from cracking. Add the sausage and sauté. Stir around occasionally to brown the sausage, gradually rendering the fat. With chopsticks or a slotted spoon, remove the sausage from the pot.

Add the rice and stir around, toasting the grains slightly. Add the pieces of sausage back to the pot. Add the salt. If desired, add the finely chopped vegetables.

Bring the water to a gentle simmer. Put on the lid and simmer over low heat, for about forty minutes, until the bottom of the rice develops a slightly charred crust and the rest of the rice has just finished cooking through.



Chinese Duck Liver Sausage
Adapted from Herblady (have no idea who this is and the recipe is posted on mycookingblog.com)

Printable Version

1 lb boneless pork loin cut into cubes
2 duck livers
fat from 2 ducks, about 1/4 cup
clove garlic, ground
1 shallot, ground
2 tsp ground soy bean paste
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 tbsp Hoisin sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp spice salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
4 feet sausage casings
Hoisin sauce
1 tsp canola, olive or peanut oil

Place all parts of the meat grinder and sausage making attachment in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Mix all of the ingredients (except for the sausage casings) and place in a stainless steel bowl in the refrigerater for 15 minutes.
Pull sausage casing over the sausage attachment like a stocking, gathering it up as you go, leave about 3 inches at the end. (tie off the end with kitchen string)
Assemble the meat grinder and pass the ingredients through at coarse grind. Pass ground ingredients through a second time on a fine grind.
Attach sausage attachment to meat grinder and stuff sausage taking care to just drop the meat into the shute without pushing it in.
When all the meat has passed through, leave about three inches at the end and tie off with kitchen string.
Twist into links and tie off. Prick links with a skewer a couple of times.
Heat oil in a nonstick pan and saute until internal temperature of sausages reaches 155.
Slice and serve with hoisin sauce for dipping.