help, I need input on a giving a sausage making demo/cooking class....

R

randi

Well-known member
one of my friends has been after me to teach her how to make Italian sausage - the real kind. another friend asked to be included. then.... he mentioned it to one of our finest chefs here and she asked if she could come and learn too. and then another chef heard about it and wants to learn too.

the sausage making class/demo is now for 4 people, 2 chefs, one resturant owner and a foodie friend. I'm planning on making 2 different sausages, maybe 3. I'm looking for tips and input to make this go smoothly and be fun at the same time.

it will be a tuesday afternoon, probably around 3pm. sausage is easy to make and I figure we can crank out 10 - 15 lbs. usually, I would just give some to my friends to take home but, under the circumstances, we will be cooking some up for tasting. sooo, since this is a cooking class, not a dinner party, I'm trying to decide what else I should do without over doing it.

I was thinking of sauteed onions as they are a nice compliment to sausage. maybe just a ceasar salad and crusty bread? any ideas are welcome. normally I wouldn't think twice about teaching someone how to make sausage, but having two great chefs over.... oh momma, talk about performance anxiety!!

TIA

 
Randi, I took a hands-on sausage-making class with "sausage king" Bruce Aidells a few years ago.

It was at a cooking school in the Sonoma wine country and at the conclusion of the class we retreated to the dining room where we were served a lunch of the various sausages we prepared along with a soup and a salad which contained some of the same sausages. Looking at my class recipes now...we were served a Southwest Green Chile Sausage and Cabbage Salad. And the soup was Tortilla, Vegetable, and Chorizo Soup. There was also french bread and butter and several types of wine.

It's been about 5 years since I took the class but one of the things which stands out most in my memory from the class was the importance of preparing and cooking a "test patty" to taste for seasoning prior to filling the casings with the sausage mixture.

If I can answer other questions for you, don't hesitate to ask. Feel free to send me a PM if you like.

 
oh, you are so right with that one....

Joyce sold her resturant several months ago and she is a dear friend and loves my cooking. she is the one who started all this. April has one of the best resturants around, she's a fantastic chef! I haven't met the other chef, Nanci. April said that no ever invites her to dinner because she is an accomplished chef. I assume it's probably the same for Nanci.

I thought about the peppers too but I'm making a more delicate sausage, the one with parsely and cheese. I thought it might distract from them. I love the sausage with onion & peppers sandwiches!

thanks for the vote of confidence smileys/smile.gif

 
thanks darlin, I PM'd you. I'm sure I'll think of more questions tomorrow. smileys/smile.gif

 
that tart sounds awesome! I love onion tarts. thanks for posting it...

I will probably make that another time, like real soon smileys/smile.gif it looks like a "keeper".

also, I want to keep the food very simple cause we'll be cranking out a lot of sausage and I don't want to take on too much and I want to showcase the sausage.

 
I was stunned to realize you could make easy tasty patties w/o grinding

I was craving apple sausage (which I can only get by making a special stop at Whole Foods) so we mixed up a batch that combined apples, ground chicken, ground pork with lots of sauteed onions and seasoning. (It was a combination of Emeril's recipe and a CL one, I think).

Tasting for seasoning is important and easy. Also, I thought the seasoning mellowed a bit by the next day.

Using a scoop, we portioned and flattened, then froze them uncooked.

They only took about 2 minutes to cook on the griddle and were delicious.

I've ground and tubed sausage, but for an easy breakfast/sandwich patty solution, this was a revelation to me.

 
Randi, I used to do this very thing- teach people to make sausage and

this is what I would serve after the Italian sausage was made. Most of the time I would cut the sausages in small chunks but sometimes I used it out of the casings so I could cook while the "students" were stuffing casings. This is something I made up to cook fast and smell good:

PASTA PRONTO (serves 2)

2 Italian sausages, cut up or out of casings
1 lb tortellini (refrigerated)
1 small chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 T butter
1 C cut-up broccoli (asparagus is nice too)
1/2 sliced red sweet pepper
1/2 C sliced black olives
1 C cream or half and half
1/2 C parmesan cheese
3 T chopped fresh basil

Cook tortellini; drain and set aside.
Melt butter in large pan. Sauté sausage, onion, garlic and broccoli until sausage is done. Drain off any grease you don't want.
Add pepper, olives and cream. Bring to a boil and add tortellini, parmesan and basil. Cook 5 minutes and serve.

 
Joe, I haven't been able to get the peppers out of my mind and I realized it's...

the green peppers that won't work that well with these sausages. I'm going to roast some red peppers the day before and do the traditional roasted peppers in olive oil and garlic and some anchovies for the brave. thanks bringing up the peppers again. smileys/smile.gif

 
I love breakfast sausage patties. thanks for the reminder of how easy they are smileys/smile.gif

 
REC: Apple Breakfast Sausage hereygo Marilyn, thought you might like to try this one....

this was posted waaay back when on Gail's by Elizabeth/LA

APPLE BREAKFAST SAUSAGE

1/2 lb. ground turkey
2 Tbsp. soft bread crumbs
1/2 c. shredded apple
1/4 tsp. leaf sage, crushed
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. paprika
dash of ground nutmeg

Mix the ingredients in a large bowl and shape
into 1/2-inch thick patties. Spray rack of
broiler pan with nonstick spray coating. Arrange
patties on unheated rack. Broil 4 to 5 inches
from the heat about 10 minutes or until no pink
remains; turn once. (Or spray a large skillet
with nonstick spray coating. Cook sausage over
medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until no pink
remains.) Makes 4
servings.

Per Serving: 101 Calories, 10 g. Protein, 3 g.
Carbohydrate, 5 g. Fat, 35 mg. Cholesterol, 116
mg. Sodium and 135 mg. Potassium.

 
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