Liverpool House Rabbit Sausage
When Fred travels, the first place he always goes is to a grocery store. Forget the idyllic markets and the virile butchers; he has this immense fascination with supermarkets. Nothing compares to landing in Paris at 9:00 A.M. and heading to the loaded yogurt aisle of a Monoprix. He feels the same when he’s visiting western Canada, checking out the sausage sections. Far from artisanal anything, we’re sure, but the array is crazy: midget baloney, cotton-sack summer sausage, skinless Mennonite, headcheese, jerky of all kinds, and on and on. It’s a fun challenge to take an old commercial sausage and just make it honest again: good meats and real smoke. This one we made with Emma, who was chef de cuisine at Liverpool House at the time. We suggest the use of muslin bags for this sausage in particular. You might find them online, or, as a proper Joe Beefer, you can sew them yourself (see Note). The penetration of smoke is much better and you don’t need a stuffer. You just do it by hand.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 6 sausages, each about 8 inches (20 cm) long and 3 inches (7.5 cm) in diameter
Ingredients
POACHING INGREDIENTS
Preparation
Step 1
In a large bowl, combine the rabbit, pork loin, pork cheek, salt, water, powdered milk, dry mustard, sugar, pepper, and Prague powder and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
Step 2
Fit your meat grinder with a plate with medium-size holes (3/8 inch/10 mm). Slowly pass the meat mixture through the grinder. Using your hands, stuff 1 pound (455 g) of meat into each casing by inserting small balls of the meat mixture and squeezing the casing to compact the mixture. (If your casings are too long, just trim them to size.) Tie ’em up with butcher string. Place the sausages on a tray, cover with a cloth, and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
Step 3
To smoke the sausages, preheat the smoker to a chamber temperature of 200°F (93°C). (To smoke your sausages on a barbecue, follow the smoking instructions for the Hot Délicieux Sandwich, page 151.) Hang the sausages in the smoker (we hang them from a grill using small stainless-steel hooks) and smoke them until they reach a core temperature of 152°F (67°C). That’s about 3 hours at 185°F/85°C (the chamber temperature will drop a bit once the sausages are inside). We figure if you have a smoker, a meat thermometer is probably not such a big deal for you. Be sure to spray the sausages with water every 30 minutes. When the sausages are finished smoking, let them cool for a day.
Step 4
Alternatively, poach the sausages in simmering water with the onions and bay leaves for 30 to 40 minutes, or until they reach a core temperature of 152°F (67°C).
Step 5
Serve the sausages with a pocketknife, crackers, and the stone fruit preserve, preferably while on a fishing trip. The sausages will keep for a week (if poached) to 10 days (if smoked) wrapped in aluminum foil in the refrigerator.
NOTE
Step 6
To make your own casings, cut unbleached muslin cloth into 14 by 6 1/2-inch (35 by 16.5-cm) rectangles. Fold in half lengthwise and sew along the long and one short side to make a 14 by 3 1/4-inch (35 by 8-cm) bag. Wash the casings before use.
