Girl Hunter Part 29

6. Put the sausage casings in a bowl of warm water for at least 30 minutes, then drain out the water. Carefully run water through each casing and look for water that comes out of any holes. Cut out any portions of the casings that have holes.

7. Bring the stock and optional thyme, bay leaf, and whole garlic to a simmer in a small saucepan and poach about 1 tablespoon of sausage to test for seasoning and texture. Adjust as necessary.

8. Stuff the mixture into the pork casings 6 to 8 inches long, p.r.i.c.king with a sterilized needle as you go, to prevent air bubbles. Twist off the casing into links and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.

9. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 170F and pour the stock in a roasting pan, baking dish, or pot wide enough to hold the sausages in one layer. Pour the stock over the sausages and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 160F on a meat thermometer.

10. Take the sausage out of the liquid immediately to let cool and so that it stops cooking in the hot liquid. Let the poaching liquid cool separately to room temperature. Then, once it is room temperature, store the sausage in the poaching liquid in the refrigerator and reheat in small amounts as needed.

Chorizo Sausage

Makes 5 pounds This chorizo can take multiple forms, and this is a good one to make if you don't have natural pork casings to make these into fresh sausages. Chorizo can be broken up into pieces as part of a ca.s.serole or chili, or it can also be made into a patty and seared with eggs for breakfast. Chorizo can also be dried until it loses 40 to 50 percent of its weight, when it is eaten like charcuterie. But I always start with a batch of this as fresh sausage, then turn any extra meat mixture into other forms.

3 pounds hog b.u.t.t, cubed

2 pounds hog or domestic pig fat, cubed

1/8 cup kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pink curing salt #1 if cooking while fresh, or pink curing salt #2 if allowing to air dry (see Note, page 164)

1/8 cup sweet paprika

1/8 cup ancho chile powder

1 teaspoon coa.r.s.ely ground black peppercorns

1 teaspoon coa.r.s.ely ground c.u.min

1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup chilled red wine

1/4 cup chilled tequila

Natural pork casings

1 tablespoon grape seed oil

1. Combine the pork, fat, salt, paprika, chile powder, black pepper, c.u.min, and cayenne. Let sit overnight, if possible.

2. Before you are ready to grind the meat, put it in the freezer for about 1 hour, until the meat is firm but not frozen.

3. Grind the meat and fat through a 1/8-inch die, taking care to alternate pieces of meat and fat. Gradually add the minced garlic while grinding.

4. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the meat for about 1 minute, until it is cohesive when smeared. Gradually add the wine and tequila to make the mixture uniform. You can also use your hands here, but it will take longer to get a cohesive mixture.

5. Mix until the meat pulls away from the sides of the bowl and the sausage feels somewhat tight.

6. Put the sausage casings in a bowl of warm water for at least 30 minutes, then drain out the water. Carefully run water through each casing and look for water that comes out of any holes. Cut out any portions of the casings that have holes.

7. Saute about 1 tablespoon of sausage in the oil to test for seasoning and texture. Adjust as necessary.

8. Stuff the mixture into the pork casings, p.r.i.c.king with a sterilized needle as you go, to prevent air bubbles. Twist off the casing into links 6 to 8 inches long, and let sit overnight in the refrigerator, after which point you can freeze them or store in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

Hog Backstrap, Chops, or Tenderloin

Serves 6 to 8 This recipe is really an ode to how simply prepared game meat can be, when treated with a good brine. The leanest cuts-chops, backstraps, and tenderloins-are best seared with my favorite hog brine and finished with my silky beurre blanc (page 228). It can also be served with homemade applesauce (page 233) or mint vinaigrette (page 227). This recipe can be done at home or on a campfire with a hot skillet.

2 to 3 pounds hog backstrap, chops, tenderloin, brined (page 219)

2 to 4 tablespoons grape seed oil

1. For the tenderloin and backstrap, truss them as you would a roast before cooking. The chops can also be tied around the meat and secured at the bone to maintain a uniform chop when sliced.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Sear the meat in a skillet in some oil until browned on all sides. Transfer to the oven and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160F. Remove and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes, covered in tinfoil, then serve.

Also try: javelina, antlered game (cooked rare)

Smoked Whole Hog

Serves 15 to 40 One of the questions I get most often is, "What is your favorite wild game dish?" I always describe this one. From the first moment I tasted it, it earned itself a special place in the crevices of my mind. This whole wild hog is marinated for days and then smoked for many hours. Bacon and apples and mola.s.ses are also involved. It is essential in this recipe how the animal was killed, where it was shot, how it was dressed and cleaned. All of that needs to be done in an impeccable way. Cleanliness can be helped with a good marinade that includes a lot of acid in the form of vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, and orange juice, in any combination. The size of your hog will vary, and so you have to rely on intuition when it comes to how much marinade to use. You can marinate the hog for one to eight days, and the acid will clean it and also impart flavor. You can marinate it in an ice chest if your hog is up to about 80 pounds on the hoof or 45 pounds cleaned. Or you could even use a garbage bag.

The smoking time varies, depending on the size of your hog as well. It could be six hours, it could be twelve. The temperature should never go above 250F in your smoker, and it is best to heat the coals to a uniform temperature before you put in the hog, to create an even, radiant heat. What smoker should you use? There are many large barrel smokers on the market, or if you want to be particularly traditional, you can dig a pit in the ground and smoke the hog there, in the Italian fas.h.i.+on.

Although you can heat with charcoal, pecan wood is best if you have it in your region of the woods, or you can use a tree indigenous to your area. In the Southwest it is mesquite, in Was.h.i.+ngton State it is apple wood, and in the Midwest it is hickory. The following instructions are guidelines more than an exact recipe. You must go with your intuition and your hog to determine the right amounts of the ingredients.

Marinade: 1 whole hog, dressed, skinned, head and hooves removed

1 to 2 cups Worcesters.h.i.+re sauce

1/4 to 1/2 cup Cajun salt seasoning

3 to 4 onions, peeled and cut in half

10 to 20 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

5 to 8 sprigs fresh rosemary