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Beef and Veal Sausages (These are each made)
484. These are each made in the same way as for pork (483), but there is generally a larger proportion of spice; the herbs added are marjoram, thyme, and parsley instead of sage.
Sausages are dressed either by frying, broiling, or toasting, and are generally served on toast. (See Frying, Broiling, and Toasting.)
This is a variation entry rather than a standalone formula: the method belongs to the pork sausage recipe it points back to, and only the seasoning changes. What it leaves unstated is mostly a matter of fat, which beef and veal do not supply on their own.
- Fat is the hingePork sausage works because the meat carries roughly a third fat. Lean beef and especially veal do not, and a sausage made from them alone cooks out dry and crumbly. Work in pork back fat or fatty belly to bring the mix to about 25-30 per cent fat by weight.
- No quantities are givenThe entry assumes you are reading it alongside the pork sausage recipe. Take the salt from there, or reckon on about 1.5-2 per cent salt by weight of the total meat and fat, which is the standard range for fresh sausage.
- "A larger proportion of spice"The book does not say which spices; pepper with mace or nutmeg, sometimes a little allspice, is the usual combination in recipes of this kind. A teaspoon of mixed spice per pound of meat is a reasonable starting point, adjusted by frying a small patty and tasting before you fill any casings.
- HerbsMarjoram, thyme and parsley here in place of sage. Use them fresh and chopped fine if you can; dried marjoram and thyme go at about a third the volume of fresh.
- Keep everything coldMeat, fat, bowl and blades should be near freezing when you grind and mix. Warm fat smears rather than staying in discrete particles, and the cooked sausage then weeps grease and turns grainy.
- Frying and broilingModerate heat throughout - a hot pan splits the skins before the centre is done. Allow 12-15 minutes in a pan, turning, and cook to 160F at the centre. "Toasting" here means holding them on a fork or in a toaster before an open fire, which has no modern equivalent beyond a low grill.
- CasingsNatural hog casings, soaked and rinsed, are still sold by butchers and online. The mixture can equally be shaped into skinless patties.
- ServingOn toast, as directed - the bread catches the fat. Reckon two or three sausages a person, and cook them the day they are made or freeze them; fresh sausage with no cure keeps only a day or two chilled.