Chef John Folse’s recipe here.
Inspired by http://www.foodrepublic.com/recipes/andouille/
Ingredients
1 onion, finely diced
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground mace [substituted is Nutmeg and/or All Spice]
1/2 teaspoon freshly dried thyme (hang up a bunch of fresh thyme for a few days until dry)
1 tablespoon salt
4 3/4 pounds pork, ground fine
6 1/2 – 10 feet hog middles or natural sausage casings
Directions
Using a mortar and pestle, grind the onion and garlic to a paste with the spices, thyme and salt. Mix with the pork, then cover and leave in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours.
A couple of hours before you plan to mince the meat, spread it out on a baking tray in an even layer and place in the freezer to firm up. Then put it through the finest disk of a meat mincer. Mix well by hand to spread the seasonings evenly throughout the meat.
Soak the casings in warm water for 10 minutes, then drain. Rinse them by putting one end over the cold tap and running plenty of water through, then drain again. Fill the casings 20 inches at a time, using a sausage stuffer and tying off the sections with butcher’s string.
Place in a smoker and smoke at 194°F until the internal temperature of the sausage registers 140°F on a probe thermometer.
Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or vacuum pack and freeze.
Emeril’s recipe here http://emerils.com/125873/homemade-andouille-sausage
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt, 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 pound pork fat, cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup Essence
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon file powder
- 3/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Directions
- Combine the pork, pork fat, Essence, paprika, garlic, black pepper, salt, file, chili powder, red pepper, and cumin in a large bowl and mix well. Pass through a food grinder fitted with a coarse die. (Alternately, transfer in 2 batches to a food processor and process until finely ground.) Transfer to a large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
- To test the seasoning, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small skillet, and cook about 2 teaspoons of the mixture. Adjust seasoning, to taste.
- Using the sausage attachment on a mixer, stuff the meat into the casings, if being used. Twist and tie off to make 4-inch sausages. Alternately, shape into patties.
- Preheat a home smoker to 250 degrees F. Smoke the sausage for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the smoker and use as desired.
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon lard or peanut oil
- 3 1/2 pounds venison, pork, beef or other meat
- 1 1/2 pounds pork belly or fatty shoulder
- 33 grams kosher salt, about 3 tablespoons
- 4 grams Instacure No. 1, about a heaping teaspoon
- 25 grams dry milk, about 1/3 cup (optional)
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
- 2 teaspoons cayenne
- 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon clove
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon powdered mustard
- 1/2 cup red wine or beer (put in fridge to keep it cold)
- Hog casings
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Heat the lard or peanut oil in a small saute pan and cook the onions over medium heat until they are soft, translucent and slightly browned on the edges. Remove from the pan and let cool.
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While the onions are cooking, take about 10 to 15 feet of casings (typically three lengths) and submerge them in warm water.
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Make sure you remove as much silverskin as possible from your meat. Cut the meat and fat into 1 to 2 inch chunks and toss with the salt, Instacure, dry milk, garlic, cayenne, paprika, clove, allspice, thyme and powdered mustard. You need the Instacure No. 1 as a safety measure when you smoke the links; if you don’t plan on smoking them, you need not use this. You need the dry milk to help the links hold onto their moisture: If you skip this, they will still taste good, but they will shrivel up when you chill them. Put everything in a container and freeze for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until the mixture is 35°F or colder.
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Grind the onions, meat and fat through the coarse die. (If you are using the KitchenAid Food Grinder set the mixer on the No. 4 speed) Andouille is most typically a country-style, coarse sausage. If you want, you can even hand-mince the meat yourself. TIP: Hand-mince 1/4 of the meat and fat mixture to get a more interesting texture for your sausage.
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Make sure the mixture is very cold, about 30°F; you will probably need to freeze it again for a while. When it’s cold enough, take it out and add the chilled red wine or beer to the bowl and mix on the lowest setting for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, or with your very clean hands for 2 minutes. This turns what was essentially flavored ground meat into a cohesive sausage. The look of the meat will change as it binds to itself, and will look more like thick batter than ground meat and fat.
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If you are making patties, you’re done. Store each patty between pieces of wax paper and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then foil, before freezing. If you are making links, load up a sausage stuffer with the meat and fat. Rinse the casings by running warm water through them: You want to flush some salt and check for any holes in the casings. Thread an entire casing onto the stuffer and fill it slowly. Coil the filled casing as you go. Fill all the casings before making individual links.
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To make individual links, tie off one end of a casing. Compress the sausage inside it to fill that end link. Pinch off a length of link with one hand, and another link with the other to create a second link next to the end sausage. Flip this second link over to create the sausage. Gently compress the meat in both the end link and this second one. Flip the second link over several times to tighten it. Move down the coil and create two more links. This time, flip the link back toward you to tighten it. Repeat this process down the coil until you get to the end. Tie off the end link. Repeat with all the other casings.
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Hang your sausages to dry for an hour or more. Hang for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature, or up to overnight where your temperatures are below 45°F. I use a standard clothes drying rack to hang my links. When the sausages are hanging, use a large needle to pierce any spots on the links where there is air trapped underneath. Sterilize the needle in the flames of a gas burner or with a lighter until it glows. You need to pierce any trapped air or your links could burst when you cook them.
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Once the sausages have hung, smoke them for at least 3 to 4 hours. If you hot-smoke your links, pull them when they reach an internal temperature of 155°F. If your links don’t get to that temperature in time, you can either smoke them longer, or you can finish the cooking in an oven set at 200°F. Once they’re fully cooked, let them cool before freezing.
