Bamberg Style Sausage

Today I have made a German style sausage. It is nicely spiced with cardamom, mace and white pepper which for me, is a killer combination. I am a big fan of both cardamom and mace and look for any excuse to use them in my cooking. Some of you may not be familiar with these spices, so i will give a brief explanation of what they are and how they can be used.

(from the Encyclopedia Britannica)
Mace, spice consisting of the dried aril, or lacy covering, of the nutmeg fruit of Myristica fragrans, a tropical evergreen tree. Mace has a slightly warm taste, and a fragrance similar to that of nutmeg. It is used to flavour  bakery, meat and fish dishes. In the processing of mace, the crimson aril is removed from the nutmeg that it envelops and is flattened out and dried for 10 to 14 days; its colour changes to pale yellow, orange, of tan.

I love mace and I think of it like the more flavorful cousin of nutmeg. I use it a lot in curries and dishes lamb. I have a great recipe for a non sweet lamb korma that gets finished with ground mace and it would'nt taste the same without it.

(from the Encyclopedia Britannica)
Cardamom, also spelled cardamon, spice consisting of whole or ground dried fruit, or seeds, of Elettaria cardamomum, a herbaceous perennial of the ginger family. The seeds have a warm, slightly pungent, and highly aromatic flavour somewhat reminiscent of camphor. They are popular seasoning in South Asian dishes, particularly curries, and in Scandinavian pastries.

You might think that these seem like pretty exotic spices for a pork and potato central European country like Germany, but you can thank our friends in the Hanseatic league for their world spanning importations. They are also responsible for the existence of the popular Berlin snack the currywurst. The trading of the Hanseatic league brought to Germany and most northern European countries a great new variety of spices and foodstuffs from around the world.

So back to the sausages.

Sausage Stuffing Sounds: Saviours, Crucifire (2006)

Bamberg Style Sausage

-2.2 kg Coarsely Ground Pork Shoulder
-12 Thick Slices Smoked Bacon (finely diced)
-1/2 cup Milk 3.25%
-1-2 Large Eggs
-2-4 tsp. Salt (to taste and depends on the saltiness of the bacon)
-2 tsp. Ground White Pepper
-2 tsp. Ground Mace
-2 tsp. Ground Cardamom
-1 tsp. Marjoram

After stuffing the sausages I like to place them in a bowl and let them sit overnight uncovered in the fridge, it helps the casings dry out and shrink slightly.

Enjoy
-Mark

Sonnenblumenbrot

Its my mom's birthday today and I baked her a Sunflower Seed Bread.

Baking Tunes: Pentagram, First Daze Here

Recipe:

Starter
-1 cup Luke Warm Water
-1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
-2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
-1/4 tsp. sugar

Combine ingredients in a bowl and form a wet dough. Cover bowl with damp cloth or cling wrap and let sit for 24 hours.

-3 cups Unbleached White Bread Flour
-1/4 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
-2 tsp. Salt
-1/2 cup Raw Sunflower Seeds (plus extra to cover top of bread)

Combine starter with flour and form a rough dough. Let sit for 5 minutes then knead thoroughly and combine with sunflower seeds. Place in a dry bowl, cover and let rise till double in size. Turn out dough onto a floured baker's peel. Slightly moisten top of dough and cover with sunflower seeds and carefully cut slashes in dough.
Place in preheated 450-500 F oven for 20 minutes, then turn down to 400 F for another 15 minutes till hollow sounding when tapped.

Enjoy
-Mark

Sunday Night Whole Wheat

Today I am making a whole wheat country loaf. I've modeled this recipe on a base bread recipe from Julia Child, with a few changes. I made a starter yesterday and let it ferment over night. I basically make the same starter for every bread, substituting the type of flour to reflect the bread i am making. While I don't have enough experience making bread to tell the difference, I am led to believe that a bread made with a "sponge" starter like this one makes for a better flavor.

Baking Tunes:
-Acid King, Busse Woods (1997)
-Blitzkrieg, A Time of Change (1985)

The recipe for the Starter:
-1 cup Unbleached White Bread Flour
-1 cup Tepid Water
-2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
-1/4 tsp. sugar
-1 cup. Cold Milk (added 24 hours after)

Here is a picture of the pizza stone that I use when ever I baked anything. It's pretty dark because I have had it for about 4 years and use it a lot. It is very vital to use one of these to help bake your bread properly. Not only is it helpful in providing consistent heat from the bottom of the bread, it also gives the bread a smoky flavor you would normally only get from a wood burning oven. It will also help keep the heat near the bread more stable in cheaper, less reliable ovens like mine. Do not clean it or take it out of the oven while still warm because it may crack (let it cool down in the oven). You can find one of these at any kitchen supply store or order one online.

Ok so here's the recipe for the Whole Wheat Country Loaf:

-1 Starter (see above)
-21/2 cups Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
-21/2 cups Unbleached White Bread Flour
-3/4 cup Rye Flour
-1/4 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
-4 tsp. Salt

Mix starter with flour and salt and form a rough dough. I do all my bread mixing and kneading by hand, you can use a mixer like a Kitchen Aid if you prefer. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow moisture to absorb. Knead dough till smooth or close to smooth. Place in a dry bowl, cover and let rise to double its size in a warm area free of drafts. Punch down dough and knead briefly to redistribute yeast. Rise again in bowl till doubled in size. Now I transfer the dough to a floured bamboo bowl and I proof the dough for an hour on it to give the surface a little textural character (jury is still out on whether its worth it or not). Flip the dough on to a floured baker's peel or whatever you are going to use to transfer the dough into the oven. Then I lightly flour the top of the dough and cut slashes in the surface to allow for expansion. Bake in a 450-500 F pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, then turn down the heat to 400 F for another 15-20 minutes till nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool before cutting.

Enjoy
-Mark

Saucisse!!!

So in the spirit of this being a blog about both bread and sausage making I have produced some fine sausages. While bread making is pretty simple and can be pulled off with minimal equipment (i.e. just an oven), sausages making will require at minimum something to help stuff the casings. I used a Kitchen Aid with a sausage making attachment kindly lent to me by my brother and sister in-law. I have in the past tried using this device to both grind and stuff the sausages, however it is not a very convincing grinder (I get the meat ground at the butcher). It will stuff the sausage, but it is not very user friendly. My local butcher is holding a used Italian made sausage stuffer that I hopefully will purchase in the near future. So on to the recipe.....

I kind of came up with this recipe on the fly. Its not really culturally specific, its more of a "things i have in spice rack" and "greatest hits of my flavor palette" type of sausage. Lets call it the Wrangler.

The Wrangler
-1 kg Pork Shoulder (coarsely ground)
-Natural Sheep or Pig casings
-1 Egg
-60 ml Beer, White Wine or Chicken Stock
-1 tsp. White Pepper
-2 tsp. Salt
-1 tsp. Ground Mace
-1 tsp. Ground Cardamom
-1 tsp. Marjoram
-1 tsp. Ground Coriander Seeds
-4 Red Chilies (finely chopped)
-3 Cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

The Wrangler

Baking Day

Well the beast has risen. The dough seems to be pretty stable and should make for a good bread. I have risen the dough twice to double its size and will bake it on a stone for 30-40 minutes at 450 f.

CABBAGE RYE BREAD
The Recipe:
-1 Starter (see previous post)
-4 cups Bread Flour
-2 cups Rye Flour
-4 Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten
-2 Tbsp Sugar
-3 tsp Salt
-1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme leaves
-2 tsp. Yeast
-2 cups Scalded Milk
-400g Chopped Cooked Cabbage or Sauerkraut

So here they are, two loaves of Cabbage Rye Bread. The lower one has caraway seeds on it and the other was left plain with a dusting of flour.

Enjoy
-Mark

A New Starter

So i have made a starter for a cabbage rye bread!!!! Sounds weird i know, but i think the kraut will make for a moist bread and the flavor will match well with the rye flour. The starter is drier than what i am used to, but we shall see tomorrow.

Here's the recipe for the starter:
-1 cup rye flour
-1 cup whole wheat bread flour
-1/2 tsp active dry yeast
-1 cup tepid water

First Post!

Ever since I've been able to remember I have always loved food. In recent years it has become evident that I have a growing passion for food and felt i needed to start sharing that passion with more people. So in the spirit of all things internet I will try and share my experiences with two of my favorite and recent obsessions......Bread and Sausages. I will attempt to document my successes and failures in the grand old arts of bread and sausage making.

-Mark