merguez "style" sausages

[cannyfradock]

I went against traditional all Lamb as the lamb fat tends to lie heavy after eating. I tried to get an authentic merguez taste but I used pork ( I know....it's wrong) to keep the sausage moist, firm and not so heavy.

Here's my version....

1lb shoulder of lamb (7%) fat and 1lb of belly pork(20%) fat ground on a medium plate.

1 1/4 ozs of pure flaked sea salt
14 grinds of black pepper
3 tsp sweet paprica
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp dried oregano
6 cloves
1 tsp sugar
......all ground together, then brought together to a slack paste with(recipes said....chilled water,others said chilled red wine some said both and others stated mix dry.....I brought the spices together with only thing that was chilled in the fridge...chilled cider!!)

1/2 green bell pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 med red onion
2 med. green chillies
All pulsed very fine to make 6 heaped tsp of which I used 4 of them.

1 tsp harissa paste

Mix all together to produce about 25 (used lamb casings) sausages.

Belly pork: de-rind and minced separately by the butcher along with the lamb (I would have minced it myself, but the butcher offered to do it for me). Percentages given are in rough ball park figure of what I asked from the butcher and what I also believe to be true (-ish).

picasaweb.google.co.uk/cannyfradock/TerrySChipolata?authkey=Gv1sRgCPbUsuXWlIP1TA#5390335002033805970


Frank Sinatra style Merguez sausages done.....'my way'.

[turkey]

they look particularly tasty, wife is off sausages atm which makes me want them even more ;-)

I like the idea of a 50:50 mix, the taste of the lamp and succulent belly should make for good eating.

just had to look up harissa which seems right up my street, will gave to keep an eye out.

just git a kitchenaid for my birthday, its tempting to investigate the sausage and mincer parts.

[cannyfradock]

Turkey

I've made quite a few batches of sausages with a mincer/sausage maker I bought from "Lakeland" in Cardiff. It's only a D.I.Y. mincer/sausage stuffer but has done me proud....it cost £23.

I've learned so much from forum.sausagemaking.org/index.php ....here's the Merguez general thread... forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=2035&highlight= .......and this is thread I started myself... forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=5561&highlight=

Terry

[Fat Bob]

Harissa is great stuff, and cheap as chips, it used not to be available in UK so whenever we went to France we would buy lots of tins or tubes. Got some strange looks from customs officers who didn't know what it was. Never be without a tube in the fridge.

[minesamojito]

They look fantastic. I love merguez sausages.
Cheers
Marcus

[rivergirl]

they look fantastic !!! I love merguez sausages.
Belazu do a lovely rose petal harissa and as bob says here in france its as cheap as chips but homemade is good !! make up a big batch and freeze it in bun tins or ice cube trays ( when frozen they can easily be put in a container.
AND you can tweak the spices to suit yourself. I use smoked paprika and you could also smoke the chillies I also use more garlic than in the recipe ( and thats smoked as well ! )

!teasp paprika
12 fresh chillis or 10 dry ones rehydrated
4 cloves garlic
1 teasp salt
2 tblsp olive oil
2 teasp ground coriander
1 teasp ground caraway
1 teasp ground cumin
whizz up and freeze.

there are loads of different recipes out there so have a look around.