Andouille

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.04

Title: ANDOUILLE
Categories: Cajun, Meats, Appetizers
Yield: 20 servings

1 1/2 ea Yards large sausage casing,
1 x About 2-3 inches wide
4 lb Lean fresh pork
2 lb Pork fat
3 1/3 tb Finely minced garlic
2 tb Salt
1/2 ts Freshly ground black pepper
1/8 ts Cayenne
1/8 ts Chili powder
1/8 ts Mace
1/8 ts Allspice
1/2 ts Dried thyme
1 tb Paprika
1/4 ts Ground bay leaf
1/4 ts Sage 5
1 x Colgin's liquid hickory smok

Andouille was a great favorite in nineteenth-century
New Orleans. This thick Cajun sausage is made with
lean pork and pork fat and lots fo garlic. Sliced
about 1/2 inch thick and greilled, it makes a
delightful appetizer. It is also used in a superb
oyster and andouille gumbo poplular in Laplace, a
Cajun town about 30 miles from New Orleans that calls
itself the Andouille Capital of the World. (about 6
pounds of 20 inch sausage, 3 to 3 1/2 inches thick)
Soak the casing about an hour in cold water to
soften it and to loosen the salt in which it is
packed. Cut into 3 yard lengths, then place the
narrow end of the sausage stuffer in one end of the
casing. Place the wide end of the stuffer up against
the sink faucet and run cold water through the inside
of the casing to remove any salt. (Roll up the casing
you do not intend to use; put about 2 inches of coarse
salt in a large jar, place the rolled up casing on it,
then fill the rest of the jar with salt. Close
tightly and refrigerate for later use.)
Cut the meat and fat into chunks about 1/2 inch
across and pass once through the coarse blade of the
meat grinder. Combine the pork with the remaining
ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with a wooden
spoon. Cut the casings into 26 inch lengths and stuff
as follows: Tie a knot in each piece of casing about 2
inches from one end. Fit the open end over the tip
of the sausage stuffer and slide it to about 1 inch
from the wide end. Push the rest of the casing onto
the stuffer until the top touches the knot. (The
casing will look like accordian folds on the stuffer.)
Fit the stuffer onto the meat grinder as directed on
the instructions that come with the machine, or hold
the wide end of the stuffer against or over the
opeoning by hand. Fill the hopper with stuffing. Turn
the machine on if it is electric and feed the
stuffing gradually into the hopper; for a manual
machine, push the stuffing through with a wooden
pestle. The sausage casing will fill and inflate
gradually. Stop filling about 1 1/4 inches from the
funnel end and slip the casing off the funnel,
smoothing out any bumps carefully with your fingers
and being careful not to push the stuffing out of the
casing. Tie off the open end of the sausage tightly
with a piece of string or make a knot in the casing
itself. Repeat until all the stuffing is used up.
To cook, slice the andouille 1/2 inch thick and
grill in a hot skillet with no water for about 12
minutes on each side, until brown and crisp at the
edges. From: Ellen Cleary

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