#8, #9, & #10 - The Birthday Bangers

True love... obviously.

Fellow force-meat aficionados,

Allow me to apologize. I have been most remiss. S.P. celebrated a very special birthday this fall, and it celebrated in classic S.P. fashion: with free-flowing libations, unhinged hips and pounds upon pounds of everyone's favorite intestine-filling treat. Notable guests included former United Nations Honcho Boutros Boutros Ghali (the Boutros so nice, they named him twice), Food Network star and hair bleach industry spokesman Guy Fieri, and hopelessly corrupt FIFA Chief J. Sepp Blatter.

So extensive were the celebrations, that the bleach-blonde Fieri eventually passed out in the chest freezer, while Boutros Boutros exchanged mild fisticuffs with the obstinate FIFA chief over the prospect of goal-line video review (it is a testament to the intransigence of Mr. Blatter that a former UN leader chooses violence in attempting to correct the world's injustices).  Needless to say, it took months for the S.P. editorial staff to regain consciousness, and the massive clean-up effort has only just been completed.

In an effort to be a more forward-thinking corportation, S.P. has chosen to present the raw footage and coverage of the event without much further editing.  Rather than being responsible enough to admit our self-inflicted delay, get over ourselves, and write a damn blog post, we choose to focus on future sausages, hope, puppies, and children.

Ancho Chili-Honey Pork Sausage

Meat

•  Pork Shoulder
   
  Spices & Seasonings
• Ancho Chili Powder
• Coarse Salt
• Paprika
• Oregano
• Cumin
• Mombasa Pepper
• Fresh Cilantro
• Chopped
• Honey

It makes as much sense to restrict cilantro to guacamole, as it does to restrict beer-drinking to breakfast.

A sweet (force)meat mixture.

Before the mixing, a patty just for taste... ok, maybe just for two tastes.

After stuffing, the Ancho-Honey Pork sausage was simply beautiful, with a deep parika- and ancho-inspired red, reminiscent of blood, and smelling of passion. 

With curves like these, it's no wonder these sausages were a hot item.

 And what is that other sausage in the above picture?  Why, how good of you to ask.  S.P.'s second birthday sausage was an Ethiopian-style Kitfo sausage.  But before we get to that one, let's take a look at how the Ancho behaved in the heat of the moment.

A quick stab with the techno-thingy.

Oooo, I see perfect pork!

Even the blind squirrel finds nuts?  The same is true of sausage-makers.... even the idiot can tell when a sausage is ripe for the eating.

After a quick cool, a cut:

Yup, turns out the idiot was right.

Now, back to that Ethiopian-style sausage.

Ethiopian Kitfo-Style Sausage

Meat

• Beef Chuck Roast
• Pork Shoulder

It is worth noting here that this is about as Ethiopian-style as it is vegetarian-style, because they tend not to eat much pork in Ethiopia.  But I no longer live in Ethiopia, so... no pork, no sausage.

Spices & Seasonings

• Kitfo Spice
• Simmered in rendered Ghee

mmmm gheee-ey

While delicious in flavor, all the kitfo spice are not as texturally appealing.

• Strained, with some fines re-added

Helloooo flavored oil.

• Berberre
• Coarse Salt
• Garlic
• Grnd. Ginger

A little brown spice mix never hurt anybody... you can even toss it in whiskey and call it medicinal.  Hot Toddy's, anyone?

All I can say is that this was one oily sausage. 

In case you were wondering, no extra oil was harmed in the making of this sausage... that's all ghee, pork fat, and suet.

This next shot illustrates the way the guests at S.P.'s Birthday felt about the sausages on offer:

True love... obviously.

And what about the 3rd birthday banger?

Chicken Pesto Sausage

Meat

• Boneless Chicken Thighs
• Chicken Hearts

Whoever said that chickens don't have hearts clearly never took biology, tried laying an egg, or made sausage.

Spices & Seasonings

• Pesto
• Fresh basil

God's greens.

• Pine Nuts
• Toasted

God's Nuts (God, please forgive me... for toasting your nuts).

• Parmigiano


• Grated

God.

• Garlic
• Sautéed in Olive Oil

In France, they call this a Garlic Royale

• Salt
• Mixed Peppercorns
• Ground

You are taunting me with the browning.

Whooop!  Pesto and sausage - two of life's finer things.  Well, that was it for the three Birthday Bangers.  So now, some uncut footage of the event:

S.P. ponders forcemeat while sharpening his boning knife.

S.P. checking the sausage, forgetting the adage that a watched grill never broils.

Dignitaries gather to observe the cooking process.

S.P. attempts to explain how one accesses Rocky-Mountain Oysters.

After looking away for long enough, it appears that the sausage has broiled.

An illicit snapshot of one of S.P.'s many hidden spice bunkers (Weapons to Make Deliciousness).

On the brink of running out, S.P. briefly considers turning one of the muckie-muck guests into more sausage.

In the end, S.P. just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

The Ancho-Honey pork sausage was far and away one of S.P.'s most successful sausages. The other two weren't bad either.  Thanksgiving is around the corner, so stay tuned for venison....

-S.P.