The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Hillview Farm on January 15, 2016, 11:07:46 am
-
I'm thinking of sending a ewe to slaughter and making her into sausages.
Any flavour ideas?
Of course the classic mint.
Would apricot work? Anyone experimented?
-
I think apricot would work with perhaps a little paprika as a flavour enhancer as you might find in moroccan lamb. You could substitute cous cous for pinhead rusk and really play around with the theme ;)
Apples and prunes will also work along with cranberry but I personally like more of a breakfast sausage rather than a fruity one.
Mint works well as you say but its often the sugar in the mint sauce which brings out the flavour of the lamb so you could try tomato and basil with a little sugar and garlic salt? for an italian style sausage.
You could make a greek Kofta style with fetta and oragano and a little mint sauce and shape some into burgers.
I like rosemary and cider with mine when I roast it so you could try that too. I think its more your ratios which will be the secret to their success as much as than the flavour combinations. Consider the fat percentage too....will you be using pork fat rather than lamb?
And do let us know how they turn out. :thumbsup: [size=78%] [/size]
-
Mint on its own, whether fresh or dried, is seriously disappointing. It adds nothing whatsoever to the flavour. If you want a herb sausage, you could use a generous amount of Herbes de Provence and black pepper which go so well with mutton/hogget/lamb.
I have used apricots, minced, with Moroccan spices which were fairly nice, but my favourite is hot chilli. Lakeland also do a good spicy sausage mix which goes very well with sheep meat.
If you are making the sausages yourself, and are trying to work out how much flavouring to use, then imagine how much you want per sausage, and work up from there. As you add the herbs and spices, test fry a spoonful to see if you've got it right.
I don't add fat and as my sheep are primitives which carry very little body fat, the sausages can be a little dry. They benefit from the addition of rusk, or you can make a spelt loaf and use the crumbs from that.
-
How about standard haggis ingredients - black pepper, spices, oatmeal and onion - and make a form of mini-haggis?
You're not mincing all of it are you? Roast leg of mutton is sublime and mutton stew and dumplings is perfect for this weather!
-
Sorry for the late reply.
Thank you all for the suggestions. Will try them all and let you know.
I'll be taking the to a very good friend of mine who is a butcher. The whole ewe will go into the mix! No idea how many sausages I'll get from a charollais ewe