Rosminah’s Pork and Persimmon (or Apple) Sausage
I used to live in England, where a popular sausage is pork and apple. But here it’s not so easy to find—chicken and apple, yes, but not pork. This is actually what started my desire to make my own sausages. If I couldn’t buy them, I’d make them. And I did.
I also have a persimmon tree, and Fuyu persimmons can be used interchangeably with apples. When the persimmons are abundant on the tree or at the market, I make this sausage with persimmons. But you can use apples or any combination of apples and crunchy persimmons.
Rosminah’s Pork and Persimmon (or Apple) Sausage
Rosminah’s Pork and Persimmon Sausage combines the sweetness of persimmons (or apples) with savory pork. With easy-to-follow steps and fresh ingredients, create delicious homemade sausage perfect for roasting.
Equipment
- Meat grinder - For the home enthusiast, a simpler grinder works fine, like one that can process about 10 pounds.
- Manual stuffer - The five-pound model works well for us. It is the biggest financial commitment, since it’s expensive and does nothing else but stuff sausages. Recommended if you want to become sausage fest fiends like us.
- Natural sausage casings - These come salt-dried—they last indefinitely in this state. Rehydrate them in water overnight. You can also get these locally at Shalhoob Meat Company in Santa Barbara.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes and stored in the freezer for 30 minutes
- 1 pound pork back fat, chopped and stored in the freezer for 30 minutes
- 3-4 Fuyu persimmons, or sweet apples, peeled, cored and finely diced
- 1 onion, finely diced and sautéed
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
Instructions
- Coarse-grind the meat into a large bowl. Take half the ground meat and run through a medium grind. For the bratwurst, all the meat can go through the medium grind.
- Keeping the bowl and meat as cold as possible, add all spices and f lavorings, mix it all up with your hands. Optional: Store this overnight in the fridge to allow flavors to develop. We rarely do this, but it does help. Form a small flat patty, similar in thickness to a burger patty, and fry it on medium heat in a skillet. When cooked through, about 3–5 minutes, remove to a plate, let it sit for a minute, then slice it and taste it amongst your group. Adjust seasoning as needed. Things are rarely perfect the first time around. Keep the ground meat in the fridge during this time.
- When the flavoring is to your liking, load it into the stuffer. Thread a set of casings onto the neck of the stuffer. Keep about 3–5 inches of empty casing on either side. We like to pin the casing shut with a hairpin while we’re working.
- With one person monitoring or turning the machine, another person holds the sausage tenderly like a little chick and coaxes it into the casings.
- Tie a knot on one end. Starting on the knotted end, begin twisting the sausages into links, at least 3 twists to each link.
- Store in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight, then cut into individual links.
Notes
Store-bought sausages usually take well to frying and grilling and the assorted abuses that this handling entails. We suspect this is because there is an obscene amount of fat in the recipe. We prefer to roast ours in the oven at 375°, as they are less likely to burst.
Nutrition
Serving: 1pound | Calories: 1206kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 97g | Saturated Fat: 35g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Monounsaturated Fat: 45g | Cholesterol: 200mg | Sodium: 2972mg | Potassium: 1207mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 88IU | Vitamin C: 71mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 6mg
