This is a classic French sausage normally made with pork, but I like mixing in wild duck, venison or hare with fatty pork to make these links. They are great on the grill or in a cassoulet. If you are smoking them, you will want to use the curing salt No. 1, which you can buy online.
33gramsSea or kosher salt(about 2 tablespoons plus a teaspoon)
4gramsInstacure No. 1, about 1/2 teaspoon(optional)
25gramschopped fresh garlic(about 2 tablespoons)
10gramsground black pepper(about 2 tablespoons)
1/2nutmeg, freshly grated(about 1 teaspoon)
hog casings
Instructions
Chop the meat and fat into chunks that will fit in your grinder, mince any skin you are using, then mix the salt, garlic and all the spices together and toss with the meat and fat. I like to do this a day before, storing the mix in the fridge. This helps the sausage bind better.
When you are ready to grind, chill the meat and fat until it is almost frozen by putting it in the freezer for an hour or so. Take out some hog casings and set in a bowl of very warm water.
Grind through your meat grinder (you can use a food processor in a pinch, but you will not get a fine texture) using the coarse die, somewhere from 6.5 mm to 8 mm. If your room is warmer than 69°F, set the bowl for the ground meat into another bowl of ice to keep it cold.
Add the wine and mix thoroughly either using a Kitchenaid on low for 60 to 90 seconds or with your (very clean) hands. This is important to get the sausage to bind properly. Once it is mixed well, put it back in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.
Stuff the sausage into the casings all at once. Twist off links by pinching the sausage down and twisting and spinning it, first in one direction, and then with the next link, the other direction. Or you could tie them off with butcher's string.
Hang the sausages in a cool place for 4 to 12 hours (the colder it is, the longer you can hang them). If it is warm out, hang for one hour. Once they have dried a bit, put in the fridge until needed. They will keep for at least a week in the fridge.
If you are freezing the sausages, wait a day before doing so. This will tighten up the sausages and help them keep their shape in the deep-freeze.
Notes
You only need the curing salt if you plan on smoking the sausage.