Sweet & savory links

Recipe

| Fresh Rosemary and Pork Sausages

Ingredients (makes 10 links):

800 g minced pork

100 g pork fat

250 g pork fillet

50 g rosemary leaves, chopped

50 g coriander leaves, chopped

1 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 cup Chinese yellow wine, or sherry

4 tbsp honey

2 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp light soy sauce

2 meters sausage casings

(rinsed and dried)

Method:

1. Prepare sausage casings by rinsing the salt off. Find the opening and slowly run water inside the casings to check for holes and splits. Squeeze out the water, and dry well. Keep covered until ready to use so they do not dry out and become brittle.

2. Place minced pork into a large mixing bowl and add the wine, honey, salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside for flavors to develop.

3. Cut up the pork fat into tiny cubes. Cut up the pork fillet into slightly larger cubes about 1 cm square.

4. Mix the cubed pork and fat into the minced mixture, sprinkle the chopped rosemary and coriander leaves as you mix.

5. Set the sausage meat aside to marinate overnight in a tightly covered container.

6. The next day, take a small ball of sausage meat and fry it up to taste. Adjust the seasoning accordingly. Sausages should be highly seasoned if they are to be kept longer.

7. Lay out the casings and the sausage meat and prepare to stuff the sausages. You may need a large funnel to help you. I use the cut-off mouth end of a soft drinks bottle.

8. Do not be impatient when stuffing. But the secret is to stuff the sausages slowly but steadily without any breaks. If you stop and start, bubbles form inside the sausages and you have a hard time getting the air out.

9. The links should be about 10 to 15 cm long before you make a knot. Once you have the length, squeeze to keep the sausage meat tight and cut off about 10 cm of sausage casing. Do not be stingy with the casings. Too short and you have problems making a good knot with the slippery casings. Tie off the other end.

10. Repeat until you have used up all the sausage meat.

11. The sausages now need to sit in the fridge for about 24 to 36 hours to cure. Place them in zip-lock bags and tuck them away in the coldest part of the fridge. After a day or two, they are ready to be cooked.

12. Store extra links in the freezer.

13. When you are cooking the sausages, prick them lightly so any air built up in the sausage escapes and they won't burst when frying.