Tag: recipes

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Sebastian’s showing me his sausage!

Sebastian is a man who knows his way around a sausage. The recipe for his Jamaican Sausage is at the foot of this page.

I was quite shocked this morning when Sebastian appeared in my kitchen with his sausage in his hand. Sebastian, as you doubtless know, is my personal trainer.

“That thing’s enormous,” I said, as he held it out in front of me.

“I know,” he replied with a cheeky smile. “It’s Jamaican.”

Sebastian loves to make sausages and really is most adept in the kitchen. He’s always coming up with new recipes.

“What particularly makes it Jamaican,” I asked. as I turned on the grill.

“Mostly it’s the spices, but I also add a little pineapple and orange. It gives it a citrus lift.”

“That sounds delightful,” I gushed as the sausage began to sizzle and dribble a little fat under the grill. the aroma that filled my kitchen was delightful. It would only be a matter of time before Marjory and Amanda appeared from next door, in all likelihood. As you probably know it’s soon going to be the start of the competitive eating season, at which point Marjory becomes far more active.

But that’s another story.

Fiona

SEBASTIAN’S JAMAICA SAUSAGE RECIPE:

Jamaica Pork Sausage (should yield 20 sausages at six inches long)

  • 4 lbs pork shoulder diced
  • 1 lb fat back diced
  • 5 Tbs Jamaican Jerk Seasonings
  • 2 Oranges chopped
  • Half a ripe pineapple chopped
  • 40 gr coarse sea salt
  • About 10 feet of hog casings
  • 1 C ice water

Combine and mix the diced pork, fat, fruit and spices. Chill until ready to grind or set in refrigerator and chill overnight.

Run water through the casings and let soak in a small bowl of water for 30 minutes or until you’re ready to stuff them.

Using the medium holed grind plate in the mincer grind the seasoned pork and fat into a mixing bowl set in ice. I love to listen to Erasure as I do this. It just gets me in a good grinding mood.

When done grinding your meat (Ed. Phrasing), add the water and mix until it is absorbed and the pork gets “sticky.” If using a stand mixer it will take about 1 minute with the paddle attachment.

Make a small patty and cook to check the seasonings.

Note: If you have extra you can make an amazing burger from this.

Stuffing your tube (Ed. Phrasing):

Stretch and push the hog casing onto the stuffer tube attachment, leaving an inch or two hanging off the end of the tube.

Stuff the sausage keeping one hand on the end of the tube where the casing is getting stuffed and help it along if it gets stuck.

Twist the sausage into 5-6 inch links.

Enjoy with a good quality British Columbian gewurztraminer white wine such as Persius –
https://perseuswinery.com/

You can enjoy some wonderful wines from Persius. They’re fun, young and easy to match to some great summer meals. Give them a good go.

Enjoy this wonderful recipe.

Sebastian.

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Three things you can do with a cucumber this weekend.

“Look at that huge crack,” said Sylvester.

“I’m sorry?” I replied.

“In this salad bowl!” he continued. “I think you should use the other one.”

Sylvester is quite a distraction in the kitchen. I motioned him out of the way as I brought out my best salad bowl.  Now, I know you might be thinking, what brought on this bout of domesticity? It’s quite simple really, while I live in the beautiful Canadian city of Vancouver, my wife’s good friend (and the bane of  my life), Amanda, has asked me to research some fun dishes she might be able to make as tariffs kick in. Like I have all the spare time in the world, so why not, right?

“What do you mean?” I asked after she asked me to come up with something creative.

“Well, I like to cook with fruits in many of my recipes, like Kiwi fruit or banana, and under these tariffs they’re going to be hugely expensive.”

“But I thought the idiot said he would bring those products to the USA and grow them there,” I countered.

“Have you tried to grow a kiwi fruit in Ohio?” said Amanda. Well, she is sort of agriculture adjacent, being the editor of Pig and Pig Farmer monthly.

“I see what you mean.  I will come up with something,” I replied.

That got me thinking about cucumbers. I realise this is an under-utilised vegetable – or fruit if you prefer.  Surprisingly I think it is actually both a fruit and a vegetable. You might wonder if this is possible, however, if you met Sylvester you’d understand how something can be both a fruit and vegetable simultaneously. And, yes, he is pretty under utilised, too.

So, I dug into my recipe book and found a lovely preparation I used to get ready for friends when I was a student.  It’s so simple that anyone can do it. As a (then) young man, I would impress girlfriends with my prowess in the kitchen. The Anthropology department girls certainly seemed to like it. Here we go:

You’re going to need the following ingredients –

1/2 cup rice vinegar.

1/2 cup granulated sugar.

1/2 teaspoon salt.

2 large cucumbers.

2 green onions, trimmed and sliced.

Find a large salad bowl, preferably without a crack in it, and also a cup or small bowl. Into the small bowl put the vinegar, the sugar and the salt.  I sometimes also squeeze some lemon juice into the cup. Using a sharp knife (hide it after use if you have any suicidal friends visiting, like Rainbow for example), peel and then slice the cucumbers and dice the onions.  While you do so the sugar and salt will be dissolving into the vinegar. If it hasn’t dissolved well just give it a stir.

All you have to do now is put the cucumbers and onion in the bowl, add the vinegar solution and you’re done.  If you want to be extra fancy just add some crumbled feta cheese and halved cherry tomatoes. I guarantee any anthropology students will be all over you and praise your culinary abilities. It also works on wives of 25 years. Let me know how you get along with this.

Now, all I have to do is think of a couple of other things to do with a cucumber. I mentioned this to Sylvester, and – well – he really can be quite coarse at times!

Have a lovely weekend.

Fiona

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