Tag: pork
Smoked Andouille Sausage
Smoked Andouille Sausage
Andouille sauasage is the famous staple of the cajun and creole cuisine of Louisiana. With it’s origins from French charcuterie, andouille sausage consists of coarse ground pork heavily seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne, thyme, sage, paprika, and a large amount of garlic. The pork is stuffed into casings and slowly smoked with pecan wood. Andouille can be used in numerous cajun dishes such as jambalaya and gumbo.
Equipment
- food processor
- meat grinder
- sausage stuffer
- twine
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 8 lbs pork shoulder
- 40 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp sage
- 2 tsp pink curing salts
- hog casings
Wood Chips
- pecan wood
Instructions
- Place the garlic cloves in a food processor.
- Process until chopped.
- Mix together all of the seasonings.
- Grind the pork on a medium grind plate, one time through.
- Thoroughly mix the spices and garlic into the pork.
- Stuff the sausage into the casings.
- Twist into 6” links. Let cure overnight in the refrigerator.
- Cut every 4th link apart from each other. Tie in between the middle of the 4 links with twine to the grate of your smoker so they can hang.
- Place the grate on the very top rack of your smoker so the sausages can hang. Turn the temp to 130 degrees. Allow the sausages to dry out for an hour with out adding any wood chips.
- Turn the temp to 250 degrees and add your wood chips. Allow the chips to ignite. Turn your smoker down to 150 degrees. Smoke for 6 hours, changing out the wood chips every 2 hours. After 6 hours, turn up the smoker temp to 180 degrees and smoke for 1 more hour.
Snow Fungus Salad
Snow Fungus Salad
Snow fungus are a type of white fungus that grows on trees in the winter. They come dried in packs that can be found in every Asian market. The snow fungus can be turned into the ultimate salad of flavors and textures. In addition to the fungus, the salad contains shallots, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, Chinese celery, mint, and cilantro. The salad also has 3 types of protein: Vietnamese ham roll, fermented sour pork sausage, and shrimp. While nothing is very difficult in making this salad, it has a large amount of prep work.
Ingredients
Snow Fungus Salad
- 4 dried white fungus soaked in water for 30 minutes; boiled for 5 minutes
- 1/2 English cucumber sliced
- 1 small carrot grated
- 2 shallots thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup mint
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1/2 Vietnamese ham roll julienned
- 1 fermented sour pork sausage sliced
- 1 cup small cooked shrimp
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup Chinese celery chopped
Dressing
- 1 cup water
- 2 oz palm sugar crushed
- 1/3 cup fish sauce
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 head pickled garlic sliced
- 2 tbsp pickled garlic juice
- 1 1/2 tbsp sambal
- 1/4 cup tamarind concentrate
- 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
- 1 tsp mushroom seasoning
- 2 tsp chili flakes
Instructions
- Place the crushed palm sugar in a small pot with a cup of water. Dissolve the sugar over medium heat, then turn off the heat.
- Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Set aside.
- Prep the rest of the ingredients.
- Mix all of the salad ingredients together. Pour over the dressing and toss.
Spring Rolls with Hmong Sausage
Spring Rolls with Hmong Sausage
These spring rolls are very similar to the Vietnamese variety that you might be familiar with. Hmong sausage is thinly sliced and used as the protein. Spring rolls are fairly easy to make, but they require a lot of prep work. Really a lot. Once assembled, serve them with the sweet peanut dipping sauce.
Ingredients
- 3 Hmong sausages
- 2 packets vermicelli noodles prepared according to package directions
- 1 packet rice paper
- cilantro
- mint
- Thai basil
- carrots shredded
- purple cabbage shredded
- cucumber cut into long strips
- green leaf lettuce
Peanut Dipping Sauce
- 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
- 1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
Dipping Sauce
- Heat up the water, peanut butter, sweet chili sauce, and fish sauce in a small pot. Simmer for 3 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the lime juice, green onions, and cilantro. Set aside and let cool.
Spring Rolls
- Add your Hmong sausages to a hot sauté pan over medium high heat.
- Sauté for 5-6 minutes a side until browned and cooked through. Set aside and let cool.
- Prep all of the ingredients.
- Dip a sheet of rice paper in warm water to loosen. First lay down the lettuce. This will hold the ingredients. Fill with the rice noodles, carrots, cabbage, cucumber, and herbs. Place a couple slices underneath the lettuce.
- Fold over the left and right sides. Fold over the bottom side and roll tightly.
- Repeat these steps until the Hmong sausage is used up. You should yield 10-12 spring rolls.
- Anything you don’t plan on instantly eating should be wrapped in plastic wrap and eaten within the next 2 days.
