Time to read: 1 minute; skimmable
Takeaway: Firsthand Foods Italian Sausage recipes with links. Pun intended.
Last time we took a look at the different kinds of sausage. If you were paying attention, we finally figured out why that Hickory Farms summer sausage could last from Christmas till March.
Over the weekend, we made a trip to Summerfield Farms Market to pick up a package of Firsthand Foods Italian Sausage. The plan was to grill a few and save a few to try Firsthand Foods’ recipe for pasta sauce.
Mmm. Beer.
Drew Brown, chef and Firsthand Foods Sales and Distribution Manager created their Italian sausage with “pork, salt, spices and nothing else” that are packed in natural casings and hand tied.
My husband controls the grill in our house. In his dedication to ensuring we never fall ill from under cooked food, he might over compensates, resulting in some alarming yet entertaining hair-singeing flare-ups and overcooked food. Luckily, this time we took a look at the Firsthand Foods website before he started the grill.
Their handy tip sheet for cooking sausage cautions “Too high heat and the casing will split, releasing all of the tasty fat and juices.” Finally, some real incentive to keep the heat on medium and get them off in a timely manner! Of course, we could use a meat thermometer to ensure they reach the desired 145 degrees, but where’s the adventure in that?
Turns out we had a little hitch in our giddy-up…rain! Instead of putting the sausages on the grill, we ended up poaching them in beer on the stovetop and when the rain eased back, putting them on the grill for just a few minutes to get some nice color. Perfect hybrid!
Hot off the grill–no breaks!
The other try was the pasta sauce recipe. If I’m using sausage in pasta sauce, I typically cut open the casing and use just one link to reduce the amount of meat we’re consuming because I’m a cheapskate frugal. I did something similar in this case, using two sausage links to make a sauce for four people. Results? See for yourself:
Get Firsthand Foods meat (see end of post): https://pineapplesontrees.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/firsthand-foods/
Get the general sausage tip sheet here: http://www.firsthandfoods.com/files/misc/FHF_sausagecooking.pdf
Get the pasta sauce recipe here: http://www.firsthandfoods.com/files/misc/FHF_pastaitalsausage_recipe.pdf
On a side note, these last two post were the most difficult to write, in terms of restraint needed to refrain from tasteless, low humor. Oh so tempting with such “meaty” subject matter! I hope you appreciate the efforts to keep it all PG rated.
Pineapples on Trees 