SAUSAGE  RECIPES

MAKING SAUSAGES FROM STRATCH

Smoked Dakota Bratwurst

After you chose the sausage you want to cook, you can cut the sausages in at least three different ways.  You can keep the tube and cut into pieces, or slice in half or slice in small pieces.

Add about 1/4 cup water or a little  more so enough covers the bottom of the pan.

Cook on medium fire.

Boil sausage.

You will start to see the liquid changing in color.

As you can see by this photograph, I boiled the water completely away.  

In the pan you can see how the last bit of liquid is mostly the grease from the sausage and which will suddenly darken.

Let sausage fry.

Once it is to your liking on both sides,  add a little more than 1/4 cup of water

The amount of time to boil depends upon the kind of sausage you are cooking.  This sausage is smoked and therefore precooked so the boiling time can be limited to a few minutes..  If the sausage you are making is raw, then repeat the boil and brown, boil and brown several times until you have cooked the sausage all the way through.  If pink in the middle,  continue process until the pink is gone.

You can see the liquid has darken.

Turn off the heat.

You can let the sausage sit in this hot liquid as you finish preparing the rest of your meal.

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You can add ketchup, grated cheese, onions or a salsa.

You can make this meal a very simple one or as complicated as you'd like..

Variations: 

1. Sauce: If you want to make a sauce with  the water, take out the sausage and  add a half cut of sour cream,  two teaspoons of butter [this can be eliminated] and stir until sour cream is hot.  Then pour over mashed potatoes and sausage.

You can add chives.

2. You could fry  sliced onions until brown or carmalized and smother the sausage which has been placed on a hot bun.

3. Slice the sausage into small pieces, fry and add to fried potatoes and onions or chives. Sprinkle cheddar cheese, cover with a lid. Shut off the heat and let the cheese melt  for a minute then serve.

Serve with cold sour cream and  let each person place it on their potatoes.

Germany

Beer-Basted Sausage

with Caramelized Onions and German Mustard

8 sausages, such as bratwurst, knackwurst or wieners

4 oz. Oktoberfest beer

2 oz. hot Dusseldorf mustard

3 oz. canola oil

16 oz. yellow onion, peeled, quartered and sliced very thin

Place canola oil in a large nonstick skillet (12-in. diameter) and add the sliced onions. sauté over low heat, stirring often, until onions are golden brown, soft and caramelized. Do not let burn. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in the hot Dusseldorf mustard. Set aside. Prepare a grill, and cook sausages, basting with Oktoberfest beer every minute or so. Serve the grilled sausages with the mustard-seasoned onions.