Phase II Ends (Merguez: North African Lamb Sausage)

I cannot believe it’s been six long weeks since my last update.  Phase II just flew by and today was the first day of my new externship!  For the next six months I’m working at a wonderful restaurant with a friendly atmosphere and delicious, interesting food.

Culinary school has been an emotional roller coaster filled with wonderful highs and intense lows.  But I made it, and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.  I’m looking forward to fine-tuning the skills I’ve learned now that I won’t be on daily information overload.  I have so much cooking to do!  And still so much to learn.

For something slightly different, I thought I’d share a recipe for lamb sausage.  It’s delicious and surprisingly simple.  You need a sausage stuffer (they are sold as stand-alone units or attachments for KitchenAid mixers).  But even if you don’t have the equipment, I still highly recommend this recipe.  Impress your family with some insanely good lamb patties!

Merguez: North African Lamb Sausage

The ingredient amounts are a bit odd here; the original recipe is for very large bulk quantities.   I recommend a digital scale to weigh these out.  The results are worth it!

Ingredients:

• 10 pounds ground lamb (70% meat/30% fat- preferably thick ground)
• 2.875 oz salt
• .875 oz white pepper
• .25 oz nutmeg
• 2.5 oz harissa
• .5 oz ras el hanout
• .25 oz cayenne
• 8 oz olivc oil
• 1.75 oz garlic
• .5 oz cumin
• 8 oz tomato paste
• 1 cup water or veal stock
• lamb casings

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in a very large bowl.
2. Make a small patty and saute to test for seasoning levels.  Adjust as needed.
3. Stuff the sausage maker tightly, making sure there’s no air.
4. Fill the casings and twist off sections.  Poke some small holes in each sausage.
5. Hang in the refrigerator to dry.
6. Grill or saute.  I recommend serving this with cumin-spiced couscous!