Kevin
Quintessential Chatty Farker
What do you use? Johnsonville is good. I'm sure many of the brothers in NY/NJ and the area have had some that was better than most of us have had. Here is my simple home ground recipe that may or may not be genuine, but it sure is good!
This is for a 2# batch. You can scale to your liking. Keep the meat cold (as in next to frozen) for easier grinding. I use a small consumer grade electric grinder. Want to move up to a commercial grade as soon as I can. If you don't have a meat grinder, just buy ground pork (unseasoned) and mix it all up in a nonreactive (as in stainless steel or glass) bowl.
Seasoning:
3 teaspoons Fennel seed. Fresh toasted is a must. Just toss them in a dry skillet and stir them around with a wooden spoon over low heat until they get real fragrant.
3 teaspoons salt. I use pickling salt. Fine ground and no additives.
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground Coriander
1 teaspoon dried Oregano. I use dried leaf and grind it to powder just before using.
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)
1/4 teaspoon caraway seed.
Now add all of this to 2 ounces of red wine and mix it up.
Course grind the pork and mix thoroughly with the seasonings.
Put it in the freezer for half an hour or so.
Run it all through the grinder again with a finer (I use 1/4") plate.
That's it. You can stuff it in casings if you like, but we use this for pizza and Ziti. Sounds like a lot of work but it's not if you get everything set up first. And don't be afraid to try it with store bought ground pork. Same thing except you have no control over the lean/fat content. Per a hint from kcQuer, the kitchen aid mixes ground meat just fine.
This is for a 2# batch. You can scale to your liking. Keep the meat cold (as in next to frozen) for easier grinding. I use a small consumer grade electric grinder. Want to move up to a commercial grade as soon as I can. If you don't have a meat grinder, just buy ground pork (unseasoned) and mix it all up in a nonreactive (as in stainless steel or glass) bowl.
Seasoning:
3 teaspoons Fennel seed. Fresh toasted is a must. Just toss them in a dry skillet and stir them around with a wooden spoon over low heat until they get real fragrant.
3 teaspoons salt. I use pickling salt. Fine ground and no additives.
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground Coriander
1 teaspoon dried Oregano. I use dried leaf and grind it to powder just before using.
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)
1/4 teaspoon caraway seed.
Now add all of this to 2 ounces of red wine and mix it up.
Course grind the pork and mix thoroughly with the seasonings.
Put it in the freezer for half an hour or so.
Run it all through the grinder again with a finer (I use 1/4") plate.
That's it. You can stuff it in casings if you like, but we use this for pizza and Ziti. Sounds like a lot of work but it's not if you get everything set up first. And don't be afraid to try it with store bought ground pork. Same thing except you have no control over the lean/fat content. Per a hint from kcQuer, the kitchen aid mixes ground meat just fine.
