High Plains Sausages

No, I didn't grind, mix, and stuff my own casings... hopefully soon-ish.

CINCHOUSE wanted Bratwurst on Saturday, so we tried some Firecrackers from Johnsonville and a couple of store-made brats from Albertsons.

I poached the sausages in hard cider and onion, before grilling the sausages and adding a bit of bacon fat and making some sautéed onions. Couldn't help but heat up some kraut to go alongside.





I woke up this morning with a hankerin' for biscuits. Lucky for me, the buttermilk hadn't gone off.



Next thing I know, the BossLady wants chili dawgs to go along with some freshly grilled corn and some really nice fresh tomatoes (just sliced, then seasoned with S & P).

We had a bit of leftover beef short rib from last week, and I'm NOT wasting that! This may be blasphemy to some, but... oh, wow... this was AWESOME.



Next thing I know, I've thrown some shredded cheddar over the lot and whacked it under the broiler.



Yeah, I think I just gained 5 lbs... but I've got a busy week ahead.

Thin blue and best regards to you all.

Joshw said:

Everything looks great, but those biscuits look seriously flaky. I would be interested to hear more about your technique. How do you get the multiple layers? Do you roll them out like a puff pastry?

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You're most kind. This was my second attempt... and all I did was follow this recipe

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 cup buttermilk (I needed an extra 1/2 cup or so to get the ingredients to combine)
2 tablespoon salted butter melted to brush on top

Instructions
Preheat oven to 425. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Transfer to a food processor. Cut frozen butter into cubes and add to flour, then pulse 6 or 7 times until it looks like a loose crumble. Place the dough back in the bowl, add buttermilk and stir with a spatula until it forms a rough ball (don’t worry if it is a little sticky).
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll it into a rough rectangle, about an inch thick. Fold it over and gently roll it down again. Repeat 6 times.
Gently roll out the dough once more, so that it forms a rectangle. Cut dough into biscuits using a floured glass or biscuit cutter. Do not twist cutter when cutting; this will crimp the edges of the biscuit causing it not to rise. If you have scraps just reform a rectangle and cut additional biscuits.
Place biscuits on a baking sheet and place in oven. Make sure they're touching. Bake until golden brown, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Serves 6 to 8. Brush on the melted butter and enjoy!
NOTE: If you don't have a food processor, you can cut butter into flour in the mixing bowl using a grater, fork or a pastry cutter.

BREAK BREAK

It's having the butter in the freezer overnight, then the roll out the dough, fold it over, and roll it again bit that makes the layers... do this 6-7 times as noted above. My first time, I rolled out too thinly, but this time I kept it thicker when I cut out the biscuits.

Make sure you have them touching each other, so they'll grow UP vs. sideways (I didn't do a great job of that this time around). Cook 'em on the long end of the range... 15-18 minutes for me.

My wife made puff pastry before, and that involves moving the dough in and out of the freezer, keeping the butter cold, and rolling and folding and rolling... many, many times.

Joshw said:

I too have attempted puff pastry, it only took me one attempt, to realize the store bought stuff was just fine.

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Exact same thing happened on this end. I'll happily go hit the freezer aisle and let somebody (something) make the puff pastry for me.

dadsr4 said:

I had just learned about using a food processor for working the butter in yesterday, going to have to try your recipe.

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Hope you find a good use for those firecrackers. I was pleasantly surprised with their flavor.

Be careful with that food processor - I used the suggested "pulse" on the wife's stand mixer and covered most of the counter and myself with flour. Yeah... this morning, I just did the mixing by hand... and added in a couple of extra folds and rolls of the dough.