Name: Country Sausage
Yield: Makes about 3 pounds
Ingredients: 3 pounds fatty pork or 2 pounds lean pork and 1 pound pork fat; 1 tablespoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns; 1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes; 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage or 3 or 4 fresh leaves; 1 teaspoon Quatre-Epices; 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning; 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried; 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried; 6 to 8 feet of cleaned hog casings (optional)*

You can fry this sausage in patties, stuff it into casings, or use it as an ingredient in other recipes that call for sausage. I use it in stuffings, in biscuits, smoked in links for gumbos, and as a breakfast meat. Use the recipe as a guide only. The wonderful thing about making your own sausage is that you can season it to taste.

Note:

Casings, available from your butcher, are sold sometimes frozen, packed in salt. To clean them, run water from a faucet through them several times until they are free of all salt crystals.

Recipe notes

Smothered Italian Sausage

This is what I call a fridge-eater recipe. The key here is getting a nice sear on the sausage and cooking the tomato down until it coats the sausage and vegetables well.

Salmon With Sizzled Nut Salsa

A savory-hot salsa made with mixed nuts (like the kind dubbed cocktail nuts meant for snacking) gives roast salmon a kaleidoscope of textures and flavors.

Our Favorite French Onion Soup

Caramelized onions, melty Gruyère, and a deeply savory broth deliver the kind of comfort that doesn’t need improving.

White Bean Turkey Chili

A dash of cocoa powder adds depth and richness to the broth of this easy turkey chili.

One-Pot Chicken Thighs With Cilantro Rice and Beans

This one-pot dinner cooks chicken thighs directly on top of a bed of flavorful cilantro rice studded with black beans for a complete dinner.

Butternut Squash–Kale Salad With Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

Round out these autumn greens with tart pomegranate seeds, crunchy pepitas, and a shower of Parmesan.

Dulce de Leche

Make this versatile caramel at home with our slow-simmered method using milk and sugar—or take one of two sweetened condensed milk shortcuts.

Golden Mushroom Soup With Orzo & a Pat of Butter

This is the type of soup that, at first glance, might seem a little…unexciting. But you’re underestimating the power of mushrooms, which do the heavy lifting.