Toulouse Sausage

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Or for any devout Francophiles, more appropriately, la saucisse de Toulouse.



If 3rensho sees this he can probably give some good pointers and advice for improvements.

Toulouse sausage is a fresh French sausage that is one of the hallmarks of the French classic, cassoulet.  If you don't know what cassoulet is, I describe it as beans and weenies that went to France.  Here's a link to the Wikipedia reference on cassoulet.  For going on ~ 30 years a version of cassoulet has been my New Years day tradition. 

There as many versions of cassoulet as there are chefs and cooks that make it.  But one consistency is Toulouse sausage.  Which is an interesting issue because there are as many versions of saucisse de Toulouse as there are French sausage makers.  Overall it is a simple pork sausage most typically based on a combination of pork shoulder and pork belly or side pork seasoned simply with salt and pepper.  From there it quickly gets complicated with a variety of sweet spices, herbs and wines or spirits possibly finding their way into various recipes.  But always, as with most classic French food, the seasoning is delicate.  Nothing hits you in the face, with both restraint and "balance" being required.  My general description is it is much like a mild American breakfast sausage that had a glass of French wine.

This is my version formulated for a 3 lb batch, which is what is pictured above.

85 % boneless pork shoulder, well trimmed + 15% skinless Pork Belly, cubed

2.6 lb (1180 g) pork shoulder + 0.4 (182 g) lb pork belly  (1362 g total)

Salt, Canning & Pickling    20 g  (~3.5 tsp)
Sugar, granulated     12 g  (~3 tsp)
White pepper, ground    2.3 g  (~1 tsp)
Mace, ground    1.0 g  (~1/2 tsp)
Allspice, ground    0.3 g  (~1/8 tsp)
Garlic, dried granulated    1.5 g (~1/2 tsp)
Wine, dry white    57 g  (~1/4 cup)
Cognac    52 g  (~1/4 cup)


Prepare the pork shoulder and belly for grinding and chill well.

Combine and mix the spices well, then add to the chilled pork shoulder and toss to distribute seasoning evenly.  Chill until ready to grind.

Separately grind the well chilled pork belly followed by the  seasoned pork shoulder through the medium plate (3/16) die into a chilled bowl. Add the wine and cognac, and mix well.

Stuff into ~ 35 mm hog casings and twist into ~5 " lengths.  Prick to remove any visible air pockets.  Place on a rack and refrigerate to dry for several hours, and then pack for storage.

These may be kept refrigerated up to 4 days. Vacuum pack and freeze for longer storage.

This passed the all critical Dutch wife taste test and was proclaimed a winner.

Next stop for half of this is the upcoming cassoulet tradition.  The other half is parked in the freezer.

[classicrockgriller]

kewl deal!

You said some words I can't pronounce. ;D

[BuyLowSellHigh]

kewl deal!

You said some words I can't pronounce. ;D

Me neither.  That's why I typed 'em.    ;D

[classicrockgriller]

That is some very interesting reading and the sausage does look great.

[NePaSmoKer]

kewl deal!

You said some words I can't pronounce. ;D

Ditto with sonny

[3rensho]

I describe it as beans and weenies that went to France

ROFLOL!!  BLSH that is funny  ;D ;D

The recipe you have sounds great and those sausages would be perfect in a cassoulet.  Great meal to warm up in our snowy countryside.

[jiggerjams]

That sausage looks like it is going to be good! Pics of the final product are going to be worth the wait.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

It will disappear into the cassoulet, after it is first cooked.

[Keymaster]

That looks excellent BLSH, Nice Job!!!

[3rensho]

Forgot to mention, Calvados adds a nice touch to sausages.  Have used it in boudin blanc to good effect.

[NePaSmoKer]

What?

No grinding. stuffing pics

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Not enough hands to do it and take pics too.

Plus the wifette gets really grumpy (Dutch style) when I leave raw meat tracks on the camera.   

[Tenpoint5]

Better be some pics of the cassulote, cassutole ah heck the French Beenie weenies!! ;D ;D

[BuyLowSellHigh]

How about a picture of a Chevrolet with beans and weenies?

Okay - cassoulet cooking starts tomorrow with the beans getting cooked and a pork loin getting roasted.  I'll get picks.  It's a three day affair putting it together.

I've been doing this long enough that I keep it fairly traditional, meaning no smoked stuff.  The French never seemed to develop any appreciation for the gastronomic joy of smoked meats, at least not much.  I've played with smoked meat additions in the past, but I'm too stuck on what I think it should be, so I kept reverting back.  All that said, for someone who had a mind to, it would be a good candidate for using a number of smoked meats.  Mine includes the sausage, about 2.5 lbs of roasted pork loin, and a whole duck cut into bits after being braised in red wine.  Many versions include lamb or mutton.  Really, there is little standard other than the beans and the sausage.

Give you some ideas?

[3rensho]

It's a three day affair putting it together.

and to die for in the version you're making.  Can hardly wait for the pix.