Bratwurst sausage

PREP + COOK TIME 2 HOURS 30 MINUTES (+ SOAKING & REFRIGERATION) MAKES 24 (2.5KG)

You will need to start this recipe a day ahead.

4 metre length large sausage casings (60g), cut into 1 metre lengths (see note page 51)

1.5kg boneless skinless pork shoulder with fat, chopped, chilled 1kg beef chuck steak with fat, chopped, chilled

4 cloves garlic, chopped finely

2 eggs

1 cup (250ml) dark ale

2 tablespoons sea salt flakes

2 teaspoons ground white pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh marjoram

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground allspice

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 Rinse salt from casings. Soak casings in cold water for 1 hour; drain. Soak casings in lukewarm water for another 1 hour. Run cold water through the casings before use; it makes them easier to thread onto the machine and checks for any holes. Drain.

2 Using a meat grinder or grinder attachment on a mixer, mince chilled pork, in small batches, using a coarse blade. Clean grinder. Mince chilled beef, in small batches, using a medium-fine blade.

3 Place minced pork and beef in a large bowl with remaining ingredients. Wearing clean disposable food handling gloves, mix well with your hands. Cook a tablespoonful of mixture in a frying pan to taste for seasoning; adjust if required.

4 Fit sausage-filler attachment onto mincer. Bunch one casing over the nozzle, leaving 5cm at the end. Feed meat mixture into machine, slowly easing off casing as it fills; fill casings tightly. Lay sausage into a spiral as you go.

5 Pinch and twist filled sausage casing at 15cm intervals, in alternate directions, to make sausages. Tie off at both ends. Repeat with remaining casings and mixture.

6 Spread sausages on a rack over a tray to allow air to circulate. Refrigerate sausages, covered, for 24 hours to firm casings.

TO COOK Always start cooking sausages over lowmedium heat in an oiled pan, as skins will burst if they hit a dry hot pan. Cook sausages on a heated oiled grill plate (or barbecue or frying pan) over low-medium heat for 5 minutes; increase to medium heat and cook for a further 12 minutes or until browned all over and cooked through.