R E C I P E S

Saucisses au Vin Blanc (White-Wine Sausages for Raw Oysters)

By James MacGuire

These slightly peppery saucisses au vin blanc go very well with raw oysters, providing a contrast not only of flavor but of cold with hot, raw with cooked. The two go very well with a rich, dry white Bordeaux, but the sausages probably originate farther north in the oyster-producing Charente-Maritime, where the people proudly drink their own more modest wine. You eat an oyster, take a bite of sausage and then one of bread, swallow some wine, eat another oyster, etc. Once, the oysters would have been plates, meaning the stronger-flavored European species, now only a tiny minority of the oysters cultivated in France. Peppercorns vary in freshness and potency, and if you doubt the degree of pepperiness — it shouldn’t distract too much from the oysters — fry a spoonful of the mixture and taste before you stuff the casings or form the crépinettes. (For more information on grinding meat and making sausage, see the closely related Saucisses de Toulouse.)

 

2 pounds (1 kg) boneless pork shoulder, about 80 percent lean and 20 percent fat, which means some additional fat, such as outer trimmings saved by a butcher

2¼ teaspoons (16 gr) salt

about 3/4 teaspoon (2 gr) finely ground black pepper

between 1/8 and 1/4 teaspoon (1/2 gr) grated nutmeg

1/4 to 3/8 cup (50 to 75 ml) white wine

1/2 clove (2 or 3 gr) garlic, finely chopped

a large handful of chopped parsley, optional

1/2 teaspoon (about 1/2 gr) crushed hot red pepper or drops of pepper sauce

lengths of pork casings (if you have a sausage-stuffing device), well rinsed, if salted or frozen, or else several pieces of caul fat, either one available from specialty butchers

 

If a butcher grinds the meat, make certain that it remains coarse — that it is passed through coarse holes, ¼ to 5⁄16 inch (about 7 mm) in diameter, only once. If you grind the meat yourself, trim any tough silverskin and connections, cut both lean and fat into rough 1-inch (2-cm) cubes, and mix them together. Spread them on a metal sheet or pan and chill them, uncovered, in the coldest part of the refrigerator for an hour and then put them in the freezer for a final 5 minutes. Pass the deeply chilled meat through the grinder once, using a grinding plate with ¼- to 5⁄16-inch (about 7 mm) holes. Spread the ground meat on a metal baking sheet or roasting pan and place it, uncovered, in the coldest part of the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, followed by 5 minutes in the freezer.

Mix together the salt, pepper, and nutmeg, making sure there are no clumps, and, using your hands, combine these thoroughly with the deeply chilled meat. Sprinkle on the wine, garlic, and parsley, if you’re using it, and mix again. Continue to knead the meat for a few minutes until it gains body and becomes sticky. (If you are working a day ahead, refrigerate the meat overnight at this point.) If the mixture is still quite cold, go on to the next step. Otherwise, again spread the ground meat on the sheet or pan and chill it for another 30 minutes, followed by 5 minutes in the freezer.

If you are equipped and have experience, stuff the mixture into casings. Otherwise, make crépinettes. Rinse the caul fat well in room-temperature water, and then let it soak for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, divide the sausage mixture into 2 dozen small mounds; roll them into balls. Gently squeeze the excess soaking water from the caul fat and spread the pieces out on a work surface. Place the balls of sausage at intervals, so there is enough caul around each one to wrap it up. Use scissors to cut the caul, and pull it up around the ball so the edges overlap and form a sack (it’s fine to patch). Lightly flatten each crépinette, and turn it over so the seams are on the bottom.

The sausage meat, whether unstuffed, stuffed, or in crépinettes, will keep in the refrigerator for several days. If you’ve stuffed it into casings a day ahead, leave the sausages uncovered overnight in the refrigerator so the surface dries, which helps with both keeping and browning.

If you’ve twisted the sausages into links, cut them apart before cooking. Prick each sausage in 2 or 3 places so it won’t burst open in cooking. Now and then, even pricked, a sausage, cooked too fast with too much heat, will burst. If just-stuffed sausages wait overnight, they have less tendency to explode, and their flavor deepens. (Probably they explode more if cooked immediately because the stuffing is then very firmly packed — nobody likes a limp sausage. Later the casing gradually stretches and the contents set.) Grill them over hot coals, place them under a broiler, or sauté them. If you sauté, you can reduce the chance of overcooking by finishing the sausages in a slow oven. They’re done when they have shrunk at least slightly and, when pricked to the center with a knife or skewer, the juices run clear at a point, after anywhere from 12 to 25 minutes, depending on the heat you use. Serves 4 as a large main course, assuming a dozen oysters per person.


From The Art of Eating Cookbook

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