Attempting Lamb with Cumin sausage

One of my favorite restaurant dishes in recent years has been Lamb with Cumin, from places like Ed's Potsticker. I've also just discovered the joys of making sausage at home. Long story short, I'm going to attempt to make a sausage version of Lamb with Cumin tomorrow and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice. I've bought 3 lbs of lamb shoulder and 1/2 lb of pork fatback, and plan to use fresh garlic, whole toasted cumin seeds, fresh onion, fresh ginger, chili flakes and soy sauce. Am I missing anything? And more importantly, am I making a terrible mistake?

geli wrote:Long story short, I'm going to attempt to make a sausage version of Lamb with Cumin tomorrow ...
Am I missing anything? And more importantly, am I making a terrible mistake?

All you're missing is invitations to eat at your house.
Some of the recipes I've seen include Szechuan Peppercorn -- that could be a good addition.

I'm assuming this is a fresh sausage to be grilled? I'm not sure the fresh ginger and garlic are appropriate for a cured sausage (you didn't list pink salt, so I'm pretty confident you're not thinking that way).

Served with grilled peppers and onions, it should be awesome.

Sounds great. You'll want to limit the moisture from the ginger, onions and soy sauce to make sure you get a proper bind. If it's too wet, it could hinder things a bit and produce a crumbly, broken sausage. I'd suggest adding the onion and ginger, minced very fine, after you've bound the mixture. Your ingredienting sounds really nice and it sounds like you'll have plenty of fat.

=R=

JoelF wrote:

geli wrote:Some of the recipes I've seen include Szechuan Peppercorn

I might, as Joel says, add fresh ground Szechuan Peppercorn.

I'd also add a bit of ground coriander seed for brightness and both fresh ground and whole toasted cumin seeds. By using multiple grinds/textures of the same spice you get a longer more developed flavor. Finer grind upfront while coarser grind lingers across the chew.

I started using this technique with black pepper in BBQ rubs a few years ago and have since expanded the idea with other spices/cookery styles. Its not unlike the idea of using multiple types of hot peppers that hit your palate differently, cayenne sharp upfront, guajillo subtle backnote for example, but with the same flavor/spice.

Thank you all! I will add szechuan peppercorn and coriander to the list of ingredients and I will be wary of adding too much moisture. Maybe if I sweat the onions first?

Gary I was thinking of the same thing--using both fresh ground and whole toasted cumin seeds--so I'm happy that you endorse the idea.

Can't wait to see how it turns out, I'll post my results tomorrow.

Depending on how much you want in the ratio, I would use dehydrated onions, or cook the onions to a very dry state before using them in sausage.

This sounds like a really cool idea. I've been playing around with sausages a lot lately as well and look forward to seeing how this turns out.

I'll chime in to say that I am waiting impatiently for your report. What an inspired idea!

How'd it go, geli?

I keep meaning to post, but not remembering to do so when I'm at a computer or have my recipe at hand! I'll post again soon with the actual recipe; I used the ratios for fresh sausage from Ruhlman's Charcuterie as the "base" for my experiment.

They turned out pretty well for a first try, although there are some adjustments I would make. For one thing they are a little salty, but clearly all that means is use less salt next time! I've eaten some with a sauce made of a blend of Hellman's mayo and sri racha and that helped "cool" the overly salty aspect.

They also turned out extremely juicy--I'm not sure whether that means I used too much fat, or whether the mixture was too wet due to the onions. I did saute the onions until they were extremely dry, so I'm not sure that was it. Basically the texture is good, but if you go to test their temperature towards the end of cooking, you get a nice arc of liquid jetting out onto your floor or countertop when you remove the thermometer! This would not be a nice surprise if you were biting into a whole one on a bun, for example.

They were delightfully lamby and cuminy [sic], but I would definitely use more hot pepper next time, they barely register as spicy.

I bought the lamb from Butcher and Larder, so I'm going to bring them some of the sausage tomorrow (I vacuum-sealed and froze a bunch) so they can most likely give me some advice for future attempts--those B and L folks are pretty nice like that.

I'm known as the "Pound of Lamb Girl" around those parts.

geli wrote:I keep meaning to post, but not remembering to do so when I'm at a computer or have my recipe at hand! I'll post again soon with the actual recipe; I used the ratios for fresh sausage from Ruhlman's Charcuterie as the "base" for my experiment.

They turned out pretty well for a first try, although there are some adjustments I would make. For one thing they are a little salty, but clearly all that means is use less salt next time! I've eaten some with a sauce made of a blend of Hellman's mayo and sri racha and that helped "cool" the overly salty aspect.

They also turned out extremely juicy--I'm not sure whether that means I used too much fat, or whether the mixture was too wet due to the onions. I did saute the onions until they were extremely dry, so I'm not sure that was it. Basically the texture is good, but if you go to test their temperature towards the end of cooking, you get a nice arc of liquid jetting out onto your floor or countertop when you remove the thermometer! This would not be a nice surprise if you were biting into a whole one on a bun, for example.

They were delightfully lamby and cuminy [sic], but I would definitely use more hot pepper next time, they barely register as spicy.

The squirting probably meant you didn't get the sausage to "bind" properly. The key to perfect sausage is finding that perfect point in the binding process. It mostly takes experience, and everyone has their own technique. I'm sure it's addressed in "Charcuterie".

geli wrote:I bought the lamb from Butcher and Larder, so I'm going to bring them some of the sausage tomorrow (I vacuum-sealed and froze a bunch) so they can most likely give me some advice for future attempts--those B and L folks are pretty nice like that.

I'm known as the "Pound of Lamb Girl" around those parts.

They're gonna pimp your sausage!

=R=

geli wrote:I keep meaning to post, but not remembering to do so when I'm at a computer or have my recipe at hand! I'll post again soon with the actual recipe; I used the ratios for fresh sausage from Ruhlman's Charcuterie as the "base" for my experiment.

They turned out pretty well for a first try, although there are some adjustments I would make. For one thing they are a little salty, but clearly all that means is use less salt next time! I've eaten some with a sauce made of a blend of Hellman's mayo and sri racha and that helped "cool" the overly salty aspect.

They also turned out extremely juicy--I'm not sure whether that means I used too much fat, or whether the mixture was too wet due to the onions. I did saute the onions until they were extremely dry, so I'm not sure that was it. Basically the texture is good, but if you go to test their temperature towards the end of cooking, you get a nice arc of liquid jetting out onto your floor or countertop when you remove the thermometer! This would not be a nice surprise if you were biting into a whole one on a bun, for example.

They were delightfully lamby and cuminy [sic], but I would definitely use more hot pepper next time, they barely register as spicy.

Thanks for the report. I am quite envious! It would be better to get a kick of spice, though, as you point out.

geli wrote:I'm known as the "Pound of Lamb Girl" around those parts.

If you'd like to be known in the future as the "45 Pounds of Lamb Girl," come down to the Sullivan County, MO 4-H fair and buy a whole lamb for your freezer while funding a kid's future college tuition through 4-H. The lamb and the processing are tax-deductible, minus the value of the lamb. You get a plaque to put on your wall with your name (or your new handle) on it!