Chicago Bears Sausage Night (pics)

Well, The Bears are going to practicing again here in chicago come Sunday. Ever since they implemented practice night, we've been the first people there, last people to leave. So, naturally, there's a lot of eating and drinking going on.

I went to costco and bought a 13 lb pork shoulder and spent the night with my roommate (whom i forced to help me ) making the 13 lbs of sausage that we'll be consuming in the name of the bears

Here's what we made:

The first 4 lbs: (Polish Sausage)
Garlic
Powdered organic milk
salt/pepper
chopped onion
chopper green pepper
chicken stock

Second 4 lbs: (classic Italian)
Fennell Seed
Salt/pepper
Crushed red pepper

Third 4 lbs: (completely improvised)
Salt/pepper
Condensed Tomato Soup
Parmesan cheese
Onion
Oregano
fennel seed



My roommate (right) ended up having a fun time with this. Naturally. I mean, we are making sausage afterall.


One of the many final sausage link which i'll section out on Sunday.


Now, here's a question for you. I'm going traditional with the toppings for the Polish and Italian.

But, just looking at the flavors implemented in our improvised sausage, I'm thinking about putting cubed smoked Gouda on it and i'm trying to figure out what kind of sauce i could make to top it all off.

I was thinking about maybe a pancetta based sauce, but i'm having a hard time figuring out how to make it. Suggestions???

Wow djenks!

That's some serious equipment and a great looking finished product.

How long have you been making sausage? This obviously isn't your first try.

I don't have much to offer in terms of suggestions for your mystery-wurst but I'm sure I'm not alone in looking forward to some tasting reports and pictures.

Thanks for the post!

Much appreciated.

yeah, my first experience was nothing short of a disaster.

I've only been making sausage for a little over a year - since i've been able to get that grinder/stuffer. I've loved sausage my whole life, so i knew a lot about it going into my hobby of making it.

That grinder is scary though I was afraid to take it out of the box. But, it grinds anything you could ever think of.

That is an impressive grinder, I'm jealous.

Your improvised one seems like it will have an Italian flavor. You could use the traditional toppings if you wanted. Slices of fresh mozzarella and basil might be nice. Have you thought about meat as a condiment? Some nice Italian beef to go on your sausage... Just a thought.

Very cool. I'd make some home made giardiniera to go with the home made sausage.

I've never noticed pork shoulders at Costco. The one on Damen, I assume? I'd like to stock up. Thanks.

JeffB wrote:I've never noticed pork shoulders at Costco. The one on Damen, I assume? I'd like to stock up. Thanks.

I didn't realize that they had them until the other day. I always went to Paulina Meat Market to get my shoulders, but Costco sold me on 13lbs. Biggest shoulder i've ever worked with.

But yeah, it's the one on Damen that i went to.

djenks wrote:

JeffB wrote:I've never noticed pork shoulders at Costco. The one on Damen, I assume? I'd like to stock up. Thanks.

I didn't realize that they had them until the other day. I always went to Paulina Meat Market to get my shoulders, but Costco sold me on 13lbs. Biggest shoulder i've ever worked with.

But yeah, it's the one on Damen that i went to.

Bone in or boneless?

stevez wrote:

djenks wrote:

JeffB wrote:I've never noticed pork shoulders at Costco. The one on Damen, I assume? I'd like to stock up. Thanks.

I didn't realize that they had them until the other day. I always went to Paulina Meat Market to get my shoulders, but Costco sold me on 13lbs. Biggest shoulder i've ever worked with.

But yeah, it's the one on Damen that i went to.

Bone in or boneless?

boneless

Man, djenks, yours really IS bigger! Now I'm ashamed to bring my wußßy little sausage grinder out in public... I betcha you could make some mean veal brats with that!!

Maybe make an uncooked tomato + basil + garlic sauce to go with your Mystery Wurst??

Here's one I like.

Geo

+++++
4 tomatoes, dead ripe, roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely minced or put through masher
1 scallion, finely chopped
1 Mexican tomato+chicken bouillion cube
5 salad olives
2 Tbs excellent olive oil
dash excellent balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. basil leaves
1 sprig oregano, leaves only

Put tomatoes in sieve, squeeze firmly, collect extract; drain for an hour or so, squeezing firmly several times.

Add bouillon cube to drained tomato extract and reduce until it will thickly coat a spoon (roughly a 4:1 reduction); during last minute or so, add garlic and scallion.

Meanwhile, put drained chopped tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients into blender; after reduced sauce has cooled, add to blender.

Blend to a thick puree with a few chunk-ish elements remaining. Pour over suitable pasta, add a bit of good parmesan if you wish.

NICE. thats exactly the kind of thing i was looking for.

I'm going to make that tonight.

Thank You Geo, i'll let you guys know how it turns out.

the vast majority of my sausage tonight was Stolen.

We cooked about 3 pounds of the Polish to start off with. I garnished it with perfectly grilled onions and yellow mustard. They were amazing. All the fresh veggies came through and were very distinguishable. To be completely honest, it came out better than i thought it would.

So, the people next to us inquire about where we got our sausage. I told them it was mine and cooked them a few. Compliments galore.

well, we head to practice and pull a pretty standard Tailgating technique. Lock up the stuff you can walk away with, put the coolers under the car, and head to the field.

When we get back, the car next to us (whom i served Polish's to) was gone, and i thought nothing of it. fire up the charcoal starter, and open up the meat cooler.

Empty. Both my italian and mystery sausage i was never able to try. I was so angry at this point that i didn't know what to do.

They don't make them like the used to. We're all at soldier field with one thing in common - our love for the Bears - and all my food gets stolen. And there's a possibility that it was the people that i had served my sausago to earlier.

Hi,

I'm truly sorry about your efforts disapeering like that.

If there is any consulation, you can make those fine sausages again. Those creeps will only have the one chance. Hopefully they will be the best sausages they will have ever had, yet they will never ever have them again. You, sir, have the recipe!

I feel your pain.

Regards,

That really, really sucks. I just don't know what is wrong with people these days.

I cannot believe how creepy that is. I hope they choked.

Geo

When we get back, the car next to us (whom i served Polish's to) was gone, and i thought nothing of it. fire up the charcoal starter, and open up the meat cooler.

Empty. Both my italian and mystery sausage i was never able to try. I was so angry at this point that i didn't know what to do.

They don't make them like the used to. We're all at soldier field with one thing in common - our love for the Bears - and all my food gets stolen. And there's a possibility that it was the people that i had served my sausago to earlier.

Sounds like justifiable homicide to me...can only hope for a one car fatal accident for all inside the vehicle (and no one else hurt) on the way home. Assuming, of course, all inside were complicit in the theft.

Horrible, can't trust anyone anymore. Learned a similar lesson years ago when various brats and beers were stolen from my Notre Dame tailgater...what's worse, was a terrible September, 100 F+ degree day and upon returning to the tailgater from a nut-crushing, catastrophic, Championship season-ending, last minute loss to the f*cking Wolverines. If ever I was in need of a brat and eight beers, it was that day. I hope they all suffered terribly painful deaths soon thereafter. I'm not ashamed to say I actually prayed for it in those early moments of shock. I can only hope and pray it was some Wolverines...can't bring myself to comprehend such an act of cannabalistic treachery after an L like this from an ND fan.

You'll recover, those kitchen pics are GREAT!!

Let us know when u make them again...and u will...and how they were!!

Good Luck!

Bster wrote:

...what's worse, was a terrible September, 100 F+ degree day and upon returning to the tailgater from a nut-crushing, catastrophic, Championship season-ending, last minute loss to the f*cking Wolverines. If ever I was in need of a brat and eight beers, it was that day.

this made me laugh. As an avid sports fan, i think i've lived similar experiences on too many occasions. Brats and beers do help - it's a shame they weren't there for you.

We'll be back and at it again this week!

djenks, on February 3rd, 2008, when you are watching Da Bearccc in the Super Bowl, eating your homemade brats, you'll laugh about this preseason episode.

Go Bears.

That truly is a shame. Perhaps the moral is to invite LTHers to a pre-game tailgate so we can all devour the sausage before anyone else has a chance to get their little hands on 'em.

Wishful thinking? Maybe. But damn, those looked good.