These robust, aromatic sausages pair well with many egg dishes. For best results, most of these ingredients should be chilled before you start. The fat needs to stay separate during the mixing process or the sausages will be mealy. Properly handled ingredients, especially the fat and meat, are the key to good sausages. Both the meat and the fatback should be brought down to 32°F, so place them into the freezer for about an hour. Fatback, which is the fresh unsmoked layer of fat that runs along the pig’s back, is sold at butcher shops. Don’t confuse it with salt pork: They’re not the same thing. The easiest way to get ground juniper berries is to grind them in a spice grinder. If you don’t cook all the sausages in one meal, the patties freeze well for several weeks as long as they are well wrapped. The best thing is to wrap the patties individually in plastic wrap, wrap six to eight of the plastic-wrapped sausages in aluminum foil, then put the foil packages in a resealable plastic freezer bag and mark the bag with the date they were frozen.
Recipe information
Yield
makes twenty-four 2-ounces patties
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Combine the venison, pork shoulder, and fatback in a very large bowl.
Step 2
Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger, juniper berries, dry mustard, egg whites, and arrowroot. Using your hands, mix together very well.
Step 3
Mix in 1 cup ice water a little bit at a time, until the sausage is firm enough to form into patties but not too dry. Form the mixture into 24 patties, each about the size of a tiny hamburger patty.
Step 4
Heat a large skillet over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles on it. Arrange the sausages in a single layer in the skillet. Fry the sausages, turning them once, until golden brown and crusty on the outside and the interior loses its pink color, about 4 minutes total.
