Had some chicken thighs in the freezer and haven't made any chicken sausage in a while. So I had leftover jalapeños and cilantro from enchiladas I made the other night. Seemed like a good opportunity to make a southwestern style sausage. Here is the recipe I used which I took from the Lets Make Sausage site and adapted a bit:
5 pounds of chicken thighs coarse ground (I used meat only, no skin)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon medium ground black pepper
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
6 cloves finely chopped fresh garlic
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 medium sized jalapeno peppers, chopped, seeds removed
1 cup cold dry red wine
1 cup NFDM
8oz. of extra sharp yellow cheddar (white cheddar, pepper jack, or any other cheese would work but I just think the yellow cheddar looks cooler inside the links)
Process is as follows
1. Slice chicken thighs into long strips that will fit through the hole of my grinder
2. Put them on the tray and stick in the freezer until they are almost frozen
3. Grind through the coarse plate
4. Mix all ingredients except cheese and cilantro into a slurry in the red wine
5. Mix slurry and cilantro by hand for 2.5 minutes or until tacky (for some reason for a 5-10 pound batch 2.5 minute of thorough mixing gets it to the right tackiness)
6. Fold in cheese
7. Stuff into hog casings that I have soaked for a few days
8. Prick holes in the sausage casing and tie off links.
Here are some pics of the process and the end result.
For the first time trying this I am really happy with the taste and texture. In the future I would probably add a little heat, maybe by leaving some of the seeds in the mix or by maybe adding a hotter chili powder. Definitely has a great jalapeño flavor but I want a little more heat.
I'm surprised at how juicy a sausage this recipe produced without adding the fat from the chicken skins. I'm guessing the NFDM has a lot to do with that. Well thanks for looking!
-Chris
5 pounds of chicken thighs coarse ground (I used meat only, no skin)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon medium ground black pepper
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
6 cloves finely chopped fresh garlic
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 medium sized jalapeno peppers, chopped, seeds removed
1 cup cold dry red wine
1 cup NFDM
8oz. of extra sharp yellow cheddar (white cheddar, pepper jack, or any other cheese would work but I just think the yellow cheddar looks cooler inside the links)
Process is as follows
1. Slice chicken thighs into long strips that will fit through the hole of my grinder
2. Put them on the tray and stick in the freezer until they are almost frozen
3. Grind through the coarse plate
4. Mix all ingredients except cheese and cilantro into a slurry in the red wine
5. Mix slurry and cilantro by hand for 2.5 minutes or until tacky (for some reason for a 5-10 pound batch 2.5 minute of thorough mixing gets it to the right tackiness)
6. Fold in cheese
7. Stuff into hog casings that I have soaked for a few days
8. Prick holes in the sausage casing and tie off links.
Here are some pics of the process and the end result.
For the first time trying this I am really happy with the taste and texture. In the future I would probably add a little heat, maybe by leaving some of the seeds in the mix or by maybe adding a hotter chili powder. Definitely has a great jalapeño flavor but I want a little more heat.
I'm surprised at how juicy a sausage this recipe produced without adding the fat from the chicken skins. I'm guessing the NFDM has a lot to do with that. Well thanks for looking!
-Chris
