Chicken sausage with sun dried tomato, basil and cheese - al la Cougar78 recipe

[dward51]

Been wanting to make some of Kevin's Chicken Sausage with sun dried tomatoes, basil and Parmesan cheese.  Finally got around to it.

The wife has dragged me kicking and screaming back to the diet zone.  So while at Kroger the other day she found some Perdue ground chicken breast (less than 2% fat) marked down half price.  Now lean breast would not be my first choice for sausage, and buying it pre-ground is well heresy, but there is no way I'm going to tell her that.

So this seems like a great opportunity to make Cougar's chicken sausage......

Only problem.... store was out of sun dried tomatoes!  So a little improvisation was called for.  I used a sun dried tomato pesto instead. It also had garlic and basil in it so I cut back a little from the recipe to compensate.  Made a 3 pound batch.

I was a little concerned about the lack of fat so I added some NFDM to act as a binder.  Used about a cup (around 3% by weight) and ground it to powder in the spice grinder (I also ground the other dry spices with it).

Fried up a test sample and it tastes great.  The sun dried tomato flavor is probably a little less than the original recipe as it was a pesto, but I had to go with what I had as the meat was marked down because of the sell by date and chicken is not something to try and gamble with.

Stuffed and ready for poaching (sorry about the fuzzy picture, might be time to get a newer camera. It's a 2004 Kodak model).  You can see the tomato and basil in the mix.  The little white chunks are grated Parmesan & Romano cheese bits.  The store had them as a new item so I went with that instead of the traditional shredded Parmesan.

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• dward51
• Jan 21, 2013

Poaching to bring internal temp to 165*.  One of these days I need to pick up a 18 quart Nesco roaster oven.

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• dward51
• Jan 21, 2013

Done and cooling on the rack before vacuum packing and freezing.  Will keep some in the fridge for next week.

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• dward51
• Jan 21, 2013

This is the sun dried tomato pesto I used in lieu of "regular" sun dried tomatoes in olive oil.  You can taste the sun dried tomato flavor but it's not strong.  I probably should have used more to make up for the other stuff in the pesto, but the sausages came out just fine.  This recipe would be killer with a little bacon trimmings ground in for fat.  But that version would not be "diet zone" friendly. 

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• dward51
• Jan 21, 2013

 

[smoking b]

Nice sausages 

   I've been wanting to make some chicken sausages for my grandparents who have to watch their diets. How is the moisture level?

 

[dward51]

The stuff I fried up in a pan was not bad at all.  The mouth texture was good for a product this lean.   It's not as moist as a more traditional pork sausage or kielbasa, but then again it was 98% fat free to start with and I only supplemented it with some olive oil. The stuff I fried up was the final pre-stuffing mix and not a final poached sausage. I will grill some of these up for lunch on Monday and let you know how the final stuffed version fairs.

I think the original version Kevin posted where he ground the chicken thigh skin with his meat would give you a decent fat ratio of around 10%. I'm way under that with this version.  That's why I added the NFDM to help bind the meat and retain as much moisture and what fat was available. Figuring on the olive oil I added and what was in the garlic, pesto, basil and cheese, I might be at 5%-6% final fat content if I'm lucky.

Kevin's original recipe was for 4.75 pound and I adjusted for 3 pounds of chicken. Kevin's original version can be found at this link:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/123843/a-new-chicken-sausage

Adjusted for 3 pounds - and made with 98% lean chicken breast

• 3 pounds of ground chicken breast (98% lean)
• 1/3 cup of chopped garlic (I was just under 1/3 cup as the Pesto also had garlic in it)
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon Fresh basil (I used the basil in oil that comes in a squeeze tube)
• 2 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2/3 teaspoon nutmeg (I eyeballed it in a 1 teaspoon measure)
• 1/3 teaspoon allspice (same here)
• 1/2 cup of sun dried tomato pesto (store was out of sun dried tomatoes but would have been 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon otherwise)
• 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan & Romano cheese bits (about 1/8" or a little larger in size).
• 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil (Kevin's version used the oil from the sun dried tomatoes)
• 1 cup of NFDM (package of Carnation brand ground to fine powder in spice grinder)

Mixed the dry ingredients and ran them through the spice grinder with the NFDM (powdered the NFDM first and pulsed to mix all dry together after).

Mixed the 3 pounds of ground chicken breast with the basil, garlic, oil and tomato pesto by hand.  Then dumped in the dry ingredients and the cheese and continued to mix.  Makes a very sticky paste like mix.

Covered with plastic wrap and put back in fridge while I prepped the stuffer.  Stuffed into 32-35mm natural hog casings.

I then poached them in a water bath at 165-170* to an internal temp of 165*.  Pulled them, separated the links and bagged some for the fridge, and vacuum packed and froze the rest for later.

I intend on grilling them on the gas grill for lunch tomorrow (Monday).  I will probably brush them with a little olive oil before grilling.  After poaching they are cooked, just want to throw a little more flavor on the outside by browning them up some while reheating them.

 

[themule69]

looks great.

 

[chef willie]

Looks good....I also did this one using breasts as you recall and they were a tad on the drier side, even with the bacon added. But, still good warmed in some marinara for over pasta (if that's allowed on ur diet). I also really enjoyed them, as did others, sliced up on a plate with toothpicks in the pieces and a side of spiced up yellow mustard for dipping. With a cold beverage they were quite good. Good luck on the diet....Willie

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Looks good!


~Martin

 

[backyard bbq]

LOOKS GOOD.  WHY COOK FIRST?  WHY NOT JUST COOK WHEN READY LIKE FRESH SAUSAGE?  

 

[fpnmf]

Looking good!!

  Craig

 

[couger78]

Nice job on the sausages! Making lean AND tasty sausages is no easy feat.

These come out really nice when grilled and served with a good marinara sauce.

I'm keeping my eyes open for the sale on those chicken thighs again. Then I can stock up to make more of these bad boys.

Kevin

 

[couger78]

LOOKS GOOD.  WHY COOK FIRST?  WHY NOT JUST COOK WHEN READY LIKE FRESH SAUSAGE?  

Two reasons I poach after making chicken sausage:

1. Convenience — just grill' em or fry em & you're good to go in two minutes.

2. Safety — handling & storing raw poultry requires extra precautions. Once they're cooked,it gets a little easier.

Kevin

 

[dward51]

Comments on the finished product and their use.

I knew very low fat chicken sausage would be a challenge when I started, and this proved it.  The final grilled product does have a good flavor, but it is somewhat dry.  Unless you have to trim fat way back in your diet, 98% lean breasts really do need some supplemental fat to make a good sausage.  Not going to toss them out, but next time I'm sneaking in some fat from either the skin, bacon trimmings or some back fat to get the fat content to at least 10%. 

That being said, I grilled up one of the links to eat with my salad for lunch.  I brushed it with a little bit of canola oil to help browning on the grill.

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• dward51
• Jan 21, 2013

Cut you can see it's firm, not totally dry, but it mouth feel is dry (but not mealy though).  Heck, there's no fat in there so what did I expect?

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• dward51
• Jan 21, 2013

Tasted a piece or two "as is" and decided it needed sauce.  So about a fat tablespoon of Progresso Vodka & Cheese sauce was dribbled over the cut section.  With the addition of moisture from the sauce, this came out pretty decent.  Should still be a diet friendly protein supplement to the meal.

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• dward51
• Jan 21, 2013

Once these are gone, I may make a 1 pound batch using thighs and trying the "fat replacement" from sausagmaker.com.   I like Kevin's sun dried tomato, basil and cheese recipe, but I need to figure out a better "low fat" diet version.  This was at least a start.

Then there is always ground bacon trimmings......  everything goes good with that!!!!! 

 

[fagesbp]

They look great. I have been wanting to try a chicken sausage and I just so happen to have a good stash of bacon trimmings. Maybe I can use my own dehydrated tomatoes.

 

[smoking b]

Originally Posted by dward51  
 

Once these are gone, I may make a 1 pound batch using thighs and trying the "fat replacement" from sausagmaker.com.   I like Kevin's sun dried tomato, basil and cheese recipe, but I need to figure out a better "low fat" diet version. 

I have looked at that myself but haven't been able to find much info on it. I can't add any fat to sausages for my grandparents because of their strict diet. If you try some of the fat replacer please give us the scoop on how it works.

 

[realtorterry]

Two reasons I poach after making chicken sausage:

1. Convenience — just grill' em or fry em & you're good to go in two minutes.

2. Safety — handling & storing raw poultry requires extra precautions. Once they're cooked,it gets a little easier.

Kevin

I'm still learning the sausage process myself, but I was wondering why weren't these smoked instead of poaching

 

[couger78]

I'm still learning the sausage process myself, but I was wondering why weren't these smoked instead of poaching

They could be smoked, but its a personal taste whether one wants smoke in these sausages. I opted to keep them 'fresh' and let the spices not get masked by smoking.

If you do wish to smoke them, the proper amount of cure would need to be added. Cure will change the color (pink), flavor and possibly the texture.

Kevin