Course
Main
Duration
1 hr
Serves
Multiple party trays
Every fall, after big game season is over, I turn my attention to waterfowl. Goose hunting is often done with a group—and with a group comes large limits. I’ve been trying to find ways to make sure our healthy stacks of honker meat can be appreciated all year.
Goose jerky is always a crowd pleaser, but it’s a labor-intensive process. Corning the breasts is also another favorite of mine, but neither of these methods work well with thigh meat. However, after putting thigh and breast meat through a grinder and realizing they have similar properties, I ended up making a sweet and savory sausage that goes great with some good ol’ Southern pepper jelly. Perfect for a snack or an appetizer at a party, this apricot-infused sausage has all the sophistication needed to impress your family and friends while also utilizing all of the meat on the goose.
Feature image via Bryan Gregson.
Ingredients
- 15 pounds goose breasts and/or thighs
- 1 pound bacon
- 4 pounds pork butts or 50/50 trim (50% fat and 50% meat)
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. salt
- 2 tsp. pink curing salt #2
- 3 cups dried apricots
- 1 1/2 cups cognac
- 2 tbsp. garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons white pepper
- 3 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 tbsp. poultry seasoning
- 1 tbsp. New Mexico chili powder
- 1 oz. fresh tarragon leaves
- Natural pig casings
Yields 20 pounds of sausage
Special equipment
Preparation
- Dice the goose meat into grindable chunks (smaller than 2 inches in diameter) then coarsely dice the bacon and frozen pork butts or 50/50 trim. The pork products should be frozen so they don’t render and get messy in the grinder.
- Mix all meat together and grind through a through 3/8-inch grinder plate.
- Coarsely chop the tarragon and mix it with the whole apricots. Mix evenly into the ground meat then run the entire mixture through the grinder again with the 3/8 plate.
- Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the spices and cognac to the ground meat mixture.
- With a sausage stuffer, load the meat and fill the natural casing slowly. Pop any bubbles with a toothpick. You can either make links or round coils for packaging. Personally, I prefer coils.
- I’d suggest stuffing about 24 inches of casing before tying off, but that depends on your desired serving size. Wrap each coil tightly in plastic wrap with as little air as possible, then wrap in freezer paper and place in the freezer.
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Every fall, after big game season is over, I turn my attention to waterfowl. Goose hunting is often done with a group—and with a group comes large limits. I’ve been trying to find ways to make sure our healthy stacks of honker meat can be appreciated all year.
Goose jerky is always a crowd pleaser, but it’s a labor-intensive process. Corning the breasts is also another favorite of mine, but neither of these methods work well with thigh meat. However, after putting thigh and breast meat through a grinder and realizing they have similar properties, I ended up making a sweet and savory sausage that goes great with some good ol’ Southern pepper jelly. Perfect for a snack or an appetizer at a party, this apricot-infused sausage has all the sophistication needed to impress your family and friends while also utilizing all of the meat on the goose.
Feature image via Bryan Gregson.
Ingredients
- 15 pounds goose breasts and/or thighs
- 1 pound bacon
- 4 pounds pork butts or 50/50 trim (50% fat and 50% meat)
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. salt
- 2 tsp. pink curing salt #2
- 3 cups dried apricots
- 1 1/2 cups cognac
- 2 tbsp. garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons white pepper
- 3 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 tbsp. poultry seasoning
- 1 tbsp. New Mexico chili powder
- 1 oz. fresh tarragon leaves
- Natural pig casings
Yields 20 pounds of sausage
Special equipment
Preparation
- Dice the goose meat into grindable chunks (smaller than 2 inches in diameter) then coarsely dice the bacon and frozen pork butts or 50/50 trim. The pork products should be frozen so they don’t render and get messy in the grinder.
- Mix all meat together and grind through a through 3/8-inch grinder plate.
- Coarsely chop the tarragon and mix it with the whole apricots. Mix evenly into the ground meat then run the entire mixture through the grinder again with the 3/8 plate.
- Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the spices and cognac to the ground meat mixture.
- With a sausage stuffer, load the meat and fill the natural casing slowly. Pop any bubbles with a toothpick. You can either make links or round coils for packaging. Personally, I prefer coils.
- I’d suggest stuffing about 24 inches of casing before tying off, but that depends on your desired serving size. Wrap each coil tightly in plastic wrap with as little air as possible, then wrap in freezer paper and place in the freezer.