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Thursday, September 19, 2002

Once again, LRJ to the rescue...reminding me that the Ball Blue Book has all the answers. Yes, there is a recipe for "Tomato Garden Juice Blend" there. It has onion and green pepper in it, which are not in V8. It does not have beets, which is a big plus AFAIC. It also does not have spinach, celery or lettuce. Note from the ingredient count below that it is a V6.  Tomato Garden Juice Blend 22 pounds tomatoes 3/4 cup diced carrots  3/4 cup chopped celery 3/4 cup chopped green pepper 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup chopped parsley I tablespoon salt (optional) Bottled lemon juice or citric acid Wash tomatoes; drain. Remove core and blossom ends. Cut into quarters. Combine tomatoes and vegetables in a large saucepot; simmer 20 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking. Press mixture through a sieve or food mill. Stir in salt, if desired. Heat juice 5 minutes at 190F. Do not boil. Add 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon citric acid to each quart jar. Add I tablespoon bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid to each pint jar. Ladle hot juice into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints 40 minutes, quarts 45 minutes, in a boilingwater canner. Yield: about 14 pints or 7 quarts. 5:37:24 PM    comment []

Here's a teaser from Flying Sausages (Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly, Chronicle Books, ISBN 0-8118-0541-7): Bruce Aidells' Chicken and Apple Sausage 1 cup apple cider 3 1/2 pounds boned chicken thighs with skin (about 4 1/2   pounds with bones) or 3 1/2 pounds ground chicken 3 ounces dried apples  4 teaspoons kosher salt 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 2 teaspoons dried sage 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon    1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg  1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1 chicken bouillon cube dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water 8 to 10 feet medium sausage casings (optional) In a small nonreactive saucepan, boil down the cider almost to a syrup, about 2 to 3 tablespoons. Coot and reserve. If using chicken thighs, coarsely grind the boned chicken and skin or chop coarsely in batches in a food processor. Add the apple cider and the remaining ingredients to the ground chicken in a large bowl or plastic tub and blend thoroughly with your hands. Fry a small patty until done and taste for salt, pepper, and other seasonings. Divide the sausage into 7 or 8 portions (each about 1/2 pound) wrap tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate or freeze for later use. Or, if desired, stuff the sausage into casings (see To Make Link Sausages, page 15). Makes seven or eight 1/2 pound packages or about twenty 5-inch link sausages. SUBSTITUTIONS FOR CHICKEN AND APPLE SAUSAGE Chicken and apple sausages are available around the country in better grocery stores and butcher shops and from mailorder sources. Or use good quality American sage and pepper sausage, add some chopped dried apples, and drain off fat before using. 3:47:45 PM    comment []

Most people, when they hear "Bruce!" think of Springsteen. Sausagemakers think Aidells. When I opened the inside cover of the November 2002 Fine Cooking there he stood, holding a roast and grinning under a banner that read "Perfect Ingredients. Perfect Preparation. and now Perfect Heat." It was an ad for a fascinating, but expensive ceramic oven liner called the HearthKit. I've just added his Complete Sausage Book to my Amazon order and held off on the Knopfler CD so I can get that and the Ferber book by the end of the month. You can also read the fist few pages of the sausage book at the link provided above. I picked up his Flying Sausages in a discount bin a couple of years ago and it was my inspiration for using ground chicken thighs (inexpensive) and reconsituted morel mushrooms (expensive) with just a hint of nutmeg and mace to make some very tasty sausages. You can read more about Mr. Aidells here. A short list of his sausage innovations includes: Burmese Curry, Chicken and Apple, Mango, and Pesto. Bruce! Bruce! BRUCE! 3:11:03 PM    comment []