Homemade Sausages/Hot Dogs....or Romanian Carnati/Crenvusti

Homemade Sausages/Hot Dogs....or Romanian Carnati/Crenvusti. I was blessed to spend some time together with my parents recently... enjoyed Christmas and New Year's together. Precious time. Time that I don't want to take for granted... it was also a time where I spent New Year's eve with my mom... making sausages. Earlier during the week, we had talked about making some traditional Romanian dishes... carnati, or sausages, was one of the things that came up. But we wanted to make the sausages using chicken as the main meat. An even though pork is most often used, my mom has been making chicken sausages for years... We grew up eating her delicious homemade chicken sausages. They were simply the best!

My mom and I settled on having a sausage making day... and got ready for that. But we decided to try something new.... to experiment and have some fun together. Now I know where I got this from...the experimenting and trying out new recipes, I mean:). In any case, we really wanted to make some homemade hot dogs or crenvusti. So we ended up doing a trial run... ended up looking for a hot dog recipe... noticed that egg white and milk were used in some of the versions, so we added them to the meat. We also used a few spices from the pantry, and then ended up grinding the meat twice.... just so that we could get that finer texture found in hot dogs. We made a few other batches of homemade sausages/hot dogs... and in the process adjusted a few things along the way. I don't know if we made hot dogs....maybe a cross between hot dogs and sausages. But regardless, we had fun together:).

Making the sausages took some time, but it was worth it. It was a real special time for me, as I spent a few good hours with my mom. Just having her by my side... would have been enough. But she helped me stuff the sausage casings, and then she tied each sausage link with thread so they wouldn't unravel... I loved our time together. Loved hearing her share stories of her own childhood...the days when her family would butcher the pig for the winter...along with pretty much everyone in their town. Plenty of sausages were made...to last through the cold weather months. All the neighbors would have sausage links hanging outside to dry... a sign they had butchered their pig:). I could see my mom enjoying our time together... making sausages from scratch...just the two of us. We made a memory.... one that I'll cherish.

I've decided to post this recipe for myself...as a memory...and also because I will be using the recipe and technique again. I'll admit this recipe may not be "professional" in nature(see note below).... but we liked them nonetheless. Hope you enjoy...

Note: I tested a new idea when making these sausages....using unflavored gelatin to hold moisture, as well as to bind the meat together.... similar to my Romanian mititei. It worked for me...the sausages weren't dry, but moist and "bouncy". This may not be the way others make sausages... there are plenty of recipes online. Most recipes require you to use plenty of fat...or at least a 4:1 ratio of meat to fat. I prefer to not add too much fat... but you can certainly do so. Also, the meat and fat should be kept cold at all times... even while mixing/grinding. I have to admit I wasn't so strict with that....

~While I posted the recipe as we made them....I am planning on making other versions(still using the gelatin technique)... but using other spices and flavors. Would love to try a sundried tomato/pesto, mushroom, roasted pepper, spinach, cheese, cumin/curry version, etc... I think I got the sausage making "bug":)

You will need:

Version #1...without gelatin

2 lbs boneless chicken thighs(no skin, but with all the other fat)*

*you can use a mixture of other meats, as well...

seasonings: feel free to add your own seasonings... fennel seeds, dried sage, dried marjoram are all good to use.

1/4 cup onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsps kosher salt, or to taste

1 tsp pepper, or to taste

1/2 tsp hot smoked paprika

1/2 tsp sweet paprika

1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cimbru(or summer savory)

1 tsp onion powder

2 tsps sugar

1/2 tsp celery salt

1/4 cup cold water

Extra:

1/4 cup milk

1 egg white

Additional:

casings of choice...if using natural salted hog or sheep casing, soak in water and a bit of vinegar to de-salt, and then rinse.

Version #2...with gelatin powder

2 lbs boneless chicken thighs(no skin, but with all the other fat)

3 slices of bacon, optional

seasonings: feel free to add your own seasonings... fennel seeds, dried sage, dried marjoram are all good choices.

1/3 cup onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsps kosher salt, or to taste

1 tsp pepper, or to taste

1 tsp hot smoked paprika

2 tsps sweet paprika

1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cimbru(or summer savory)

1 tsp onion powder

2 tsps sugar

1/2 tsp celery salt

1/4 cup cold water

Extra:

1 tsp unflavored gelatin powder

1/2 cup milk

1 egg white

Additional:

casings of choice...if using natural salted hog or sheep casing, soak in water and a bit of vinegar to de-salt, and then rinse.

Directions:

For Version 1:

1. Grind meat 2 times... if you like your sausages to be more chunkier, opt to grind only once. You want to grind the meat... as well as any fat pieces that are usually attached to the chicken thighs. Don't remove it, as it gives flavor and moistness to the sausages. You can opt to use whatever meat you want here. I used an equal amount of chicken and veal meat for one of the versions I made .... found it a bit drier with the veal because my veal was very lean and I added no extra fat...but you can use all chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, veal or a mixture and add a bit of fat.

2. To a food processor/blender, add seasonings with the water. Process/blend till until you get a smooth paste...or as smooth as you can get it.

3. Add spice paste, milk, and egg white to ground meat. Mix until thoroughly combined. Take a bit of meat and fry in a pan to check for seasoning. Adjust if necessary.

4. Fill sausages using a sausage maker( I used my Kitchenaid attachment) by loading the casing onto attachment nozzle. Tie end of casing before starting and stuff meat into casings, trying to avoid air pockets and not overstuffing. I usually use a needle to poke small holes if I find air pockets.

5. When finished with the stuffing, tie off end and pinch and twist to form 4-6 inch sausages....or you can make them smaller/bigger. Air dry in a cool place for 24-48 hours(make sure it is cold to at least 40 deg F...My garage is cold in the winter, so I'll use that). But you can also hang the sausages in a refrigerator. Or you can simply wrap in parchment and refrigerate. The sausages will sort of wrinkle after 24 hours of air drying...and even more so after 48 hours. They won't wrinkle as much if kept covered and refrigerated

Store in refrigerator for use within 2 to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

For Version 2:

1. Grind meat once...then place meat aside.

2. Make gelatin mixture.... add 1 tsp gelatin powder to 1/2 cup milk and stir to dissolve. Heat milk/gelatin till very hot, but don't boil....and don't stir it. Allow the gelatin mixture to cool slightly.

3. To a food processor, add seasonings with the water. Process till until you get a smooth spice paste...or as smooth as you can get it.

4. Add the ground meat to the food processor( where you have the spice mixture) and then add the slightly cooled gelatin/milk mixture. Process everything together until you get a fine paste. If you have a smaller food processor you may have to process the meat in batches as you don't want the meat to get too hot... and then combine everything by hand.

5. Take a bit of meat and fry in a pan to check for seasoning. Adjust if necessary.

6. Fill sausages using a sausage maker( I used my Kitchenaid attachment) by loading the casing onto attachment nozzle. Tie end of casing before starting and stuff meat into casings, trying to avoid air pockets and not overstuffing. I usually use a needle to poke small holes if I find air pockets.

7. When finished with the stuffing, tie off end and pinch and twist to form 4-6 inch sausages....or you can make them smaller/bigger. Air dry in a cool place for 24-48 hours(make sure it is cold to at least 40 deg F...My garage is cold in the winter, so I'll use that). But you can also hang the sausages in a refrigerator. Or you can simply wrap in parchment and refrigerate. The sausages will sort of wrinkle after 24 hours of air drying...and even more so after 48 hours. They won't wrinkle as much if kept covered and refrigerated.

Store in refrigerator for use within 2 to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.