Mac and Cheese Stuffed Sausages
One of the reasons I didn’t post all last week, was that I was away in New York with some friends. Every time I stay with my friend Nick in the city, he expects me to make a ridiculous feast for his friends at some point. This time was no different, but there was going to be a big time crunch. The best time for everyone to hang out was Sunday afternoon, but we had previous obligations the night before and many miles away. Our 12:30 train arrival wasn’t going to leave much time to cook before people started showing up at 2! My master plan was to make sausages at home, freeze them, and let them thaw on the train in perfect time to cook them around 3. The plan went off without a hitch and everyone was fed and happy!
All the spices toasting before they are ground up.
Before I start with the mac and cheese sausage, I also made a corn-habanero sausage that came out pretty great too.
But on to the main event! Boxed mac and cheese makes one of it’s rare but always amazing cameos on TFIMB!
All mixed together.
Stuffing sausages! I’m getting pretty good at this, but you would think the guy taking pictures would put down the camera and help out a little!
Just keep stuffing.
Until it gets unruly.
Then start twisting them off into sausage sized links. Some will break unless you are an expert. Some of mine broke…
Fast forward a few days and here are the sausages! Thawed perfectly after the train ride. I love how you can totally see the mac and cheese in there!
After reports of rain, we were all worried that this BBQ would be as sparsely attended as a steakhouse in India, but luckily in the end just the right amount of people showed up.
Hands down, every time I have made sausages, the best moment, the moment that makes it all worth it, is when you hold up the connected links victoriously as you are about to place them onto the grill.
Always impatient when food is involved.
I like to grill my sausages low and slow until they are nicely browned.
I suggested pickles, mustard and onions as toppings.
When they were done, you couldn’t SEE the mac and cheese inside so much, but you could taste it for sure and the texture became super tender.
Oh yea, and the habanero-corn ones came out pretty good too! The masa flavored the pork but the corn really drove the corny taste home. The habaneros added a nice flavor with only a medium kick since I had removed the seeds.
The spice blend was about a tablespoon each of cumin, allspice berries, and fennel, half tablespoon each of black and yellow mustard seed and black pepper, and a teaspoon of aniseed. Toast and crush. For the sausage mixtures. Mac and cheese: 4.5 lbs ground pork shoulder, 3 boxes prepared mac and cheese, 2 tablespoons spice, 2 tablespoons chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons sriracha, salt. Cook a meatball of it and add seasonings if needed.
Habanero/corn sausages: 3.5 lbs ground pork shoulder, 13 habaneros seeded and diced, 1 lb corn chopped, 1 tablespoon spice, ½ cup masa harina, 2 tablespoons chopped garlic, salt. Again, cook a meatball of it to taste for spices.
You should move. To Norway. And, you know… bring sausages.
These were hands down the best sausages I’ve ever had. You could open an East Village eatery with these sausages alone.
You are an insane man!
Those are some good lookin’ links though!
How dare you dan!? I threw this bbq for your sake! You must admit that this was better than your last bbq, which was as sparsely attended as a science fair at the vatican.
Wow. These look incredible!
hella yum. I love the idea of putting pickles, mustard and onions on them. mmmmmmmmmmm
Wacky idea but looks SUPER tasty!