Homemade Andouille Sausage

One of the things I like to make with left over turkey is turkey gumbo so this year I decided to make the sausage for it too. I used a recipe from the cook book Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing (Revised and Updated). It is a great book all about curing and smoking meat. Defiantly worth the investment. This time I also decided to use real hog-casings, which I hadn't done before.

Making the sausage is fairly simple but takes time. and when it's done it tastes so good.

Homemade BACON!

I don't know why I have never tried this until this year. It is so easy and so good. Making your own bacon. It takes about a week and a couple hours to smoke it. You can season it with a variety of spices and smoke it with different types of woods to vary the flavor but it is all good.

Review: Farm to Table fresh at Block & Grinder

Name: Block & Grinder
Location: Charlotte, NC
Price: $$-$$$
Link: blockandgrinder.com/

A few months ago I heard that Block & Grinder was going to open. When I heard the concept I was intrigued. I was told it would be a farm to table restaurant with a butcher shop that would also have wild game on the menu. In the butcher shop part they planned to sell sausage and other charcuterie that was made on premises. It sounded wonderful. My family and I happened to be in the area so decided to give it a try. I'm glad we did.