Sausage Fest '09

I know I said in an earlier post that we would be cooking a "challenging" dish with our friends Timm and Faith once a month, but when there is sausage to be made, who am I to argue? Timm and Faith have made sausage previously, but this was a first for Matt and I. Timm and Matt were brainstorming at the grocery store when shopping for ingredients when they thought of a grand idea!! Why not stuff these casings with themed meat goodies? Thus, the ideas started flowing. We made the following sausages:

1. Shepherd's Pie (ground chuck, carrots, leeks, celery, onion, garlic, potatoes, salt, and pepper)
   
2. Buffalo Chicken (ground chicken, fat, celery, Frank's Red Hot, bleu cheese, salt, and pepper)
3. Sweet and Savory Chicken (ground chicken, fat, apple, bacon, salt, and pepper)
4. Triple P (ground pork, pineapple, pepper-green and red, salt, and pepper)
5. Plain (ground pork, mace, salt, and pepper)

My only question is: Why haven't we done this sooner!? The sausages were delicious, and we all felt good about the fact that all the ingredients were fresh and we had complete control over the flavors. It was nice to know there were no artificial additives, and you could certainly tell the difference. We had good success with all the sausages except the Triple P. Unfortunately, the casing began to break down when they were chilling in the refrigerator and even when they were transferred to the hot part of the grill, they completely fell apart. We think this was due to the moisture of the pineapple and peppers, but since none of us had ever used those ingredients in sausage, we can't be sure. All in all, it was a great experience, and I have already priced the food grinder attachment for the Kitchen Aid! In addition to the sausage, Timm requested that I make my mom's recipe for Confetti Coleslaw. You can see the picture below, but you should check out her adorable blog for the recipe and just to poke around:)