As ethical hunters, we like to salvage every part of the animals we harvest. We obviously cherish the prime cuts in big game animals, but then there’s the rest – the meat that is a bit tougher, a bit stronger tasting and a bit less desirable. These are the various “extras” we take from the neck, the legs, in between the ribs etc. that we package up, mark as “Trim” and stash in the freezer with big plans of how to later make it into something delicious. Well, I opened the freezer over Christmas and cringed. There were Christmas appetizers, garden vegetables, goose, duck and antelope piled high on every shelf and hanging off the door. I was amazed at how strategically placed everything was. So much that if you moved one item, a few others rolled out at my feet. Is anyone relating to this scenario? It was time to clean out the freezer and execute on some plans for transitioning the bags marked “trim” into something delicious – fresh wild game sausage.
Kerry Coleman (my hunting partner that I have talked about in numerous articles) invited Vanessa Ahing (friend and past MWF program participate), her partner Aaron, my husband Clarke and I out to Crystal City for a day of sausage making 101. Kerry has many years of experience as a butcher from his past career. He is impressive with a knife to say the least, however his passion and expertise really showed when it came down to combining the right mix of spices and meat combinations to make the perfect sausage. We were all new to the sausage making world, so we were eager to learn and even more eager to sample some of Kerry’s secret recipes.