You might suspect that such an occasion might require striving for nothing less than the Ultimate Sausage of Many and Exotic Ingredients, but instead we decided to see what we could do with few but distinctive ingredients. Here's what we used:
1 kg pork
Onion
Garlic
A lot of sage
Star anise
Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
The star ingredients here, obviously, were the sage, the star anise, and the vinegar, which we reduced in a pot until it was nice and syrupy.
After grinding the meat, we ran the sage through the meat grinder along with the onion and garlic, and mixed everything together. The vinegar darkened everything in a nice way.
Skipping slightly ahead (because how many pictures of sausage being stuffed does one blog need, even if it's only updated sporadically?), the result was pure sausage victory.
After making the links, the results were mouthwateringly beautiful, and ready to hit the pan.
Served with bread and a cold noodle-melon salad made by the younger stuffer's wife, it made for a great meal. The sage worked really well with the star anise, and the vinegar—probably our most experimental ingredient—added a nice tart sweetness. A very successful reunion!
As a bonus, here's a picture of the family's youngest member, Wilfred, who likes sausage but somehow hasn't inherited his dad's fondness for intestine.
