Sausage...

OK sausage is flavored chopped meat products.  As such this covers a large swath of products from burgers to mealoaf (not the singer) on to meat balls to cased sausage and back again.  One of my big problems is there's not enough variety in the stores (italian and brats on most days) and who in the heck knows what goes in them?

Let us start with meat.  You know that ground beef has beef in it but you don't know the cut same with pork you can grind up a lot of pieces there.  This is why I have started to grind my own meat (no jokes here please this is a family friendly blog).  I like fatty cuts (most flavor) but trimmed lean.  This way I get the max flavor but with a heathier amount of fat.  Ironically the best steak meat (the loin and tenderloins) make the worst burgers because of lack of fat.  Ideally you want a good chuck (boston butt for pork) roast,  They have the most flavor with also the least cost (and if you catch a sale it's even cheaper than the bargain ground meat.  To grind it to your taste preferences you need to experiment as you have fine grind, chili or coarse grind and double grinded.  I prefer the texture of a single fine grind as it really balances the texture and formability for me.

Seasoning is my downfall as when doing it by the seat of your pants it's tough to get it right... too little and you have a bland-burger too much and it's a nightmare.  The other danger is deyhdration especially with a lean mix.  Fat keeps the meat juicy so you need to add moisture.  For moisture you can add vegetables sauteed until they are soft, olive oil (or other fat) to replace what you removed or moist breadcrumbs.

Any meatgrinder will work well but I prefer motorized.  Since my wife was kind enough to gift me with a KitchenAid stand mixer, I got the grinder attachment (see my amazon store for the gear).  Meatballs are easy and basicallly mini meatloafs so if you have one you have both of them good to go.  As for seasoning since I don't recommend tasting raw meat so use your nose.  If you use aromatic spices you want a gentile aroma of the spice blend in the mix.  A subtle smell will be light flavoring and strong will be too much.  Salt the mix gently as you can add salt to cooked meat but you cannot take it out.

Italian Meatballs
1/2 cup of italian seasoned breadcrumbs mixed with milk to a wet sand consistency.  let it sit until all the milk is absorbed.
1 egg or 2 egg yolks.
1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp of Salt
2 lbs of ground pork or beef (if chicken or turkey add more milk & another egg yolk to compensate)

optional
 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 onion sauteed
cooked garlic or garlic powder to taste

combine in a bowl with your hands until very well mixed.  Form into balls of about 4 tablespoons and bake in a 350 f oven for about 30-35 minutes.  Sacrifice one meatball to ensure doneness.  Now you can enjoy them in whatever manner you choose.
Pepper to taste