I've studied numerous sausage recipes and I've experimented a lot making various types of sausage. The one provided in this recipe happens to be pure serendipity. I can't say that it is a breakfast sausage, it isn't any ethnic sausage I ever tried before, yet I find myself very pleased with all aspects of this sausage so I'm labeling it "Serendipity" Sausage. If you study the ingredients it looks like a recipe for breakfast sausage, but the way the garlic comes through puts it in a class all by itself.

The simple truth is I was trying to perfect a breakfast sausage ... and I've pretty much put that to bed. But in my general efforts to make modifications I came up with the sausage in this recipe. Think of it as a likely result from a lot of experimenting that just happened to work very well.

I made the sausage today and it is excellent. Peggy and I love it. Try it and you will agree. It is so good "as is" that I don't want to change any aspect of this recipe. Well, okay, I did fry it before eating! You will notice the garlic ... and I think it is superb in this recipe ... but if you want you can use less than indicated in the ingredients section below.

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds of boned skinless pork shoulder, about 80% lean, ground using the 1/4" diameter holes meat grinding die
• 1/2 cup of potato or corn or sorghum flour (I used gluten free sorghum flour from www.nutsonline.com)
• 1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp. of sea salt
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 tbsp. of maple syrup
• 2 tsp. of dried marjoram (or 1 tsp. of ground marjoram)
• 2 tbsp. of dried sage (or 1 tbsp. of ground sage)

Directions:

Trim the pork of excess external fat and discard that fat. Cut the meat into cubes about 3/4" on a side, including any internal fat, and grind it through the coarse (1/4" diameter holes) die/plate of your meat grinder. Then use your electric mixer with the beater attachment to blend the ground pork and ground fat for about three minutes on medium speed.

Put all of the other recipe ingredients into a one quart bowl. Mix them with a spoon until the mixture is fairly uniform.

Pour that flour, herbs, spices and water combination into the ground pork and fat mixture gradually while the mixer is running and mix thoroughly. I use the beater attachment of my electric mixer and run it on medium speed for about three minutes to blend the other ingredients completely into the ground pork.

Once the sausage is made, either stuff it into casings or make it into patties or bulk flat packages about 1/2" thick. The sausage should be refrigerated as soon as it is made. It can be kept in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or vacuum sealed and kept in the freezer for up to 6 months.

What I like to do is test fry a few patties of the sausage in a very small amount of canola oil in a hot skillet. That gives me the chance to evaluate the sausage relative to seasoning ingredients and composition. When the frying is done I put the sausage patties on a paper towel, cover them with a paper towel, and press lightly to absorb excess oil into the paper towels. Then it is time for fun! I suggest you follow the same procedure ... For the testing/eating is most enjoyable. I bet you will repeat it a few times just to be sure!

You could serve this sausage with most any meal of the day. It will fit in nicely whatever you decide. I leave it to you to pick appropriate side dishes.