The Montana/kentucky Fusion Kabobs
 | Author:
Eileen Clarke Rifles and Recipes
Author: Rifles and Recipes |
Eileen Clarke
Rifles and Recipes
A few years ago, Darrik Carraway, who was manager of Whittaker Guns in Kentucky back then, invited us for a turkey hunt. Not wanting to come empty-handed, I made up a fairly large batch of sausage. I had no idea what we’d do with it, but Darrik’s dad, Doug, was an avid barbecuer. He’d shot a turkey that morning, and as soon as he heard the word ‘sausage’ had a plan: cubed and brined turkey breast, sausage, on skewers, cooked on his Traeger grill. Doug was a genius. There were no leftovers!
If you don’t have a Traeger, or its kin, the good news is you can just grill these kabobs, over medium heat (about 350-400°F). Some advice? Put the sausage together in advance. So let’s start with that.
Hot Brats
Makes 1½ pounds
Ingredients
1½ teaspoons baking soda, dissolved in
3 tablespoons cold water
1 large egg, lightly beaten
12 ounces ground venison
12 ounces ground pork fat
2 bay leaves, broken into crumbs
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 ½ teaspoons non-iodized salt
½ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Preparation:
1. Stir the baking soda and water together in a stand mixer bowl. When the baking soda is dissolved completely, stir the beaten egg into that, then add the rest of the brat ingredients. (The ‘Classic’ Cuisinart has a tapered-at-the-bottom bowl compresses the ingredients, so they mix without a lot of spatula-ing.) Press the meat and spices into the liquids just to get the mixing started, then set the shield in place to keep the meat in place.
2. Mix on medium speed for 2 full minutes, or until the mix hangs tight to the mixing blades as in the photo. It’s shaped like a wasp’s nest, and will hang there 10 minutes or more, not 1 teaspoon falling off. In scientific terms, 2 minutes mixing plus egg & baking soda have broken down the meat protein so it bonds to the fat. * Put the sausage into a resealable bag and chill or freeze until your turkey is ready.
Assembling and Cooking:
1. To brine the turkey breast, cut into 1½ to 2” chunks and place in a bowl with 2 cups cold water, 2 tablespoons salt and 2 tablespoons brown sugar, cover tightly, then refrigerate 24 hours. Pre-heat your Traeger or grill, assemble the kabobs, rolling the sausage into balls the same size as the turkey chunks, and cook.
2. They won’t take long, but do turn them several times, until a meat thermometer reads 165°F. Just turn them when light grill marks are visible, side to side to side, and use that meat thermometer often.
* The mechanics of making wild game sausage are very different from making it with store-bought meat alone. And using half and half fat and lean may sound like a lot of fat, but it isn’t. Sausage Season delves into both these issues, unlike that 99% of ‘sausage books’ written by chefs who’ve never made sausage killed in the field. Diet, age at processing, storage mechanics and ingredients added for safe storage, all effect the character of the meat. Breaking down the protein in wild vs commercial meat to create the ‘bond’ being one of the more extreme examples. And Sausage Season offers 2 fool-proof mixing methods.
Sausage Season, 75 sausage recipes, 178 pages, is now on sale @ $5 off. https://www.riflesandrecipes.com/406-521-0273.
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PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: Eileen Clarke
Image 1 Caption: Montana/Kentucky Fusion Kabobs in the making
Photo Credits: Eileen Clarke
