Spicy Cajun Duck Sausage

Jeremiah Doughty | From Field to Plate

These are some of my favorite duck sausages to make, eat and share with friends. This recipe was passed down to me by an old Cajun man named Mr. Jim. I met Mr. Jim on a duck hunt and as we sat in the blind, he pulled out a package of homemade duck sausages and a coffee can. He lit a small fire in the coffee can and placed the sausages on top. He told us this is his family recipe and if you don’t like spice, you won’t like this.

After a couple minutes of warming up the sausages, he pulled them off and cut them with the sharpest and dirtiest knife I’ve ever seen. He sliced off a hunk and we all took a bite. As soon as I took a bite, I asked him for the recipe. He told me he doesn’t have recipes, he just throws them in. I asked if we limit the ducks would he show me how to do it. He agreed and we slammed the ducks hard that morning. That afternoon we went back to his house and started the sausage making as the others took naps. This is the recipe we made and now you all can enjoy this amazing sausage recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground duck
• 1 pound pork fat or bacon
• ½ cup swiss cheese
• ½ white onion, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ green and red bell pepper, minced fine
• 1 green onion, minced
• 1 tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp insta cure
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 2 tbsp nonfat dry milk powder
• ¼ cup cold water or beer
• Hog casings

_{Pulled Duck Sliders with Blackberry BBQ Sauce}

Directions:

1. Cube your meat and mix, place in freezer for 1 hour to chill, along with grinder parts
2. Clean and rehydrate your casings in warm water or follow on-package instructions.
3. Grind your two meats along with onions, peppers and garlic through the rough chop plate on your grinder. If meat is warm, place it back in the freezer to chill down to 40 degrees or below.
4. Add remaining ingredients and mix by hand; your meat mixture should be very sticky and tacky. It should stick to your hand when held upside down.
5. Stuff your sausages, poking at air pockets you see forming during the stuffing process.
6. Let your sausages rest in the refrigerator overnight to help develop the flavors.
7. At this point, you can freeze, smoke or grill your sausages.

(If you choose to smoke your sausages, smoked at 165-180 or until internal temp is 155.) 

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