Bocca Lupo

I finally got around to making another batch of sausage. The past few months have been very busy and really limited my meat production. However, after the holidays everything just seemed to fall into place. First my father-in-law brought me about 15 LBS of Mule Deer from his recent hunting trip in Colorado. Then I got a meat mixer (more on that in a future post) for my birthday. I knew that I had about 3-4 LBS of pork belly and trimmings in the freezer from making pancetta. So I decided to create a new sausage. "Bocca Lupo" is short for the Italian expression "into the wolf's mouth", and is an idiomatic expression that is used to wish someone good luck, similar to how we use "break a leg". It seemed to be an appropriate name for a game sausage. Here is what I came up with:

Bocca Lupo

• 3 LB - Venison
• 3 LB - Pork Belly (uncured)
• 3 1/2 - TBS Kosher Salt
• 1 1/2 - TBS Black Pepper
• 1/2 - TBS Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tsp - Chili Powder
• 4 tsp - Granulated Garlic
• 1 tsp - Rubbed Sage
• 1 tsp - French Thyme
• 4 TBS - Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, minced
• 1 TBS - Cane Syrup
• 3TBS - Ice Water

I ground the meat through a 5/32" plate and added it to the mixer. The mixer works great! The meat stayed very cold and bound nicely. I stuffed it into 32 mm hog casings and let it mature for 24 hours in the fridge. I fried some patties using the unstuffed remainder. I am very pleased with this one. The cane syrup adds a subtle earthiness that I really like. I may add a bit more next time. I can't wait to try some on the grill.

David