Traditional Barley Sausage


A traditional barley sausage recipe, served traditionally at Christmas.
Image ... copyright Estonian Private Collection
Description : A traditional barley sausage recipe, served traditionally at Christmas.
Comments : Ingredients:
3 kg. ground pork
3 lbs. bacon (ground)
3 pkg. pearl or pot barley (total of 1.35 kg.)
3-4 large onions (chopped)
1/8 cup salt
2 1/4 tsp. pepper
2 1/4 tsp. garlic power
2 1/4 tsp. sage
2 1/4 tsp. thyme

Preparation:

Mix ground bacon and pork.
Cook ground meat mixture in frying pan with spices. Cool overnight. Boil barley and chopped onions, stirring frequently, until barley is soft. Combine the two mixtures (ground meat and barley/onions). Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Soak casings in cold water to remove excess salt. Finally, run cold water through casings. Feed casings into sausage stuffer and fill with mixture to desired size and firmness. Boil each sausage for about one minute. Allow to cool before bagging and freezing.

Serving

Gently pierce thawed sausages on all sides with a fork and place the rings on a pan sprayed with Pam vegetable oil. Heat at 375 F for about 30 minutes, or until casings are brown and crisp. Serve hot!

Notes

Sheep casing is thinner than pork or beef.
Sausage grinders and stuffers can be purchased at Butchers and Packers Supplies. (#10 stuffer was used in preparing this recipe).
This recipe yields roughly 20 25" - 28" long sausage rings.
Sausages should not be frozen for longer then one year.

This recipe is supplied courtesy of Irene and Deane Kerbes of Stettler. They are members of the Edmonton Estonian Society.


Alberta's Estonian Heritage