My friend Nancy won a sausage-making class in a raffle and invited me to join her. The class was held at the Smoking Goose, a local butchery. This shop features hand-made, pasture-raised salami, salumi, smoked and dry-cured meats and terrines, or as they say at “Goose,” meats with “old world craft, new world flavors.”
We began the class in the reception room (50 degrees) and ogled the aging steaks and roasts in the refrigerated cases while we donned, over our heavy sweaters and winter coats, a white butcher’s coat, shoe covers, and the Smoking Goose signature stocking cap. From there we began a tour of the facility.
We started in the smoking room (45 degrees) 
where various types of wood are tossed into the stove which is vented into a smoking room to impart specific flavors to the meats. We then entered a tightly closed locker (40 degrees) and peeked into smaller rooms where sausages of various sizes and shapes were hanging on racks to age.
Next, as we entered our work room we saw our breath (35 degrees). Our sausage master, Ted, had set up three workstations where he demonstrated the different sizes of meat-grinder wheels that produce the required degree of thickness for each meat. In separate bins of lamb, pork, and beef, Ted added the following ingredients that would pair perfectly with each meat: a sweetener (cane or brown sugar, honey, molasses), antioxidants (wine, pomegranate), and secret herbs and spices (garlic, harrisa paste, salt, pepper, paprika.)
After mixing the soon-to-be sausage, we shaped the meat into logs, meatballs, and “links” and stuffed them into natural or collagen casings. We rolled the mixture for the terrine in plastic wrap. From here, the sausage can be smoked, poached, steamed or baked. I poached my lamb sausage before I fried it for use in a quiche.
I never thought that I could be colder than when I was making pie at Kate McDermott’s pie-making class on Whidbey Island, Washington with the windows wide open. But sausage making in the meat locker, even with wearing rubber gloves to work the raw meat, was like cooking in an igloo!
Come to think about it, making sausage is a lot like making pie. There are ingredients–organic is best– to mix by hand, lard is key to flavor, all ingredients and fingers must be cold, spices enhance flavors of ingredients, one can even add a bit of “woopsie” (wine or liquor) and, like dough, the sausages are shaped by hand.
People: Ted, our sausage master, tour guide, and teacher. Ted’s enthusiasm for making sausage was evident as he coached us through the various steps of sausage-making. He learned his craft through apprenticeship, but he is a natural at teaching.
Places: Smoking Goose, http://www.smokinggoose.com. This locally owned, artisanal meat shop supports our community by providing an outlet for farm-raised beef, venison, lamb, and pork. One of Smoking Goose’s partners is a local heirloom farm that raises Ossabaw pigs, and without the demand for these pigs, the litter would eventually dwindle and die off. “Goose” completes the circle by being the go-to source for fine charcuterie at markets and restaurants in Indianapolis and beyond.
Pies: Sausage quiche. All during class I kept thinking about the kind of pie I could make with my sausage. As I thawed out on the way home with my car heater at full blast, I decided on a sausage quiche. The all-natural lamb sausage sure beats those salty little things found in the freezer cases at grocery stores. I used the recipe below using the lamb sausage, cheddar cheese, and dried sage from my herb garden, but all ingredients could be varied. 
- For the crust:
- Dough for a single crust pie. Use recipe from http://www.artofthepie.com to make an ordinary quiche extraordinary!
- For the filling:
- 1 (1-lb.) Fresh lamb, pork, or beef sausage, from the meat market is best, or ground pork sausage
- ½ cup diced onion
- ⅓ cup diced green bell pepper
- 1½ cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
- 2-4 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- Spices such as 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or dried sage; ¾ teaspoon seasoned salt; ¼ teaspoon garlic salt; ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Make crust per recipe; chill while preparing quiche.
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Brown sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes or until sausage crumbles. Remove from skillet; reserve 1 Tbsp. drippings in skillet.
- Sauté onion and bell pepper in hot drippings over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until tender. Stir together cheese, sausage, onion, and bell pepper. Place piecrust shell on a baking sheet, and spoon mixture into piecrust.
- Whisk together eggs, milk, and spices; pour over sausage mixture.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and set
