Got an email about some sausage making supplies and casings. Instead of private, I chose to post the members question and my reply here: [This message originated at GardenWeb] Did you happen to catch the show I think it's called "Good Eats" with Alton Brown. He did a show about making sausages etc...I was just wondering if you saw it and your opinion on it. He use d collagen casings on his Italian sausages. Al My reply: Hello, No, I missed that show, but recall that he made a sausage show a while back. He used the meat grinder with attached stuffing nozzle to stuff the sausages as opposed to a separate stuffer. I use my meat grinder just for the meat grind, and then have a separate meat mixer where the spices are added as well as some water and liquid smoke (optional). Then. my stuffer is now motorized and allows me to fill 11 pounds of sausages per filling. The stuffer is vertical uses a big round piston and drive screw. http://www.texastastes.com/p39.htm Its a red frame with green color motor that takes the place of the hand crank. I bought it from a distributor called Weston Supply. They used to have these as well as professional meat slicers and when I was searching for them, Weston bad clearance sales that allowed me to get these for less than half the price. The method Alton used to stuff was to cut the pork into 1 inch pieces and then mix in the spices at that time. The stuffing was then done using a course cutter plate of about 1/2 inch. There are two types of collagen casings. The larger fibrous ones are inedible and are used for cured luncheon meats like salami, pepperoni, etc. The edible collagen casings are quite thin and are dry, and shrunken up (like an accordion) into a short tube length. I use a very small 1/2 inch diameter one for making pepperoni snack sticks, and my sausage stuffer labors greatly as its a lot of force to push meat into a 10 inch long 1/2 inch diameter tube. In any case the edible collagen comes in two colors, clear and brown (mahogany). Clear would be for things like breakfast and italian sausages. The mahogany color is for darker sausages like pepperoni and chorizo. I use mostly fresh (natural) sheep casings for my breakfast sausages as the cost for a hank of casings is a bit cheaper than the molded and edible collagen ones. Sheep and hog casings are not as consistent in their sizes or diameters. The natural casings also need to be rehydrated by soaking in water about 10 or more minutes. They last forever and are packed in course salt and refrigerated. Years ago, a whole hank of sheep casings (enough for about 150 pounds) cost only about $9. But today, they are way up there in price. At first, when I was making italian sausages years ago, I used supermarket type hog casings under the Hormel brand. These tended to be short pieces and had holes and were not sized very well, so you could get 1 inch to almost 2 inches in diameter in the same container. The holes in the casings were a real pain, but you found this out when they were rinsed and filled with water prior to the soaking. I used to see 2-5 foot lengths too, and that's not easy to deal with either when you stuffing 11 pounds of meat at one time. In any case, you can use either natural casings or the edible collagen ones for making italian sausages. I have some natural hog casings I bought which are slightly larger and properly sized for use in making Kielbasa. The sheep casings are used only for my breakfast sausages. Breakfast sausages use sage, ground black pepper, and coriander for its spices. For italian, I like adding lots of garlic, peppers, onions, and also fennel and even oregano, summer savory, or even hot red peppers.. For some, I mix in high melting point cheddar cheese. I also make brats with beer added (dried beer). The Kielbasa use lots of garlic, marjoram and also some whole mustard seeds. My grinder plates vary from smaller than 1/8 inch diameter holes to almost 3/4 inch holes. The pork fat is ground separate form the pork meat. I use a smaller plate for the pork fat, as it distributes better in a mix, than large chunks the same size as the pork meat. The sausage making suppliers sell dried beer, high temp cheddar cheese, dried peppers, and dried onions which are easier to deal with as they do not have extra water. The bottom line though, is to know exactly how much salt, herbs, and spices to add to the coarsely cut meat, as well as how much pork fat to use. Once its ground to the proper size, and salt and spices mixed in, I cook up a small piece to taste and see if it needs more or less salt or more herbs. You could end up with a bland sausage or an overly salty one if the recipe was not followed exactly. You don't have much control over the way the meat mixes with spices and salt while in the grinder and while its stuffing the sausage casings. That's the main reason I chose a separate stuffer and separate meat mixer device. Like every other recipe, it all goes back to your own taste preferences too. Beef fat should never be used in sausages. Pork fat can be refrozen without any concern about quality. Never use salt pork or pork fat back as these are cured and will melt away giving a wet sawdust texture. Ken

The NYT recipe from readinglady's link is very close to simple homestyle kimchee. It's also copied below. My mom, an old school Korean lady who prefers to make her own kimchee than buy it (she doesn't like the msg and preservatives that prevent proper pickling), uses less fish sauce and salted shrimp, and usually not both at the same time. Fyi the shrimp is the tiny kind that comes in wet, spread-like consistency. When kept in cool temps, her kimchee matures to a clean, spicy taste with a bite. For a refreshing variation, try daikon cut in 1 inch cubes instead of the cabbage and julienned daikon. Use a little more sugar with the daikon cube version, aka coc-doo-gi. Cabbage Kim Chee (From the New York Times) 1 head won bok (Napa cabbage), about 2 pounds 5 tablespoons coarse salt 1 cup peeled and julienned daikon radish 1/2 cup minced green onion tops 4 tablespoons fish sauce 2 tablespoons peeled and minced garlic 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon peeled and minced or grated ginger 1 tablespoon or more of ground red Korean chiles 3 tablespoons salted shrimp (sold in jars at Asian stores) Place cabbage in a colander and sprinkle salt over and between the layers of leaves; set aside 2 to 3 hours. Then rinse well, especially between layers of leaves; shake dry. Combine radish, green onions, fish sauce, garlic, sugar, ginger and ground chiles. Add shrimp. Use fingers to pack whole cabbage, inside and out, with the mixture. Or cut cabbage and toss with mixture. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to a week; mixture gets spicier daily. Makes 16 small servings.

Hh- we could eat healthier too. Wednesdays my husband cooks. I don't care what he cooks so long as the three of us eat. So last night was apple cinnamon buckwheat pancakes! My son was thrilled and I feared tonight he'd ask for a repeat, but he shocked me. He has requested mujadarah with a Brussel sprout-apple hash as his side dish! I'm gleefully obliging! The first time he has ever requested sprouts, I'm considering it a win :) I may have a weak sense of smell, but I don't think the saviseeds smell that bad. A slight odor but nothing horrid like kimchi. I had forgotten about the voluntary recall-- thanks for reminding others. I still believe in the company. Annie- A normal person would have to consume a crazy amount of chia seeds or some sensitivities for the issues to occur . I've eaten dry seeds on my salad for 10 years and none of the problems you have described. (now I'll probably be hospitalized for an obstructed bowel over the weekend, perhaps I should knock on wood?) to be fair, I do drink about 10 cups of water a day in addition to eating all the raw veggies and fruit (and their respective water content). So any leaching of water etc would probably be negligible? So very true about conflicting nutrition advice. I read that oped a while ago. I agree with much of the oped but feel he overlooks another culprit: BigFarm. They exert too much influence over research institutions. The universities have 0 incentive to actually conduct blind longitudinal studies as many are subsidized in some way by large agriculture consortiums. Anyway I think it's great you and Kiki are trying to identify foods that do you harm. It should be an interesting experiment. Kiki- how are you doing? Experiencing any cravings or moods from withdrawals of certain foods?

This the one I have made for years and everyone loves it. So easy to do and tastes so good. Marinated Pork Roast ½ cup soy sauce ½ cup sherry 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp dry mustard 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp dried thyme 1 4 to 5 pound pork loin roast, boned, rolled and tied Cherry sauce Blend first 6 ingredients. Pour over meat in a plastic bag; set in deep bowl. Marinate in closed bag 2 to 3 hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator. Occasionally press gab against meat to distribute marinade. Remove meat from marinade; place on rack in shallow roasting pan. Roast, uncovered at 325º for 2 ½ to 3 hours or till meat thermometer reaches 170º Baste with marinade during last hour. Serve with Cherry sauce. Serves 10 - 12 people. Cherry sauce 10 ounce jar cherry preserves 2 tbsp sherry 1 tbsp soy sauce Place all ingredients in a sauce pan and heat till preserves are melted. Serve over meat. I double the sauce recipe since it is so good and everyone puts it on their meat and rice. I serve this with steamed rice