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BREAKFAST SAUSAGE, ROADKILL INN 
The all-time best
breakfast sausage in the mid-Atlantic states was Strodes, made in Lancaster, PA. They sold
out to a larger company about fifteen-years ago. The new company continued to make both
their own brand and Strodes for about a year. They eventually had to discontinue the
Strodes line because too few people would pay the extra money for a product that was made
from only the best cuts of pork. God, we've missed that sausage. Today most, if not all,
commercial sausage is made from hog jowls and liberal amounts of water.
Over the years we have tried many different commercial brands and nothing even comes close. We finally learned why. Today most, if not all, commercial sausage is made from hog jowls and liberal amounts of water. As a result, we recently decided to make our own. The below recipe is close, very close, but no brass ring. We're still working on it and will update this version as we continue to hone in on what we're looking for. This recipe is a little hotter than Strodes. Consider reducing the crushed red pepper if you don't like a hotter sausage.
When making this recipe, or for that matter, any pork sausage, use only a pork butt or a fresh ham. Figure on twenty-five percent weight loss for the eventual yield of ground meat. We obtained 2½ pounds of ground pork from a 3¼ pork butt. If fatback is unavailable, substitute salt pork, but reduce the amount of salt in the recipe by about one teaspoon. Avoid shanks and any cuts that are prefaced with picnic - a marketing buzz word liberally used by supermarkets- unless it's a butt or fresh ham. Picnic should refer to the shank. By using only the better cuts, there is a markedly noticeable difference in taste, feel and appearance compared to the commercial sausage sold in supermarkets.
For more information on sausage making, check out Harveys Sausage Faktory. The page contains links to several recipes, history, sources for equipment, and casing suppliers. To return to this page, close the new window by clicking on the bottom x in the upper right-hand corner of your monitor.
This recipe and four others are in the The Sausage Shanty, our homemade sausage making page.
| 4 slices calf's liver | 1 cup onion, chopped |
| Flour to dredge | Salt and freshly ground black pepper |
| 3 tablespoons butter |
Dredge the liver in flour; rub off excess and salt and pepper lightly. Sauté the onion in butter over low heat in a skillet large enough to accommodate all the liver. When the onions are about to turn translucent, remove and reserve; add the liver and cook until done.
Generally, 2-minutes per side will produce rare liver, 4-minutes per side, medium rare and six-minutes per side well done. To test, cut into the thickest part of the liver to see how done it is.
Serve immediately with the sautéed onions on top.
Note: Keep shifting the position of the liver slices in the skillet so that they all are finished at the same time.
This is a great recipe to stretch ground beef. Where a pound of ground beef will make 4 hamburgers, Scott's Slop renders 6 to 8 sandwiches.
| 1 pound ground chuck | Roadkill Slop Sauce |
| Salt and freshly ground pepper | Hamburger buns |
Sauté the ground chuck. Drain all water and fat from the pan as it cooks. Pour Roadkill slop sauce over the ground meat to cover and simmer for at least a half hour. Serve on warm hamburger bun. Freeze the leftover sauce in serving-size containers.
| 1 cup rice | 6 plum tomatoes, chopped |
| 2 cups chicken stock or water | 1½ cups tomato sauce |
| 1½ pounds ground chuck | 1 tablespoon dried red pepper |
| 1 medium onion, finely diced | ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil |
| 1 bell green pepper, ½-inch dice | Salt |
| 8 cloves garlic, finely diced | Freshly ground black pepper |
Cook the rice until almost done and reserve. In a larger skillet, brown the ground chuck, periodically pouring off the fat and liquids (unless, that is, you like hamburger fat). Remove meat from skillet and reserve.
Wipe skillet clean with a paper towel, add the olive oil and preheat. When the oil is hot add the diced bell pepper and sauté for about two minutes. Add the onions and cook for about one minute, then the garlic. When the garlic is translucent, add the chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce and red peppers. Simmer on a low fire for five minutes, then add the ground beef, rice and some salt and pepper.
Simmer for about an hour adding water or additional tomato sauce as needed. Spanish rice should be moist, but not watery. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Serve hot. Goes well with corn bread on the side.
Note: If plum tomatoes are not available, substitute 3 salad-type tomatoes. Chili peppers can be substitute for dried red pepper. Add sparingly and taste before adding more.
STEAK, GRILLED 
Grilling a steak to the desired doneness takes trial and error. It is a matter of feel. In the beginning, err on the side of rare; the steak can always go back on the grill. If it is overcooked, nothing can be done. Very high heat is the key to keeping most the juices in the steak.
| 1 Porterhouse, New York strip, Delmonico, or filet mignon steak per person. |
Poke steak lightly with index finger and note the amount of resilience. Salt and pepper the steaks and place them quickly on a preheated grill that is extremely hot. Grill for about 2 minutes, then turn. After another two minutes poke steak to see how much firmer it is. For a rare steak, the steak should feel slightly firmer than when it was raw. Medium rare should a little firmer. Well done should have the feel and texture of a leather sole . . . and taste like one. Another method is to touch the tip of the left index finger to the tip of the left thumb. With your index, finger of your other hand poke the meaty part at the base of the thumb; that rare. Change the left index finger for the left middle finger and poke; that's medium. The ring finger indicates the resistance of a medium-rare steak. The little finger suggests the steak will be inedible.
Note: The steak should be at least ¾ of and inch thick, and preferably 1 to 1-½ inches. Look for well marbled steaks. Don't even think about chuck steak. Great flavor, but you need tiger teeth to chew it. Makes good beef stew and ground meat.
Traditionally, stuffed pork chops call for a 1½-to 2-inch pork chop, which either the butcher or you slice in the center to make a pouch to hold stuffing. They make a fine meal. I've had them often and will have them again.
The below is a roadkill original that provide the basis for a demi-glace reduction sauce from pork white stock. If you want to buy a couple pounds of pork bones, then you can prepare the stuffed pork chop in the traditional manner.
FOR THE SAUCE
| 2 eggs | ½ cup parsley, unchopped |
| 2 cloves | ¼ peppercorns |
| 1 bay leaf | 3 tablespoons flour |
| 1 small onion with skin on | 1 cup table cream |
| 2 carrots, quartered | ½ cup dry white wine |
| 1 clove garlic, unpeeled | 1 leak, washed |
| 4 tablespoons butter |
FOR THE STUFFING
| 1 box Jiffy cornbread mix | 2 apples, peeled and cored |
| loaf day old French or Italian bread | ½ cup onion, chopped |
| 1 cup chicken stock | 1½ teaspoons thyme |
| 1 stick butter | 2 cups water |
| 1 stalk celery with leaves | Salt |
| ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped | Freshly ground black pepper |
The day before bake the corn bread for the stuffing and slice the French bread so it dries out. Bone each pork chop and reserve the chops. Put the bones, garlic, unchopped parsley and peppercorns into a soup pot. Slice the unpeeled onion in half and stick a clove in each, then add to the pot with the water and bring to a boil; simmer slowly for 4 to 5 hours. DO NOT ADD SALT TO THE STOCK.
Strain the mixture and either add water, or reduce to make 2 cups. Refrigerate overnight. Remove all the fat that has solidified. Return the stock to the range to make a demi-glace by reducing the stock to one cup.
To prepare the stuffing, cut the French bread into ½-inch cubes and add to a mixing bowl with the cornbread that has been crumbled. Bring the chicken broth to a boil and add the butter. Cut the celery stalk in half, then dice; add to pot with the leaves, diced onion, thyme and parsley. Simmer for a half hour, then remove celery leaves and pour over bread; stir mixture well. When the stuffing has cooled, add the diced apples and eggs, mix well and refrigerate until needed or use immediately.
Place stuffing on top of one chop, then place another on top of the stuffing. Bind with butcher's string and place, elevated, in roasting pan in a 375° oven for about an 1½ hours or until done. If there is stuffing left over, bake it, covered, in an appropriate-size baking dish.
After the chops are done, begin the sauce. Deglaze the roasting pan with white wine. Make a roux with 3 tablespoons of flour and 3 of butter. Slowly add the pork demi-glace to the roux and stir until it is a thick, smooth sauce. Add the deglazed drippings and slowly combine the cream; simmer for 15 minutes, then strain. Add salt and pepper. Taste and adjust if needed.
Sauce each dinner plate and put one set of stuffed pork chops on each. Pour a little sauce over each chop. If there is any sauce left, put in a gravy boat.
Note: Please don't use Boone's Farm wine for the sauce. Get a good California Chardonnay.
The hardest part about preparing meals from veal cutlet or tenders is getting them butchered properly. They should be cut across the grain from top of the round. It is cut a ¼ inch thick and flattened to a shade less than a ¼ inch. When in the super market we often go through several packages to find one that has been cut properly. And we haven't had much better success at butcher shops.
If the veal is prepackaged, the only way super markets seem to be able to sell meat, we suggest you open the package and look at the bottom, the part they don't want you to see. Don't be surprised to find silver skin that should have been removed. Also expect to find a few bits and pieces that are useless. Ring on the buzzer and ask the meat department to remove the silver skin and rewrap and reweigh the veal – minus the bits and pieces. And don't hold your breath.
If anyone has found a good butcher shop within an hour of Cape May that will sell cutlets or tenders properly butchered, please e-mail me its location.
| 1 quart Italian tomato sauce | About ¼ teaspoon pepper |
| 1-½ to 2 pounds veal filets cut about ½-inch thick | 1 cup cooking oil |
| 1-¼ cups fine dry bread crumbs | 6 slices Mozzarella |
| ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano | 1 cup flour |
| 3 eggs, beaten | 1 cup milk, more or less |
| About 1 teaspoon salt |
Put filets on flat surface and pound with meat hammer or cleaver. Turn and repeat on other side. Continue until the thickness of each filet is consistent. Place meat in bowl and marinate in milk for about an hour. Mix bread crumbs and grated cheese and set aside. Mix eggs, salt, and pepper. Dredge filets in flour, dip in egg mixture, then coat with bread crumb-cheese mixture. Fry in hot oil until evenly browned; drain on paper towels.
Coat bottom of an 11 X 7 X 1-½ inch roasting pan with about a ¼ cup of tomato sauce. Arrange veal filets on pan, spread about 1-½ cups of tomato sauce over the meat, and top with Mozzarella. Bake at 350° until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve with side of pasta and Italian tomato sauce.
A great variation on the traditional veal Parmesan is to substitute fontina for the mozzarella. It's a great melting cheese, but not as stringy as mozzarella. We got this idea from an article in The Press of Atlantic City on Cape May restaurants. It was among the entrées offered by Spiaggi, one of the few restaurants we consider worth the price of the meal. We haven't prepared it yet, but will soon. And if the Green God Mammon smiles, we might even check it out at Spiaggi.
| 4 veal tenders 3/8-inch thick | Juice of ½ lemon |
| ¼ cup cooking oil, Canola, Wesson, etc. | ½ cup veal or beef broth |
| Flour for dredging | 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped |
When squeezing the lemon, be sure to twist it hard to extract oil from the rind. Remove any silver membrane from the veal. Pound the tenders with a meat pounder or the flat side of a meat cleaver to make the tenders a little thinner and to obtain a uniform thickness. Dredge veal lightly in flour; rub off any excess.
Begin heating a skillet. When hot, add the cooking oil, then quickly sauté the veal about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Drain grease from the skillet.
Add veal or beef broth so it just comes up to the edges of the tenders, but does not cover them. Add lemon juice, butter and parsley. Heat for about a minutes to allow all the butter to melt, then remove the veal and put them on individual plates. Proportion the remaining sauce to each veal tender.
Note: Olive oil is used in many Italian recipes. It should not, however, be used in this one. It is too strong for the delicate flavor of veal.
Wiener schnitzel is Austrian meaning Viennese cutlets.
| 8 veal tenders or cutlets | Fine bread crumbs, enough |
| 1 cup flour, more or less | ¼ cup milk |
| 2 eggs | Oil for frying |
Between two pieces of butcher's paper, pound veal tenders to even thickness with meat hammer or meat cleaver. Soak for an hour in milk. Whisk eggs, add milk and whisk again. Place newspaper on work surface, then put bowl of egg-milk mixture in center. Make a pile of flour to the left of the bowl and a pile of bread crumbs to the right.
Roll each filet in flour and set aside. When finished wash hands and dry. With left hand, pick up filet and dip it in egg-milk mixture, being sure that all the surface is coated.
Still working with the left hand, place filet on the bread crumbs and pat down. Turn with left hand and press on bread-crumb coated side with right hand. Turn again with right hand and press down again. Set aside and bread the rest of the rest of the filets. If not used immediately, put in refrigerator.
Heat cooking oil in large iron frying pan until it just begins to steam. Rub excess breading off filets, then put 2 to 3, depending upon size, into hot oil. Turn as needed. Remove to paper towel when done. Be careful they don't burn. Change oil an clean pan if necessary. Serve hot.
Note: To freeze uncooked, breaded filets, do not wrap. Lay on cookie sheet and leave in freezer overnight. Wrap the next day. For Wiener schnitzel al la Holstein, top the fried veal filet with an egg fried sunny side up.
The key to good ribs is the cooking and butchering techniques. Most outdoor cooks boil the ribs (which makes them tough), cut them into individual ribs, coat them with barbecue sauce and finish them on the grill - usually burning the sauce. We used to do it that way, too. Then we tried something different and haven't looked back.
Join the ends of each rack with tooth picks or butcher's twine to form a circle. Soak hickory or mesquite wood chips in water for an hour if you want a smoked flavor. If gas, preheat grill. turn off the fire on one side and turn the other side down to low. Stand the ribs upright on the portion of the grill away from the flames. Add some soaked wood chips and a container of water over the lit portion of the grill, close the lid and cook slowly for about 2 hours. Periodically refresh the wood chips and water.
Remove the ribs and cut the first rib bone off leaving all the meat next to the second bone. Remove what is now the third rib leaving all the meat next to the second bone. You should have three strips of meat with separated by two bones. Continue the process until you reach the tail end.
Preheat the grill again. While the grill is heating, brush barbecue sauce on the ribs and warm them over a medium fire until the barbecue sauce just begins to bubble. Turn frequently with tongs and DON'T allow the barbecue sauce to blacken. Serve hot with cole slaw, French fries and extra barbecue sauce on the side.
For a charcoal grill, start with enough briquettes on one side of the grill to last at least 2 hours. If you add more during that time, the ribs will absorb an oily petroleum taint from the new briquettes. If you must refresh the coals midway, remove the ribs until the oil has burned off. After about 2 hours, remove the ribs and refresh the coals. When all the oil has burned off, prepare and finish the ribs as described above for a gas grill. Return to barbecue sauce.
Note: The best fuel for grilling is hardwood: oak, cherry, hickory, etc,
but you will need a smoker or grill that's large enough to handle it. The fire
should be laid about two hours before cooking. Unlike briquettes, you can add
additional wood as needed.
Ribs are messy. Have a roll of paper towels and a bowl of water available.