[USA] "Rhinocerahorse" Garlic Andouille

[Chuckwagon]

Have you ever seen a Rhinocerahorse? They are certainly a horse of a different color... because they are half rhinoceros. And it`s not because a horse and a rhinoceros decided to "mate" one day. No, no, no... It is because of two different stampedes here in the west, both at the same time. You see, some ol` time cowboy was sittin` around his campfire drinkin` beer and eatin` beans. Well, nature took its revenge on his gluttony by calling for "relief" in two different ways. The "earthquake factor" plus his simultaneous belch, simply produced a ten-second roar above 295 decibels! A nearby herd of horses stampeded northward, while a local herd of rhinocerosesesesesszzz became startled and stampeded southward. Many animals ran smack dab into each other... some at such a speed as to combine their molecules when colliding. In the west, this became known as the "super collider" of Arizona, and in fact, the action continues to this day, where modern cowpokes may pick up a "rhinocerahorse" of their preference simply by paying a few more dollars and adjusting their saddles! Today`s modern rhinocerahorse, of course, stomps out campfires by repetitively jumping straight in the air on all fours, as well as climbing trees - a mighty handy talent when one of our western flash-floods comes a` roarin` down the canyon! If you just can`t locate any rhinocerahorse meat, go ahead and use pork butt.

[USA] "Rhinocerahorse Andouille"
Garlic Cajun Sausage

9-1/2 lbs. fatty pork butt
1/2 lb. pork fat
2 level tspns. Prague Powder #1
2 cups soy protein concentrate
4 tblspns. salt
Six cloves of garlic
1 cup onions (diced)
1 tblspn. paprika
1 tblspn. sugar
2 tblspns. frehly cracked black pepper
1 tspn. cayenne pepper
1 tblspn. dried thyme
1 tspn. sage
1/2 tspn. mace
1/2 cup flat lager beer to adjust consistency

Proper Cajun-style andouille may be so coarsely ground the grain of the meat may be seen in the final product. This particular recipe skips the usual cloves, mace, and allspice incorporating more... you`ve guessed it - garlic! Shucks, don`t even bother peeling or chopping the garlic. Simply drop it into the grinder`s hopper in whole cloves and grind it with the meat. Be sure to grind the pork coarsely. It`s best ground through a 1/2" plate then mixed thoroughly with the seasoning. Mix the Prague Powder #1 with a little flat lager beer (or a little water) and distribute it thoroughly throughout the meat. Mix the meat well until a sticky "meat paste" is formed. Stuff the sausage into large 38-42 mm. hog casings.

Hang the stuffed sausage on sticks at room temperature to dry for an hour. Next, space the sausages, as to not touch one another, inside a 130-degree pre-heated smokehouse with the damper wide open to further dry them. Close the damper to 1/4 open and use your choice of moistened sawdust to introduce smoke. It`s always a good idea to use a heat diffuser to promote indirect heat, and a drip pan to avoid flare-ups. After an hour, gradually, only a few degrees at a time, raise the smokehouse temperature to 165 degrees over the period of several hours. Insert a probe-type internal meat thermometer and remove the smoked sausages when the internal meat temperature reaches 150° Fahrenheit. Note that the smokehouse temperature should never exceed 170°F. Immediately shower the sausage with cold water and refrigerate the sausages.

Hastening the procedure by introducing more heat to the smokehouse will only shrink the sausages, dripping grease all over the floor of your smoker, and will produce a dry, wrinkled product resembling sawdust! Slow smoking produces moist, tender, sausage, having skins delivering that special "bite". Although this product has been cured, it is perishable and should remain refrigerated.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon