Smokey Corn Husk Sausages

Sorry for the break in posts, everyone... Sizzle Grove has been busy developing and testing out a delicious, new way to make sausages at home, without the ickiness of natural casing and weird machinery.

Corn husk sausages begin with ground beef and pork, plenty of seasoning, and, of course, soaked corn husks. The meat is formed into a log shape, rolled into the corn husk, and barbecued up.  The beauty of doing this is the fact that the delectable charcoal and wood smoke flavor penetrates the husk.  Each sausage is pretty small, about 3-4 inches depending on the size of each husk. 

Note: this is no quick recipe.  It takes a bit of prep time, though the cook time is considerably less than most of our recipes.

Also note: we used fresh corn husks (it was an excuse to grill up some corn too), but you may be able to purchase dried corn husks at specialty stores, most likely Latin American specialty food stores.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound ground beef (20% fat is good)
1.5 pounds ground pork
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp black pepper
1 tsp whole fennel seeds
1/2 tsp smoked hot paprika (or a mix of regular paprika and cayenne)
1 tsp dry oregano, or a few sprigs of fresh oregano
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Husks of about 4 ears of corn

STEPS:

1. Soak corn husks in warm water, discarding the very small husks.  Let soak for a few hours.

2. Mix meat with all herbs, spices, garlic, and vinegar.

3. Pat corn husks relatively dry and lay out onto a clean plate or sheet where they can easily be reached.  At this point, you might as well start lighting your coals outside.

4. Scoop about 1/5 to 1/4 meat mixture, roll into a small log, and place inside of a corn husk.  Leave about two inches of space at the edge of each husk.

5. Roll husk around sausage log until well-veiled. Either tie ends off with butcher's string, or, if you're lazy like me, just fold the edge under.  It worked fine.  Do this for each sausage.

6. Get your coals into your smoker, plus your favorite hard wood for smoke.  Place sausages onto smoker.

7. Cooking time will be about an hour and fifteen minutes at around 250 degrees Fahrenheit, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. When ready to serve, unroll sausages from their husks, and drizzle them with a tiny dash of Sizzle Grove's Thai Chili Hot Sauce.