North Country Sausage

Submitted to recipegoldmine.com from the kitchen of Donald Durant

This is only made in a little hamlet in upstate New York. Please read the notes before attempting to make this recipe.

2 pounds ground beef (see note)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons Morton's Tender Quick Salt (see note)
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons Liquid Hickory Smoke (see note)
1 cup water

Use a shaker bottle and put all the powders and liquid stuff into it and shake. Then pour this over the meat and mix all ingredients well. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

Next day, stir them all one more time. Form into 2-inch rolls (or about the size of a log of pepperoni). The length can vary as they don't cook down all that much. And, if done right, they will appear quite RED after its baked!

Place on a rack with a pan under it so grease can drip down into a pan as there will be a lot of grease dripping off this stuff. Bake at 300 degrees F for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. You should turn the rolls over after the first 40 minutes or so. Let cool. You should keep it in a refrigerator. It keeps in there a long, long time.

NOTES: You can use basically any type of GROUND meat. I've made this with ground turkey and, even venison. If you do try it with venison, you should add a little extra of the Hickory Smoke, garlic and onion powders.

You MUST use 2 teaspoons Liquid Hickory Smoke

The important thing is the SALT! It MUST be Morton's Tender Quick Salt. It's made SPECIALLY for preserving food. You might have a hard time finding it, but try your local hardware, Agway or Wal-Mart in their canning and preserving aisle or call around.