Warm Love / Hot Love

Valentine's Day 2013 was all about the temps. girl laying on wool duvet

I gave Alex a practical yet luxurious warm gift - a 100% wool duvet from Jorgensen Farms. Truly a gift for both of us, we expect the duvet to be warm yet breathable, hypo-allergenic, and easy to clean by hanging in the sun this summer. We're excited to have a piece of Val's beautiful Organic farm in our grown-up bedroom. You can have one too - buy through her online store or at the Worthington Farmers' Market.

Alex expressed his feelings with fire. He created a flaming heart on the driveway, captured on video while I was out of the house. The resultant singe on the driveway will likely last for months.

driveway heart singe

And we all shared warm sour cherry pie for late afternoon tea. This is our third annual Valentine's tea, a tradition I love for the simplicity and ritual.

valentine pie fiesta

What temperature was your Valentine's Day?

Mint Lamb Sausage Inspired by Jorgensen Farms {Charcutepalooza}

On a picturesque 65 acres in east central Ohio, there lies Jorgensen Farms, a biodynamic animal and vegetable operation. Proprietor Val (pictured below in blue) works the land guided by her distinguishing palette and eye for pleasing design. She builds vibrant soil through careful crop rotation and pasturing. Perhaps the most recognized crop is her mint grown especially for central Ohio based Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream's Backyard Mint flavor. val jorgenson leading herb tourgarlic among herbs jorgensen farmsbaby lambs at jorgensen farms You may click on pictures to enlarge them.

I attended the Ohio Lamb Chef's Day at Jorgensen Farms one cold and rainy day this May. The event included tours and tastings aimed at educating restaurant chefs. We walked through herb gardens near the farm houses and viewed sheep out to pasture on rolling hills. Two chilly day-old lambs visited in the arms of flower grower and livestock helper Roger Genter.

ohio lamb chef's dayohio lamb unusual cuts

The meat of the event was a fascinating demonstration by Dr. Paul Kuber, associate professor of Animal Sciences at Ohio State University. He expertly butchered a lamb into cuts usable by restaurants and home cooks, sharing anatomy and culinary tidbits throughout. A six course sampling meal followed, using some of the cuts demonstrated.

At the end of the lamb cutting, a large bowl of scraps was left. Kuber shared that these could be used for sausage or other charcuterie. When the June Charcutepalooza challenge, stuffing, was announced, I knew what I had to make: mint lamb sausage, inspired by Jorgensen Farms.

Lamb mint sausage makes good use of the abundant mint and garlic scapes in our own backyard. We chose Ohio lamb and pork to keep the recipe local. The binding liquid included some of our own apple cider vinegar made last autumn.

 

garlic scapes and mintmise en place for homemade sausagebinding sausage

cooking test sample of lamb sausagestuffing sausagemint lamb sausage recipe

 

As we have been stuffing sausage for a few years, the process runs quickly and smoothly now. Alex and Lil do most of the meat handling while I clean up behind them. From grind to bind to stuffing, a batch only takes about thirty minutes.

I served the sausage tonight with barley risotto and wilted homegrown greens. I highly recommend this hearty and healthy combination. It warmed us on a unseasonably cool evening, reminiscent of the chilly day I spent at the lovely Jorgensen Farms.

lamb garlic mint sausage recipe[print_this]

Mint Lamb Sausage

Makes 10 7 inch links

2 pounds lamb shoulder, boned 1 pound pork shoulder, boned 0.9 oz kosher salt (a hair less than 2 tablespoons) 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh young garlic scapes 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup water hog casings

1. Grind lamb and pork with a large die. 2. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add salt, mint, and scapes. Mix with batter paddle to combine. 3. Slowly pour in apple cider vinegar and water while mixing on low speed. Continue mixing until sausage binds or becomes very sticky, approximately 5 minutes. 4. Stuff into hog casings and make links.

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