Creamed Pheasant Sausage

The classic pheasant dish is the creamed mushroom recipe.  Pheasant is browned then braised in a mushroom, onion and garlic cream sauce.  The fat from the sauce keeps the pheasant moist and makes it tender.   This recipe takes the creamed mushroom sauce but packages it in a sausage casing.   Poaching then browning the sausages creates a similar result.  

Ingredients

• 2.5 kg pheasant cut ready for grinding
• 2 to 3 onions sliced thin
• 2 to 3 10 oz package of frozen mixed mushrooms
• 1 10 oz package frozen spinach
• 38 g kosher salt ( ~ 1.5% of weight)
• 3 g dried thyme
• 4 g Smoked Paprika
• 3 g garlic powder or 6 minced garlic cloves
• 12 g dried porcini or other mushroom
• 3 g peppercorns
• 3 4 oz package soft goat or cream cheese
• 8 oz cream fraiche
• 4 oz heavy cream
• Brat size sausage casing.  Rinse and set in warm water at least 30 mins before stuffing.
• Iodaphor - I have a container large enough to soak meat grinder and stuffing equipment before I use it.   Follow instructions on the bottle.  I think it is a good precaution to  

1. Caramelize the onion in a pan with butter or spread on a cookie sheet to cook in convection oven setting at 375 F.   For both stir occasionally to make sure all onions get evenly cooked.  When done, let cool 
2. Make sure the mushrooms are thawed.  Spread on a cookie sheet and toss in a convection oven at 375 F.  Cook until the mushrooms have dried and roasted slightly. When done, let cool. 
3. Break up the goat cheese into smallish pieces (about the size of frozen carrot cubes).  Spread on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Put in refrigerator to cool and dry for a few hours. 
4. Make sure the pheasant is cold.  Grind pheasant using a medium disk.  Put the ground pheasant back in refrigerator to get cold. 
5. Toss the spices, salt, herbs and dried mushrooms in a spice grinder / coffee grinder.  Grind to a fine powder.
6. Using your hands with gloves on or a stand mixer with a paddle.  Mix the spices, onions and mushrooms into the ground pleasant.  The meat should be sticky and mix well.  I like folding and kneading it like bread dough.   Finally fold in the frozen spinach. Put in refrig to get cold.
   
7. Take the ground meat out of refrigerator, mix in the cream and cream fraiche.  
   
8. Fold in the goat cheese.   Put mixture back in refrigerator. 
9. Make sure the casing is rinsed and was allowed to rest 30 mins in warm water. 
10. Setup the cleaned and sanitized sausage stuff.   I like to use olive oil to oil the container which holds the meat mixture, it helps the mixture to move smoothly.  
11. Pull out the meat mixture, load the stuffer and stuff the sausage.  I usually fill he casing fairly loosely then tight up the sausage, by twisting, when I am creating each link.  
12. When stuffed, either hang in a cool place for a few hours or put a cookie rack on top of a cookie sheet then in the refrigerator overnight.   
13. Next day, package and freeze if you like or just eat the whole batch.
14. To cook, I like poaching the sausage links in 150 F to 160 F broth or water for 15 mins.  Don't let the liquid boil. When finished brown in a pan or cook on grill.