Ukrainian Sausage from Lviv

Ingredients:

900g boneless pork
115g pork fat
340g boneless beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, mashed
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp dried marjoram, crumbled
1/2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
2 bay leaves
80ml water
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
3m (about) natural pig sausage casings

Method:

Pass the pork and pork fat once through a meat grinder. Remove any sinews and ligaments from the beef then cut into 6mm dice. Combine the meat in a large bowl then set aside.

Add the oil to a pan and use to fry the onions and garlic for about 6 minutes, or until the onions just turn translucent. Add the marjoram, bay leaves, coriander and water then bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 4 minutes before taking of the heat and setting aside to infuse for 15 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves then combine the mixture with the meats. Season with salt and black pepper and mix thoroughly to combine. Meanwhile, wash the casings in cold water, ensuring you rinse several times to remove any salts. Carefully cut 1m of the casing, thread onto a funnel then force the mixture through the top to stuff evenly. Tie off the end, leaving a length of string dangling for later (do not over pack the sausage as the meat mixture will expand during cooking. Now tie off every 15cm for sausage links or every 40cm if making sausage rings.

Repeat until all the meat mixture has been used up then arrange on a plate, cover with a damp towel and refrigerate for 2 days. At the end of this time the sausage can be cooked, smoked to preserve or frozen.

To prepare, bring a large, shallow, pan half-filed with water to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Pour off the water then add a little oil and fry the sausage until golden brown all over. Serve either hot or cold, thinly sliced and accompanied by mayonnaise.