I love sausages! So do a lot of other people I’m sure. But it is hard to find good sausages that you can buy, most have flour (gluten free or wheat), preservatives and all sorts of other fillers and “enhancers”. Things they do not need for flavour, but for shelf life…
When I went to my local butcher in Pomona and asked about sausages without any preservatives or flour, only with some herbs and spices, they said they already make some of those for another client and would be happy to make them for me as well! Their meat is all free range, hormone free and grass fed, high quality. I order sausages about a week ahead in 5kg lots, and they make them for me. Anything from lamb, chicken, beef and even turkey!
I need to divide them up at home into smaller lots, as they are all in one big bunch. Then I need to keep them in the freezer. As they do not have preservatives they do not keep very long in the fridge. But they are fantastic! Even one of our German students said they were the best sausages he had had outside of Germany!!
As we are unable to grow everything on our property at this stage (we get a lot of people through, if it was just our family we would be ok), there are some things we need to buy, such as sausages and some fruits and vegetables. We have formed a great relationship with our local butcher and fruit and veg shop, both in Pomona, who look after us because we only buy from them. We support our local small businesses, they in turn support local farmers who do the right thing (chemical free, free range etc). It is a win win situation for everyone! I would highly recommend forming a relationship with your local butcher and fruit and veg shop, even if they do not currently supply free range, local and chemical free products, ask for them! Keep asking for them every week! Once they know there is a demand, they will start sourcing what you are after, and then everyone will be better off. (This is of course, if you cannot grow everything you eat!)
What I have pictured above are yummy lamb sausages, cooked on low to medium heat, with pumpkin and kale (see recipe here, replace sweet potato with chopped pumpkin, leave skin on!), oven baked zucchini and tomato, avocado and coconut pecan loaf. These sausages were fried, but I am also really enjoying them steamed in the vegetable steamer with some vegies, or slow cooked in water or butter with vegetables. In this case I used the fat left over after frying 18 of them (as I said, we are feeding a few here…) to add to a soup I made for night time. I try not to let things go to waste as much as possible!
©2014 Zaia at wholefoodcookery.com – breakfast sausages and your relationship with your local small businesses.
Author: Zaia Kendall
Zaia grew up in a family of musicians in Holland, and has a background in top sport (snow skiing) and web development and design. She co-founded the PRI Luganville and PRI Sunshine Coast Inc (now PermEco Inc.) with Tom, and runs the “invisible structures”, like finances, business administration, website design and maintenance, writes articles and records and edits videos. She assists Tom in running the Kendall Permaculture Farm and supervising other volunteers. She is an active member of several musical projects and bands, involved in community music and runs percussion and marimba workshops, is the percussion leader for the Woodford Folk Festival People’s Orchestra and composes as well as plays music. She is passionate about community music and loves seeing people discover that they can play!