Free Sausage by Victoria Wise Page B

of a certain place. I begin with meat loaf and hamburger at home, the land of vast cattle herds and more beef than almost anyone can imagine. From there I travel to cuisines where beef is available, albeit in small amounts. The sausages included are quite different, one from the other, but altogether they show the ingenious ways cooks everywhere go about making a dish with small bits of meat along with plenty of vegetables and grains, to provide a meal no one will find lacking in taste or sumptuousness.
    American Meat Loaf Somewhat Frenchified, with a California Twist
    My House Hamburger with Pickled Red Onions, Dijon Mayonnaise, and Shredded Romaine in a Ciabatta Bun
    Skillet Tamale Pie with Mexican Beef Sausage in Jalapeño and Cheese Corn Bread Crust
    South African Sausage with Collard Greens, Ethiopian Spiced Butter, and Cashew Rice
    Beef Polpette with a Cheese Center
    Italian American Spaghetti and Meatballs in Red Sauce
    Beef and Eggplant Sausage in Eggplant Shell Casings
    Swedish Potato and Beef Sausage with Roasted Beets and Sour Cream
    Savory Bread Pudding with English Sausage, Wilted Leeks, and Dried Pears
    East European Caraway Beef and Rice Sausage
    Hungarian Meatballs in Paprika Sour Cream with Hungarian Green Bean Salad
    Hmong-Style Asian Greens Soup with Beef Meatballs and Slab Bacon
    Vietnamese-Style Beef Sausage and Vegetable Spring Rolls with Mint Dipping Sauce

American Meat Loaf Somewhat Frenchified, with a California Twist
    In a cross-continental sausage loaf reminiscent of French pâtés, beef, pork, and veal are combined in equal amounts with bread crumbs to make a more pillowy loaf. The California twist is replacing the traditional ketchup “icing” with pavers of sun-dried tomato across the top. You can serve it warm for dinner, American style, with a side of mashed potatoes, or French style, chilled until firm enough to slice thin for an hors d’oeuvre plate. The cooking vessel can be as ordinary as a standard aluminum loaf pan or, if you are serving it warm, a more table-worthy clay pot or round soufflé dish.
    SERVES 6 TO 8
    1 pound ground beef
    1 pound ground pork
    1 pound ground veal
    1 cup fresh bread crumbs
    1 cup finely chopped yellow or white onion
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
    1 tablespoon kosher salt
    ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    2 tablespoons tomato paste
    ⅔ cup white wine
    2 large eggs
    12 unseasoned oil-packed sun-dried tomato halves
    2 ounces salt pork, unsmoked bacon, or pancetta, very thinly sliced
    Preheat the oven to 325°F.
    Place all the ingredients except the sun-dried tomatoes and salt pork in a large bowl, and knead with your hands until thoroughly blended and no longer wet.
    Transfer the mixture to a 9-by-5-by-2¾-inch loaf pan or other suitable baking dish. Pat the mixture to even it across the top and fill all the way to the corners. Arrange the tomatoes over the loaf without overlapping them. Arrange the salt pork in stripes, without touching one another, over the tomatoes. Cover the pan with aluminum foil, pinching around the pan rim to seal loosely.
    Bake until the juices are bubbling up clear, not pink, and the meat is no longer pink in the center, about 2 hours. Remove from the oven, uncover, and let stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour to allow the juices to settle and the loaf to firm.
    Cut the meat loaf into slices as thick as you like and serve warm. Or, refrigerate overnight and serve cold.

My House Hamburger withPickled Red Onions,Dijon Mayonnaise, and Shredded Romaine in a Ciabatta Bun
    Hamburgers reign supreme in the annals of American food, indeed in the annals of fast food around the world. Establishments that proffer them have made incursions into seemingly unlikely places to the extent that it is hardly surprising to see hamburgers on menus almost anywhere from Paris to Beijing. In fact, the humble beef patties have become such big business that there’s just no stopping