Forget About the Frozen Mail-Order Steaks

This weekend we tried our hand at the art of sausage making. I snatched up an book on the subject, made sure I had the proper KitchenAid attachments, and started planning our route to ultimate tailgating glory when we show up at Lambeau Field, a place known for sporting some serious sausage, with our own homemade batch.

Needless to say, this wasn't going to be some run of the mill sausage made from animal scraps and gobs of pork fat. Oh no. Our sausage was going to make you moan with it juices dripping from the chin. With that kind of pleasure in mind, we headed out to find the best cuts of pork shoulder and veal that we could get our hands on.

First stop was the Bluescreek Farm Meats counter at the North Market. Now before I get too carried away, I must say that the pork shoulder we bought from BFM was without a doubt the most beautiful cut of meat I have ever seen. These animals are completely grass fed without any hormones or antibiotics and are family raised locally in Marysville, Ohio. Obviously, the selection is pricier than even your nicest cuts at a grocery store, but it's well worth it. The color, sheen, and texture was unlike anything I've ever seen before. The muscle was iridescent and the fat was firm and pearly. Perfect marbling without the gristle. I almost wanted to preserve and frame it rather than stuff it into a meat grinder, but we had to keep our mission in sight.

Bluescreek Farm Meats can provide all your meat needs, but calling ahead with your order is advisable. They have a set schedule as to when they slaughter their animals and want to be sure to provide you with the freshest meat possible. Not knowing this, we weren't able to get everything we needed that day and headed to Carfagna's for the rest of our shopping.

Carfagna's is a Columbus institution priding itself for serving some of the finest meat and homemade specialties for over seventy years. Even the old-timers will talk about their family weekend trips to Carfagna's to stock up for the big Sunday dinner. The people behind the deli counter are knowledgeable and very proud of the product they serve. We were still unable to get our hands on the pork fat we needed, but that didn't stop the butcher from sending us out the door with a huge bag of beef fat, free of charge. This place has it all. Steaks, seafood, poultry, deli meats, salads, pastries, and breads, and even the casings (or intestines, rather) that we needed for the sausage.

Tonight we finish up our batch of bratwurst and then finally taste our creations. If all is well, we will continue to experiment with new variations and recipes, and if they are a total flop, at least we will know it was something we did, and not the quality of meat.