Winter's a great time to embrace the fat necessary for a great sausage. Although plenty of delicious sausages can be fabricated without the use of pork, it's practically impossible to forego fat. No fat?. No flavor. No question!

One of Chicago's "culinary" claims to fame is the red hot/weiner/frankfurter/hot dog, but this month we talk briefly and more broadly about sausage. Specifically, (encased) cooked meat. While last winter (see MARCH '09) we covered cured meats, necessarily aged, this is different. Cooked sausages are not only a delicious way to enjoy your favorite meats without the weeks or months of waiting inherent in aged products, more often than not they're also made utilizing economical cuts of the animals. I'm pretty confident the folks over at Vienna Beef weren't foolin' around with filet mignon when they ground, emulsified and stuffed their first hot dog.

Hot, cooked sausages incorporate coarsely or finely ground meat (like in a traditional Italian sausage), emulsified meat (like in a traditional Chicago red hot), or something between the two (like some bratwurst). Regardless, the meat is typically seasoned, processed in some manner, then stuffed - or sometimes not - and cooked in order to be eaten shortly thereafter. In many ways the cooked sausage more clearly satisfies our American need to start and finish things more instantaneously!

Here at the restaurant we like to menu interesting sausages with their more noble cuts on the plate. While bratwurst or maple-bourbon sausage is great as a single center-of-the-plate item at brunch or lunch, the dinner menu here necessitates a bit more diversity. The current pork plate, for example, pairs a spicy andouille-style sausage (made with pork shoulder) with the medallions of pork loin; alongside the basted breast on the pheasant plate, we feature a cherry-madeira sausage made with pheasant thigh meat. As the old adage describes, sausage-making's never pretty, but it results in a pretty tasty product...

Farming hogs since 1975, Tom Mueller of Maple Creek Farm in Pewaukee, WI understands full well that pork is an essential ingredient to human happiness. Tom raises naturally-fed animals ranging in weight from 30 to 270 pounds, and sells them both to restaurants as well as to individual consumers. The pork is always fresh -never frozen - and is delivered shortly after the animals are processed. We've been (happily) buying Maple Creek pork for many, many years and encourage you to consider calling Tom to arrange procuring a side (or two) for your own home. Maple Creek also specializes in the delicious pig roasts for special events in more temperate weather, bringing the entire swine to your door (or picnic site)! Mmmmmmm.