Old Fashioned Souse Meat Recipes

SOUSE

Steps:

• Scrape and clean feet well and put on to boil in enough salt water to cover. Simmer for approximately four hours or until meat separates from the bones.
• Mix stock in which meat was cooked with vinegar, salt, pepper, and spices. Bring to the boiling point and hold for 30 minutes. Strain liquid to remove spices.
• Place pieces of meat and chopped pickle in a flat dish or stone jar and pour the sour liquid over it. (Coalcracker kitchen note: A loaf pan works well, too.)
• Chill in refrigerator until perfectly cold.
• Slice and serve.

HOME MADE SOUSE

Steps:

• Place tongues, pig's ears, pig's feet, and onions in a large stock pot; add water to cover. Season with salt, pepper, whole peppercorns, sage, cloves, bay leaves, pickling spice, garlic powder and vinegar. Bring to a boil, and cook until meat is cooked, about 2 1/2 hours.
• Remove meat; set aside to cool. Strain broth, and measure 8 cups into another pot. Return broth to stove, and let simmer.
• Peel skin from ears, leaving the ear as intact as possible. Place the ears aside. Remove gristle and fat from pig's feet, and combine with ear trimmings. Cut off large portion of tongue and set aside. Trim loose meat from remainder of tongue, and combine with other trimmings. Put trimmings through a coarse meat grinder, then stir into broth; continue to simmer.
• Slice tongues into thin strips, and place lengthwise into 2 glass loaf pans, 9x5x3 inches. Slice ears into thin strips, then cut the strips into 1/2 inch pieces. Arrange the ear pieces among the tongue strips. Divide the pimiento and pepperoncini between the two molds. Sprinkle with pickle relish.
• Dissolve gelatin in 1 cup water. Stir into the simmering broth. Carefully ladle enough broth into each mold to completely cover the meat. Prod with a fork to uniformly distribute. Let stand 15 minutes, then cover with remaining broth. Allow to cool at room temperature, until they begin to jell, 2 to 3 hours. Refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours.
• When cool, run a thin knife around the sides of the mold to release the souse. Remove any fat that has accumulated on the surface.

OLD ITALIAN MEAT SAUCE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, brown beef and pork over medium heat until no longer pink; set aside.
• In a large skillet, warm olive oil over medium heat and saute onions and garlic until tender; add about 1/2 cup of wine; mix well.
• Add mushrooms, rosemary, oregano and thyme to skillet and add another 1/2 cup wine; saute until tender.
• Add browned meat, tomato sauce and tomato paste to mixture; simmer for 1 hour and add the remaining 2 cups of wine.
• Simmer sauce on low for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally; serve.

PICKLED PIGS' FEET OR SOUSE

Steps:

• 1. scrape and clean feet well and put on to boil in enough salt water to cover. Simmer for approximately 4 hours or until meat will separate from the bones. Remove from pot, allow to cool, and chop the meat.
• 2. Mix stock in which meat was cooked with vinegar, salt, pepper and spices. Bring to the boiling point and hold for 30 minutes. Strain liquid to remove spices.
• 3. Place pieces of meat and chopped pickle - sour or dill? - in a flat dish or stone jar and pour sour liquid over it ( I guess the 2 cups stock in recipe). Chill in the refrigerator until perfectly cold. Slice and serve.

HOG HEAD CHEESE - SOUSE - DOWN HOME RECIPE

Steps:

• Using a large stock pot; place tongues, pig's ears, pig's feet, chopped onions and cover with water.
• Add salt, pepper, peppercorns, sage, cloves, bay leaves, pickling spice, garlic powder and vinegar.
• Bring to a boil. Cook 2 1/2 hours until meat is cooked.
• Remove meat from the pot and set aside.
• Strain the broth. Measure 8 cups into another pot. Return broth to stove, and let simmer.
• Peel skin from ears, leaving the ear as intact as possible. Place the ears aside.
• Remove gristle and fat from pig's feet, and combine with ear trimmings.
• Cut off a large portion of tongue and set aside. Trim loose meat from remainder of tongue, and combine with other trimmings.
• Put trimmings through a coarse meat grinder, then stir into broth; continue to simmer.
• Slice tongues into thin strips, and place lengthwise into 2 glass loaf pans, 9x5x3 inches.
• Slice ears into thin strips, then cut the strips into 1/2 inch pieces. Arrange the ear pieces among the tongue strips.
• Chop and divide the pepperoncini between the two molds. Sprinkle with pickle relish.
• Option: You can also add chopped Piemiento if you want to.
• Dissolve gelatin in 1 cup water and stir into the simmering broth.
• Carefully ladle enough broth into each mold to completely cover the meat.
• Mix well. Let stand 15 minutes.
• Cover with remaining broth and allow to cool at room temperature for 2-3 hours until it starts to jell.
• Refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours.
• When set, remove any fat from the surface.
• Run a thin knife around the sides of the mold to release the Hog Head Cheese. Enjoy!!
• Yield 2 loaves

HOG HEAD SOUSE

Steps:

• Split hog head. Clean thoroughly, removing eyes and brains. Scald. Scrape clean.
• Place hog head, feet and ears in large stockpot. Simmer about 4 hours or until tender.
• Remove meat from bone. Place meat in large bowl. Mash. Drain off any fat. Add vinegar, peppers, salt and sage. Stir to combine. Transfer to bowl or dish. Refrigerate 24 hours. Slice. Serve with crackers.

SOUSE MEAT

Steps:

• Add pigs feet in large pot with 1 cup of vinegar, beer, garlic, onion, 1/2 cup of hot sauce, 2 tsps of onion powder, salt and pepper. Boil until tender and liquid has reduced (about 3.5 hours). Let cool. De-bone Pigs Feet and chop into small pieces. Mix in 1/2 cup of cooking liquid, crushed red pepper, remaining hot sauce vinegar and seasonings. Adjust any seasoning to your taste at this point. Place in a loaf pan and cover with saran wrap. Don't forget to remove the Bay leaf. Let chill for at least 3 hours.