What, you may ask, is Proper Sausages? In North Miami at 9722 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami Shores, FL 33138, there is a tiny little shop that makes the best artisan sausages I’ve ever tasted.
I found out about Proper Sausages from my friend Manita. Let me tell you a little bit about her and her loyalty as a friend. If Manita likes and believes in your food, art, jewelry, fashion she will do everything in her power to promote you. As she has done for me and so many others in the arts of some form or another, Manita promoted Proper Sausages and all of the wonderfully organic, anti-biotic free and non-steroid injected meats, exotic produce, and other items Proper Sausages sells in this tiny store. After our lunch at ZAK THE BAKER in Wynwood, whom, by the way, Manita promoted so heavily that she helped Zak raise quite a few of the last dollars needed to open his bakery, she suggested we stop at Proper Sausage on the way back to Fort Lauderdale just to see what they have to offer.
When you enter the shop “expect to find a multitude of fresh sausages, house made bacon, butcher cuts of beef from Jackman Ranch in Clewiston, FL, cuts of pork from Eden Farms in Iowa, poultry from Lake Meadow Farm in Ocoee, FL, lunches during the week, and a beer & wine selection focused on artisan brewers and vintners” (quoted from the website). www.propersausages.com
It goes without saying I was in sausage heaven along with wild ramp nirvana, and potato salad euphoria. In the meat case there were 7 different types of sausage (they change often) of which I bought one of each. With those sausages along with wild ramps and a small container of potato salad I headed home to prepare a sausage feast. Jim is a lover of all things sausage, having grown up on Bratwurst from Wisconsin, and I knew I had a good critic in tow to taste test the sausages. Although I didn’t cook all 7 (a bit too much for two people) and chose 4 of the plump, lovely looking sausages, I thought for sure we wouldn’t be able to complete the taste test because it would be too much food. Wrong!!! We managed to polish them off without hesitation. The 4 I chose to cook that night were all made with ground pork and the perfect amount of pork fat. Enclosed in all natural hog casing the sausages chosen that night were:
The Proper – Berkshire pork, fresh sage, mace, black pepper
The Dub – Applewood smoked Berkshire pork, fresh thyme, habanero chile powder, allspice, fresh garlic
The Chorizo – Alder wood smoked Berkshire pork, paprika, fresh garlic, oregano
The Romagna – Berkshire pork, fresh rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, black pepper
The 3 that I wrapped for the freezer to enjoy at a later date were:
The Fig & Blue Cheese – Berkshire pork, figs, blue cheese, balsamic vinegar
The Prune & Cognac – Applewood smoked Berkshire pork, cognac, prunes
The Orange and Fennel – Berkshire pork, toasted fennel seeds, orange zest, fresh garlic
I prepared them by roasting in the oven (Proper Sausages gives you cooking instructions with each) along with sweet peppers and onions. I served the sausages on the same roll as the Banh Mi, a mini baguette. So delicious, so good, so mouthwatering scrumptious.
What I loved about these sausages of pork goodness were several things besides the taste: The size is not too large nor too small; about 4 ounces before cooking. The seasoning is right on. Even though each sausage had hot pepper of one sort or another, none were lip burning hot. They had just enough kick to let you know there was hot pepper in the mix but not too much that it disguised the flavor of the pork or the other seasonings in each distinctly seasoned sausage. I also liked the fact that I could taste the layers of flavor in each.
With the wild ramps I made a salad of roasted bi-color corn, San Marzano baby plum tomatoes, wilted ramps, super greens all tossed in a creamy gorgonzola-roasted garlic dressing. The salad was wildly refreshing and colorful. (So sad I have to go all the way to Miami to buy wild ramps. Heaven forbid someone in Fort Lauderdale should sell them.)
Then came the potato salad. To call this by it’s plain old name, potato salad, is not doing any justice to this creamy, bacon ladened, crispy celery garnished, spicy seasoned potato deliciousness. It was a little spicier than I expected but not enough to stop Jim from eating it, even though he is not very fond of anything spicy. He loved it and thought it complimented the sausages perfectly.
If you live in South Florida I strongly suggest you visit Proper Sausages and pick up some of their wonderful offerings. If you do not live in South Florida check out the website to find out if they ship. Tell them Camille and Manita sent you.
Oink Oink!!
camille@camillecooksforyou.com