Homemade blood sausages from Mlinarica
For many years, once the winter knocks on our door, we start making our homemade blood sausages.
We started doing them in 2006, out of simple curiosity. Back then we had our grandma’s and grandpa’s recipe, and their
blood sausages were irresistibly tasty (as strange as it may sound to someone).
After the first round of sausages we made, they all disappeared eaten in the blink of an eye. They were nicely balanced with spices
and had a delicious and juicy taste.
However, we felt it immediately, in their recipe it was as if something was missing.
Let’s face it, the blood sausages were very fine, but we just knew we could do even much better.
In the second year of our search for the right recipe, we changed the amount of spices we add and modified the production process for a tiny bit.
We immediately felt that little change in the recipe.
The blood sausages were now even tastier, but we still wanted to make them even better, there was still a little bit of space for improvement and refinement on that recipe. That round of blood sausages was also eaten pretty fast and that again gave us a clear indication that we were doing good work.
In the third year of our blood sausages-making adventure, we further changed some little details in production and finally managed to get to the right recipe with which we were one hundred percent satisfied, a recipe we still use today.
Grandma and grandpa were utterly surprised with our blood sausages and Mlinarica’s new recipe, so we got the green
light for the commercial production in our pub.
Anyone who engaged in the process of making blood sausages on his or her own knows very well that one should first wear work trousers, boots, an old T-shirt, and also be mentally prepared for sweat, blood and fat.
As in any business, and so in this one, preparation and organization are half of the work.
Recipe for homemade blood sausages (for 10 kilos)
• Salt 2 %
• Pepper 0.35%
• Allspice 0.1%
• Clove 0.1%
• Thyme 0.1%
• Onion 1 kilo
• Buckwheat porridge 2 kilos
• Pork blood 1 liter
• Ground hot pepper 0.27%
• Pork head without tongue 5 kilos
• Pork lungs 2 kilos
• Pork tongue 2 kilos
• Skins 3 kilos
• Meat trimmings 0.5 kilo
How to make homemade sausages? The process of production:
After we acquired all the necessary ingredients, we first cook the pork head, skin, lungs, heart and tongue.
After we have prepared and cooked all the ingredients, we can start with making the blood sausages.
We grind all the meat ingredients through a meat grinder, and the minced meat comes out.
When we have ground all the meat, we put the whole mixture in one large bowl.
Then we add stewed onion and buckwheat porridge (ajdova kaša). We mix it well, try its taste, and check if all the flavours are good.
If all is well, we start adding blood and we mix it well once again.
After we have mixed everything well, we can transfer the mixture to the sausage filler.
Then we fill the pork intestines with the mixture. We should also make a few smaller holes with a toothpick in the intestines,
to prevent them from cracking in the further production process.
When the intestines are filled and the blood sausages formed, we tie them in rings and put them to blanch in water
in which all the meat ingredients were previously cooked. Blanching is a process in which the water must be
at a temperature of around 80-90 °C. Once the water reaches the desired temperature, we put the blood sausages in it,
and already after a few minutes, we take them out. If the blood sausages are cooked longer, there is a possibility
that the intestines burst and fall apart, and that’s something that we want to avoid.
After cooking, the blood sausages should be hung on a stick to drain the surplus of fat and to cool them.
Here the production process comes to its end and we can start with the baking part.
For best results, bake them in the oven at 170 °C. During baking, turn them once to make sure the other side of the sausages also gets baked.
Serve your blood sausages with braised potatoes and stewed sauerkraut, or with žganci and pork greaves (žganci s čvarcima).
Have a good appetite.
