Although my family and I reside within distance of vast vineyards, wineries, apple orchards, and generally an agrarian’s dream community, there is one disadvantage or the-lack-of when it comes to buying certain products–the mere luxury of nearby (less than an hour away), culturally diverse markets in a quest for making international dishes I crave for…

In this instance, some sausage casings to make one of my favorite Filipino entrees — Longaniza (in some parts of the world, it is also spelled Longganisa, Longganiza, et. al).  However, since sausage casings are rare commodities that even our local butchers’ do not carry them ( we have at least two in town) I’ve simply learned to compromise.  For the time being, eliminating it altogether.

Today, what I have for you is a simple longaniza recipe that originated from a cookbook that my mom recently passed on to me (Bless her heart at 78 years young.  She loves to cook but distance between us and arthritis on her hands hinders her ability to do so).

She, in turn, received it as a gift from a friend of hers, who received it from a friend of hers, and so on, and so forth.  Originally given to my mom in the late 1970s, I proudly claim ownership with the hopes that my son(s) can proudly own (and put it to good use), someday as well…

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds pork meat with fat ( for this recipe I used slices of bacon for the fat portion)
• 1-2 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup vinegar (for this recipe I used an organic apple cider vinegar)
• 1 head garlic, finely chopped (for this recipe I used dried chopped garlic)
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon saltpeter (for this recipe I used William-Sonoma Curing Salt)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (to taste)

Directions:

1. Mix the marinade together and add the ground meat.
2. Knead to mix thoroughly and let stand for up to two hours/ or refrigerate overnight for meat to absorb the marinade.
3. Portion about 2 heaping tablespoons [TIP: You can use an ice cream scooper to portion out the meat  in equivalent sizes.] onto the palm of your hands and roll into approximately 3-inch size logs.
4. When cooking immediately, fry the skinless longaniza in cooking oil using medium heat.  [NOTE:  You can also store for up to 3 days in the refrigerator or freeze for later use]

AS PICTURED:
Served on a bed of fresh cilantro, kumato & vine tomatoes, red onions, fresh, chopped garlic, and drizzled with soy sauce.  Best eaten with rice dishes, such as garlic fried rice, or simply steam, white rice.