It’s pretty incredible, when you start to read labels, how many products contain sugar that you wouldn’t expect.  We at Isernio’s truly feel that added sugar in sausage products is mostly unnecessary.  We can’t believe how many “Italian” sausages we see out there, where the second or third ingredient is corn syrup.  In an authentic Italian sausage, it’s just not needed.  Most Italian grandmothers would probably think you’re crazy if you suggested adding corn syrup to their sausage recipe!

Needless to say, you won’t find any sugars in Isernio’s Italian sausage.  In our breakfast sausage we only use a touch of honey granules just to add a bit of sweetness, but not enough to overpower the savory seasonings, and certainly no sticky corn syrup.

With so many concerns these days about health problems like heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, it really does make sense to cut out as much of the bad stuff (like unnecessary sugars) as possible in our diets.  It can be daunting, since sugars can be hidden in almost everything like bread and peanut butter, but perhaps starting with changing just a few items in your diet to a low- or no-sugar option could be a good plan.  We hope our sausage can be a part of that plan!  (Be sure to check out our website www.isernio.com for tons of sausage recipe ideas)

We’d love to hear your opinion.  Do you make an effort to cut out sugar?  Has this 60 Minutes report changed your way of thinking on the subject?

Reaction to this ingredient has overall not been positive at all – when you think about biting into a juicy all-American hamburger, a pink slimy paste is not what comes to mind!   We think most of you are probably very turned off by the mysterious fillers and processes used to make many of your favorite foods.  As a meat producer we take this very seriously, and our stand on this issue is simple:  real, whole food makes for a healthier you.

While we don’t produce any beef products – only pork and chicken – we have no problem showing you there’s absolutely no mystery in our meat.   In fact, here’s a photo taken of a whole chicken thigh in our plant right before it was ground and combined with spices to make our all-natural chicken sausage: 

Raw Material used in Isernio's Chicken Sausage: Whole skinless chicken thigh

We feel it’s important to know what you’re putting in your body, and that eating “real” food and ingredients is key to a healthy lifestyle – which is why we’ve never used any sort of fillers, binders, extenders, artificial colors or flavors, or unnecessary sugars and corn syrup. 

Nothing too mysterious there – ours is really the sausage you want to see made!  For more info on our company and production processes, check out this video of sausage production that takes you behind the scenes.  We’re proud of what we make, and hope you and your family enjoy it too!

Mixing the ingredients for Isernio's all-natural sausage

Sausages (or "Bangers") are an essential part of a traditional Irish breakfast

Are you preparing to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this weekend?   If you’re preparing an Irish-themed meal for your family or a group of guests, why not try a recipe using sausage, which is an essential ingredient in many traditional Irish dishes.  Isernio’s makes a British Banger, which is also very similar to a traditional Irish sausage, and could be considered a decent state-side substitute!  Here are some Irish recipes to try using our Bangers or other varieties of sausage:

Dublin Coddle  (Irish comfort food!)

Irish Sausage Pie

Irish Pie with Chicken and Sausage

How to cook the Traditional Irish Breakfast

True Bangers & Mash with Onion Gravy

Irish Champ  (a potato dish that is a perfect complement to sausage)

Look for our Bangers this week at QFC, Top Foods, Haggen and Metropolitan Market (check our Where to Buy zip code finder to find out if there is one near you).  If you can’t find the Bangers, or are looking for a non-pork substitute, our low-fat Chicken Breakfast sausage would be great in any of these dishes as well.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

It’s fun to take some time and research the history of ingredients we use in our sausages here at Isernio’s.  We thought we’d start out with fennel seed – where would we be without this little kernel?  We certainly wouldn’t be making traditional Italian sausages, as fennel seed is really the cornerstone ingredient in a true Italian style sausage.  The flavor is unmistakable – a slightly sweet, licorice flavor that adds that distinctly Italian taste to our sausage.

The fennel seed comes from, of course, the fennel plant.  Aside from being used in sausages, the seed is often used in Mediterranean vegetable or fish dishes, baked into bread, or even used in tea.  The bulb of the plant is absolutely delicious – sweet and crunchy – and is often sautéed or baked with meat or vegetables, or julienned raw into salads or sandwiches. 

Fennel originated in Europe and has long been revered for its medicinal purposes, in addition to its culinary appeal.   For centuries it has been recommended as a digestive aid (by chewing the seeds or brewing into tea).  

In medieval times, hung over doors, fennel was thought to ward off evil spirits. Fennel has also been used as an appetite suppressant; Puritans in America used to bring handkerchiefs filled with the seeds to church to nibble on, to stave off hunger, and so the seeds were often called “meetin’ seeds.”  (although we recommend eating our sausage – including the fennel seeds - for maximum hunger satisfaction!)

Medicinal and spirit-warding abilities aside, we still think the best way to use fennel is in creative and delicious recipes.  Frank Isernio’s favorite ways to use fennel (besides sausage of course) include:

• Braised as a side dish
• Sliced into salads
• Grilled (cut into wedges, coat in olive oil and grill)
• Use in place of celery in almost anything  – it adds an extra aromatic touch to the dish
•  Eat raw, sliced, drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with a little salt (this was one of his father’s favorite ways to eat it too)
•  Use fennel pollen (in powdered form – find it in spice shops) sprinkled on pork
• The green fronds of the fennel plant are excellent with fish.  Try them in a fish soup base, or stuffed into the cavity of fish that will be roasted.  Also wonderful chopped into fine pieces and sprinkled on salads
• When using fennel seeds for anything, be sure to crack them with a mortar and pestle to bring out the best flavor

Here’s a salad recipe from Margaret Isernio that utilizes fresh sliced fennel as well as the seeds.  Give this a try as a first course during your next dinner party:

Dressing:

• 2 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
• 1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. minced shallot
• 1 tsp. fennel seed, crushed in a mortar
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. good olive oil

 Salad:

• 1 bunch fresh Arugula or 4 cups bulk
• 1 cup fresh fennel shaved or sliced very thin (I use a truffle shaver)
• 2 medium size navel oranges or blood oranges, peeled and sliced into 1/4″ rounds

 Salad Option Additions:

• 1/4 cup Radishes, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup oil cured black olives, slivered
•  shaved Pecorino Romano cheese

Directions:  Whisk the Dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. You can do this ahead and leave out until right before serving.

Clean the arugula leaves and place in a large bowl, add the shaved fennel & radishes, if using. Add the dressing and toss to coat well. Lay down the orange slices on a large platter, or individual plates and top with the salad. Garnish with olives and/or shaved Pecorino Romano.

What are some of your favorite ways to use fennel?  We’d love to hear your ideas and recipes!  

That’s some pretty overwhelming information when you stop to think about it.  We think it’s very important, however, to define processed.  The term processed refers to meats preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding chemicals such as sodium nitrate.  In other words, not the lean, fresh ground sausages that Isernio’s is proud to produce. 

Many sausage producers use preservation methods like smoking or curing to make their product, presumably, more convenient to use.  If a sausage is already cooked when you buy it, all that needs to be done when you get it home is basically heat it up.  Fresh sausages like our chicken sausage links and rolls, however, are made from raw meat and are not preserved or pre-cooked.  So, yes, it takes a few extra minutes to cook them.  But we think the health and flavor benefits are well worth it!

Scientists aren’t exactly sure why eating processed meats increases cancer risk, but our view is if you want to enjoy sausage, why not go with an all-natural, fresh, un-processed sausage like ours?  To help with that extra cooking time for fresh sausage – because we all know that some days every minute counts when you’re trying to get breakfast, lunch or dinner on the table – we recommend an easy way to pre-cook our sausage links.  Here are instructions on our website: http://isernio.com/About/FAQ.aspx.  It’s simple to pre-cook a batch of sausage and keep in the refrigerator for a couple days, to be browned and heated when it’s meal time.  Give it a try and let us know what you think!

And, if you haven’t yet seen this video about our sausage production methods, we would love for you to check it out.  We are proud of the high quality, whole cuts of meat and premium seasonings that make up our fresh, all-natural sausage. 

If you’ve either recently committed to eating healthier, or if you’re just trying to get back on the healthy track after a holiday season of overindulgence, don’t forget that our sausage most definitely CAN be a part of a healthier lifestyle!  No need to deprive yourself when our chicken sausages have only 110 calories per link, and our chicken sausage rolls only have 80 calories per serving  (that’s only 2 Weight Watcher’s points!). 

Busy days and nights can make it even more difficult to prepare fresh, healthy meals from scratch.  If you think about it, chicken sausage really can be the ultimate “convenience food” for quick, wholesome meals.  Our chicken sausage, made from whole skinless chicken thigh, is a high-quality, lean protein – and we’ve already added the seasoning for you! 

Here are some ideas for speedy, healthy meals prepared from scratch.  Just substitute our chicken sausage links or chicken sausage rolls for the pork sausage to save on fat and calories:

Cannellini Bean Saute with Italian Sausage, Blistered Tomatoes and Wilted Greens

Tomato, Sausage and Spinach Risotto

Italian Minestra – Vegetable Soup with Sausage & Beans

Italian Sausage & Egg Burrito

Italian Sausage Puttanesca

Breakfast Sausage Casserole

Or, check out our website for more great recipe ideas!  www.isernio.com

Tell us about your plans for the new year!  We hope you have a happy and healthy 2012!

Happy and hungry guests at the Isernio Christmas Dinner table

If you love food and spending quality time with good friends and family, this really is the most wonderful time of the year.  What are your favorite traditions for the holidays?  Do they include any kind of special meal or food?

Frank Isernio and his wife Margaret have an annual tradition of hosting a Christmas dinner party for a group of great friends.  Margaret goes all out, putting exquisite detail into each course.  Here’s the menu from this year’s dinner:

Appetizers in the Living Room as guests arrive

• Crostini with Lox, Goat Cheese & Chives, with a dab of Crème Fraiche & Caviar
• Crostini with Rapini cooked with Shaved Garlic & Hot Chili Flakes, topped with shaved Pecorino Romano
• Homemade Spicy Roasted Nuts (Cashews, Pecans, Almonds, Walnuts & Pistachios)
• Champagne

Antipasti

• Roasted Marinated Red & Yellow Peppers with Olive Oil, Garlic, Oregano & Balsamic Vinegar
• Marinated Deboned Smelts, cured with fresh Lemon Juice, then marinated in Olive Oil, Garlic, Thyme & Chili Flakes
• Marinated Fresh Anchovies that were cured in White Wine Vinegar & Lemon, then marinated with Olive Oil, Garlic, Parsley & Hot Chili Flakes, on a bed of greens (Watercress, Parsley, Celery leaves & Chives) dressed with Olive Oil, Lemon & White Wine Vinegar
• Steamed Cauliflower Florets with an Olive Oil, Anchovy dressing, served warm
• Alaska King Crab leg chunks, dressed with Olive Oil & Lemon
• Good crusty Italian Bread
• 2006 Campogiovanni Brunello Di Montelcino

Primo and Secondi Courses served together

Margaret serves her homemade ravioli

• Margherita’s homemade Sausage, Spinach & Cheese Ravioli’s with a tomato sauce of braised Pork Spareribs and Isernio’s Pork & Chicken Sausages.  The meat was served on a platter separately.
• 2006 Sloan Asterisk Rutherford Cabernet

 Insalata Course

• Baby Arugula Salad with lots of shaved Fennel in an Orange Fennel Olive Oil dressing, served on a platter with peeled sliced Navel Oranges.

Took a break to smoke Cigars and drink liquor (Sambuca & Solerno, a Blood Orange Liqueur) and sparkling water.

Dessert

• Margherita’s Struffoli (honey-dipped deep fried dough balls)
• Margherita’s Italian Fruit Cake, with rum soaked Figs & Raisins, crystalized Ginger, roasted Walnuts & lots of spices.
• Margherita’s Almond Biscotti
• Lucia’s homemade Lemon Tart (one of our guests)
• Angela’s Hazelnut cookies (one of our guests)
• Lemon Cheesecake from Pasta & Company
• Mexican Wedding Cookies from Metropolitan Market
• Margherita’s Dried Figs cooked in Honey, White Wine & Thyme, then stuffed with a roasted Almond & drizzled with good aged Balsamic Vinegar
• Platter of Red Grapes & Bartlett Pear slices with a Cheese Assortment
• Espresso & Moscato D’Asti

Now how’s that for some dinner inspiration?  We would love to hear about any special meal or recipes you and your family enjoy around the holidays too.  Feel free to share them here! 

Hoping you all have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Stuffing with Italian Sausage, Spinach & Pasta Shells

1 lb chicken Italian Sausage
1 box chopped frozen spinach, thawed with excess water squeezed out 
3 large eggs, beaten
1/2 (16 oz) box small shells pasta
1/3 bag herbed stuffing mix, or one box stuffing mix
1 (14 oz) can low sodium chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

cook pasta according to package directions then drain and rinse with water to cool off
brown sausage and mix with pasta
add spinach and stuffing mix
add beaten eggs and any salt and pepper and mix throughly
place into a sprayed casserole dish and pour chicken broth over the mixture
cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, removing the foil for the last 5-10 minutes to brown the top

And now, on with the stuffing:

Tasty Italian Style Stuffing

6 cups stale bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried rosemary
3 tsp dried parsley
4 Tbs butter, melted
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 Tbs butter
2 large onions, chopped
1 Tbs minced garlic (more or less to taste)
1 lb Isernio’s Italian Chicken Sausage roll
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken broth

Combine bread crumbs, salt, pepper and herbs in a large bowl.  Drizzle melted butter over and toss to coat.  Spread half the mixture evenly on a large rimmed baking sheet and place in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, tossing occassionally to brown evenly.  Repeat with the second half of the mixture.  Return to large bowl and cool completely.  Add grated parmesan and toss to combine. 

 Meanwhile, melt 2 Tbs butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add onions and cook until translucent and browning around the edges, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds, until fragrant.  Add the sausage, breaking up and cooking until nice and golden brown. 

Add to cooled bread crumb mixture, combine thoroughly. 

Add wine to the now empty skillet, scraping to loosen the browned bits from the bottom.  Add this and the broth to the stuffing mix and combine thoroughly.  (It should be very wet.  If not, add more broth until it reaches the consistency of breakfast oatmeal.)  Pour into a buttered 8X11 baking dish and return to oven.  Bake at 350′ for about 30 minutes or until the top and edges are golden brown and crunchy.  Serve hot.  Serves 6-8

Agnes will be receiving a coupon for a FREE Isernio’s Chicken Sausage roll for sharing this recipe with us.  You can get free sausage too – just send us your favorite recipe for sausage stuffing (email to: info@isernio.com) before Friday November 18!

Sausage and Herb Low Carb Stuffing

3/4 pound Isernio’s Chicken sausage (you may use pork breakfast sausage)
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 eggs
2 cups coarsely chopped cauliflower
1/2 cup diced yellow squash
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Equipment: 8 by 8-inch square baking dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove sausage from casing and crumble it into a pan over medium heat. Add the celery and onion and cook, stirring, until browned. Drain fat if necessary.

Beat the eggs in a bowl.  Using a spoon, mix in the sausage mixture and all the remaining ingredients. Pour the stuffing into the baking dish and bake until hot and browned, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.