From The Healthy Cooking Coach.....
Inspiring Healthy Choices by Chef Rachel
OMG! I just tried one of the best sausages I’ve ever tasted: Pederson’s Wenzel Bison Polish Smoked Sausage. Pederson’s Wenzel is a brand extension of Pederson’s Natural Farms (I wrote about their bacon last week and plan to make and write about more recipes using it. I loved the flavor and texture of the sausage. It wasn’t too salty (like many other brands I’ve tried) nor was it greasy. It’s made from bison raised without the use of antibiotics or growth stimulants. It has a good ratio of fat to protein. It’s gluten free, dairy free, and low in carbs.
The sausage comes in a 10-ounce package with four links. I served them as a side dish one day with sautéed kale with onions, celery, sage and garlic and Poached Pears; added a link to a green salad with avocado and roasted onions and peppers on two different days; and served it with scrambled eggs, blanched kale tossed with homemade cilantro-parsley pesto from my Sunday cooking class at Luci's Healthy Marketplace, with a fresh orange. I’m sure they’d be great stir fried with vegetables too.
What in them?
The ingredients include bison, seasonings (tapioca starch, salt, celery powder, sea salt, black pepper, marjoram, raw sugar, dehydrated garlic) water, vinegar, and pork casing. Each 2.5 ounce link contains 12 grams of protein, 11 grams of delicious and healthy fat (5 of that from healthy saturated fat), 3 grams of carbohydrate (from the tapioca starch), zero sugar grams, and 530 milligrams of sodium. You can reduce the amount of sodium per serving by steaming the links the way I did.
Grilled or steamed sausage
Kent Wenzel recommends two cooking methods: From a thawed state, warm your grill to a medium heat and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Alternatively, to steam or sauté, bring 1/4-inch of water to boil in a frying pan, add sausage and turn the heat down to medium and cook 5 to 10 minutes. (I did this.) For more cooking tips, videos and suggestions go to their web site.
Photo credits: Chef Rachel Albert Copyright ©2011
More options
The sausage comes in other flavors: Bison Green Chile Smoked Sausage, Bison Bratwurst Sausage, and Bison Jalapeno Smoked Sausage. The company is located in Hamilton, Texas. As I mentioned in a previous post, I like the bacon from the same company. They also sell pork and chicken sausage, ham, and jerky. I’ve seen some of their products in Sprouts Markets. Whole Foods Market and Sunflower might carry them as well. If you don’t see their products in stores you frequent, you could ask them to special order or encourage them to stock Pederson’s products.
