Preparation

• Sweat the onion and garlic in the tablespoon of fat. Once they are completely softened, add the sage, rosemary, parsley, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, fennel and sugar. Mix well and cool completely for 30 to 45 minutes.

• Set a bowl into a container of ice. Using a large (at least ¼-inch) die on a meat grinder, grind the remaining fat, pork and the bacon ends into the bowl.

• Combine the onion-herb mixture into the meat. Then add the ice water and knead well. Cook a sample patty to test the seasoning and, if necessary, adjust the seasoning of the meat mixture to taste.

• You can divide the meat into 1-pound allotments and freeze for up to one month. Use it to make sausage gravy, sausage patties or mix it into hamburgers.