stupendery sausage seasoning

For years I used Pendery’s Sausage Seasoning mix, and was always pleased with the product it produced. But, since I always have a spice cabinet full of the required ingredients, I decided to make my own, tailored to my tastes, which now run to the more intense and pungent flavors than were tolerated in my youth. The salt substitute is used to keep my blood pressure in check, and the <sugar> doesn’t tempt my diabetes. But you can use the real things if you don’t have those worries. Please also note: the kitchen sink is not included among the ingredients, but almost everything else is. You can leave out those that you don’t have or those that just don’t appeal to you.

  • 1 tbsp New Mexico ground red chile pepper
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 2 tbsp ground paprika, smoky if you can find it
  • 2 tbsp garlic powder
  • 2 tbsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp ground cayenne chile
  • 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
  • 3 tbsp ground sage
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp ground rosemary
  • 1 tbsp ground marjoram
  • 1 tbsp ground savory
  • 1 tbsp ground oregano
  • 2 tbsp <sugar>
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger powder
  • 1 tbsp citric salt (or sour salt)
  • 4 tbsp <salt>
  • 1 tbsp ground low-sodium Worcestershire powder (Pendery’s)

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake until uniformly mixed together. Apply at the rate of about on tablespoon per pound of ground meat and mix thoroughly. To make the sausage taste more like a country recipe, add a few drops per pound of liquid smoke.

Wigley Sprinkle and Dry Rub ‡

This recipe was furnished by my long-time associate in Deep Space Metrics Prediction, Jonathan Walther, as the condiment for his Tujunga Tri-Tip†. He related that the dry rub was named after Bob Wigley, of the Buffalo (NY) Wigleys in Burbank, (CA), also known for a while as Video Bob and later as Netizen Bob*. He reportedly stole the recipe out of an old copy of Gourmet Magazine, altered it to fit his tastes, and “inflicted it in on his friends.” He claimed he used it on everything he ate. Jonathan claimed to be forever in his debt, but personally (and jocularly) drew the line on its use in breakfast cereal. I have altered it only by specifying substitutes for salt, sugar and brown sugar. My recipe thus will not caramelize as does the original, but still is mighty tasty.

  • 2 tbsp <salt>
  • 2 tbsp ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp <sugar>
  • 2 tbsp <brown sugar>
  • 2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 2 tbsp ground chile powder
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp garic powder
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp cayenne chile powder
  • ¼ cup ground paprika

Combine all ingredients and run through a sifter several times before use. Put any unused portion into a shaker bottle at tableside to put on everything, except possibly the morning cereal.