Hot Maple Breakfast Sausage - with wild game

This recipe is perfect for all that Canada goose or venison rump that is taking up room in your freezer, and homemade with meat you have harvested yourself is way better than store bought. This is the perfect Canadian breakfast and hunting or ice fishing snack. The sage gives the sausages an authentic breakfast flavour, while the red pepper chilli flakes and maple syrup let a splash of heat and sweet come through.

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As a passionate hunter, there's nothing quite like the thrill of a goose hunt, there's the social aspect with fellow hunters and the satisfaction of bringing home a bounty of wild game. It's not only fun and action-packed but also serves an important role in population control and conservation efforts, benefiting both the flock's health and the ecosystems they inhabit, as well as local farmers and their fields.

With each successful hunt comes the responsibility of utilizing as much of the harvested game meat as possible. For goose hunters, that means a freezer stocked with goose meat ready to be transformed into delicious meals. While there are countless ways to prepare goose meat, one of our absolute favourites is making breakfast sausage.

There's something special about starting your day with the savoury aroma of breakfast sausage, especially when it's made from your own wild game meat. These breakfast sausages are not only mouthwatering but also versatile. Whether enjoyed on a lazy Sunday morning with pancakes and eggs or packed up to accompany you on your next hunting or fishing excursion, they never disappoint.

This is the Hot Maple Breakfast Sausage recipe that I use, but you can't go wrong with Lem's original breakfast mix either.

Hot Maple Breakfast Sausages with Wild Canada Goose and Local Pork Fat

Ingredients:

7 lbs goose meat or any similar wild game
3 lbs pork fat (available from your local butcher or farmer)
1 cup maple syrup (locally sourced for the best flavor)
1 cup cold water
3 tbsp salt
3 tbsp coarse ground pepper
4 tbsp ground sage
3 tbsp red pepper chili flakes (adjust according to preferred heat level)
1/2 tbsp ground cloves
3 tbsp dried diced garlic
2 tbsp dried thyme

Instructions:

Start by placing the meat grinder attachments and bowls (if stainless) in the freezer to chill while you work with the meat. You also want to ensure the wild game and pork fat are as cold as possible. You can either thaw them partially in the fridge overnight or take them out a few hours before cutting. The meat should be almost frozen but easy enough to chop.

You're going to want to find a pan or large container (like a clean rubbermaid) that will be big enough to hold all of the meat, and leaves enough room for you to mix it well.

Once you have cut the pork and wild game into small chunks that can fit into your meat grinder, and your grinder is chilled, you're ready to start grinding. Alternating between the pork and wild game meat, feed them through the grinder to combine them evenly.

In the large pan or container, combine the ground meat with maple syrup, cold water, salt, pepper, sage, chilli flakes, cloves, garlic, and thyme. Use your hands (gloved or wet) to ensure the seasoning is thoroughly mixed with the meat. Wet hands help prevent the meat from sticking to your hands.

Now that it's all mixed, you want to pass the seasoned mixture through the grinder for a second time, using a fine grinding plate. This step ensures that the flavours are well incorporated and the texture is consistent. Before doing this, you must decide if you'll be making sausage rounds or sausage links.

You can either shape the mixture into sausage patties or stuff it into sausage casings for links. If you're doing links, you can pass the second grind right into the links. Regardless of your choice, ensure the sausages are uniform in size for even cooking.

Place the formed sausages, no matter if they are links or rounds, on a baking sheet and flash freeze them. This step helps them maintain their shape during storage and makes them easier to handle when packaging.

Once the sausages are frozen or solid enough, transfer the sausages to freezer-safe packaging - I am a big fan of the vacuum sealer that I got from Costco.

Don't forget to label the packages with the date and contents for easy identification.

When you're ready to enjoy your hot maple breakfast sausages, thaw them in the refrigerator overnight. Cook them to your preferred doneness by pan-frying them for a delicious breakfast, fishing or hunting treat.