Shawn White said:
How can lean fish make a good sausage? Would YOU try it?
Shawn--
Various seafood sausages were all the rage in the 80s in high-end restaurants. When I was in Calif they were everywhere. Later, on Miami Beach I was the only one doing them then (helped the Wow factor). I made literally dozens of different kinds in those days, usually with a combo of fish/crustaceans for best flavor/texture.
You can use virtually anything for a fish or seafood sausage. Binding ingredients depend on what you've chosen--I frequently used scallops as a seafood item
and a binder. Salmon, lobster, trout, shrimp, monkfish, scallops, sole, dolphin--I used all of those and more. If I used fattier, more gelatinous, stuff I'd use heavy cream and egg whites for binding (this was what I most often did); occasionally I'd add innocuous white bread crumbs as well.
Though you can stuff casings I only did that rarely as it's a pain to put that much time into one menu item. Mostly I piped the mix onto pieces of Saran, rolled them as logs and tied them, chilled them, then poached in just-simmering salted water or court bouillon for 20 min. That cooks them. After that I chilled them quickly in an ice bath; for service I'd re-poach and slice, slice and heat in sauce, or slice and grill. For the ones in casing it would be a similar flow (poaching, chilling, etc.) but those I would reheat by browning in a pan.
Stuff like this I never buy pre-made; it is impossible to tell the quality of ingredients used and the flavor entirely depends on the quality and freshness.
