I grew up with Farmer John breakfast links. If we had sausages for breakfast (at home), they were Farmer John. If we went out for breakfast, I still had sausages; but I never found them as good, unless they were the skinless kind like Farmer John brand. As I grew older, I started to prefer Jimmy Dean’s sausage patties. I like the Original, I like the Sage, and I like the Hot. But every so often I’d think of those Farmer John’s skinless links.
Unfortunately for me, they are a Southern California brand and I’m living in the PNW. Like my favourite Knudsen cottage cheese, you can’t get them here.
There’s a market down the beach from my house. This is a traditional neighbourhood market that is larger and better-stocked than a convenience store, but not a supermarket. I grew up with supermarkets, so my ‘neighbourhood market’ experience is limited. Much of my impression is formed by literature. I’m thinking of a smaller place than an ‘A & P’ style of place (going by John Updikes’s A & P). Imagine my surprise when I saw those flat cardboard packets of eight skinless Farmer John sausages in their freezer! Of course I snapped up a package.
We had them with breakfast yesterday. Saltier than I remember, but I like the taste. When I was young, I’d just fry them in a pan. This time I followed the directions to cook them for five minutes, covered, with a tablespoon of water before browning them for ten minutes. A little more involved than frying Jimmy Dean’s, but I don’t have to make patties.
It was a nice bit of nostalgia, which I will experience again. (And I did find Knudsen cottage cheese at a Wal-Mart about 80 miles from here.)
I just picked up a package of the “maple” sausage links Friday. Yum.
What I miss is the Habanero sausage links from eiither Jimmy Dean or Farmer John. I forget who made them, but we only found them once. They were heavenly.
I don’t care for maple sausage myself, and I doubt they had it when I was growing up. The proper way to add maple flavour to your sausages is to have them with pancakes and dredge them in the extra syrup.
We’re having pancakes this morning, but we have no sausages. It will have to be bacon today.
I grew up with Jones Brothers sausage for breakfast. My mother always called them “little pigs”. I have to say that I’m pretty impressed with the Jimmy Dean line and use their sage sausage to make sausage gravy and use in turkey stuffing.
Farmer John’s not only one of the best, but also perhaps the cheapest at our local Walmart - I like them really well done, just a tad shy of crispy.
Not a big fan of the maple syrup style - but I am a purist when it comes to that. Even at places like IHOP, I ask for pancakes/French toast to be served on a separate plate so there is no co-mingling of syrup with eggs/sausage or bacon or whatever.
My daughter just skips the pancakes and dips the sausages in syrup. It has to be the Farmer John links, too. Sometime soon I have to introduce her to Dodger Dogs.
I brown them first then add the water, and let them poach with the heat off for few minutes. Sounds gross, which is what I thought when I was first introduced to this method, but after tasting them, I was hooked. It deglazes all the brown, sausagey goodness off the bottom of the pan, and coats the links, creating the juiciest, most flavorful breakfast sausage you will ever eat.
I don’t know about Farmer John’s, but interestingly enough, Owens sausage is still made on the original farm from the 19th century. It’s now encased within Richardson, TX, but the original farm houses and stuff are now a tourist attraction, and across the fields, there’s the sausage factory.
Doesn’t Farmer John’s make the Dodger Dog? Geez, I love a coupla Dodger Dogs and a few cold beers at Dodger Stadium on a sunny afternoon. I’d pretty much endorse any Farmer John’s product just on the basis of that beautiful culinary memory! (Not a paid advertisement :)).
My best sausage memory - After a long day of building fence for my onery grandfather, I didn’t feel like being around anyone. So I stopped at a small store and picked up a package if Earl Cambell Hot Links and a few other things. I drove across the river to the Big Slough Wilderness area, drove off the road and into the woods, and set up camp. I built myself a handful of fire and a make-do grill out of some sticks and roasted those links - the whole package. I had some big hoagy roll-type buns. Damn, those were good.
