Sausage Fest!

Every time we’d drive up to my grandparents’ farm, my folks would make a point of stopping at Moore’s general store. If you’re picturing something out of a Country Time lemonade commercial, you’ve got just the right idea. It was a dusty old clapboard building, with squeaky floor boards, a slamming screen door and one of those big old Coca-Cola coolers with tall bottles and real ice inside. In the back, of the store, Mr. Moore could be found behind a big, white enameled meat case, with a motor that purred as softly as a diesel tractor. Mr. Moore made sausage, sweet (meaning mild) and hot Italian. We chose sweet, and bought enough for dinner at the farm, plus a few extra links to take back to the city with us. It was good stuff.

There aren’t any Country Time-looking stores in Albuquerque, but there are a handful of places where guys who look a lot like Mr. Moore still grind sausage by hand.

At Tully’s Italian Meats and Deli (1425 San Mateo NE, 255-5370), they make hot and sweet Italian sausages, ground from 100 percent pork with fresh herbs and spices. They also sell a turkey version of both, and some made with pork and turkey. The Italian sausages are perfect for serving over pasta with red sauce, slicing and topping a pizza crust, or simply simmering and eating on a bun.

Tully’s also makes some fancy-pants sausages, like one with cheese, wine and parsley, that are best when you make them the focal point of a meal. For breakfast, try their chicken and apple blend. Most of Tully’s links go for $4.98 per pound; some of the fancier ones cost as much as $8.98.

Mike Keller, of Keller’s Farm Stores (Coors and Montaño 898-6121, or Eubank and Candelaria, 294-1427), says his family has been selling sausages since they started out, back in Colorado a half-century ago. Today, Keller’s grinds all of their sausage in-house, from animals raised on their Colorado ranch or bought whole and butchered on-site. They sell four different Italian blends, turkey green chile, chorizo, buffalo bratwurst and a long list of other uncooked links.

The smoked kielbasa and andouille are Mike Keller’s favorites for quick eating. Because they’re smoked, they don’t have to be simmered first. “I just grill 'em and throw 'em on a piece of bread with mustard,” he says. They also sell a line of turkey franks, one with cheese, one with green chile, another with green chile and cheese, that only need to be heated through. Keller’s sausages range from $4.29 to $4.69 per pound.

Smoked sausages are the specialty at Alpine Sausage Kitchen (Indian School at Girard, 266-2853), where they sell nearly 20 varieties. Here’s where you’ll find the best selection of German-style sausages. Owner Bill Schmaeh’s special white bratwurst is made from veal and pork. Because he chooses lean cuts of beef and pork, Schmaeh says his Vienna sausages (you know, hot dogs) are a lot leaner then what you’ll find at the grocery store. All of the smoked sausages sell for $4.69 per pound; the Viennas run $4.99.

Schmaeh believes sausages should be served simply, accompanied by potato salad, sauerkraut and a good mustard. Alpine stocks plenty of hard-to-find German and European condiments, so your sausages need not feel naked.