Chill the meat before you place it into the grinder. Grind the meat, and then spread it out in oversized bins. Sprinkle the spices over the meat, and work it in with your hands. When the sausage is thoroughly mixed, chill it for about an hour before pushing it through the sausage maker.
If it is too soft, it will be too sticky to work with. To get the real German taste into your sausage, add onion and caraway seeds to the boiling water or, better yet, boil the sausage in beer. Don’t forget to add some spicy mustard to the table, plus plenty of dark bread.
If you can make hamburger patties, you can make sausage patties. When you mix the meat - literally knead it to mix the spices and give the sausage texture. (Different than making hamburgers, which are gently mixed). If at all possible, let mixture stand for about 6 hours for the spices to fully flavour the meat.
This wholesome sweet-and-sour soup combines beef, caraway seeds, sweet paprika and cabbage--ingredients that star in a number of German dishes. It is particularly nice served with crusty rye bread. For an even heartier soup, add diced cooked potatoes along with the cabbage. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.