Rhubarb-Chipotle Sausage

1. Bring rhubarb, chipotle peppers with sauce, ruby port, and sugar to a boil in a saucepan; simmer over medium-low heat until rhubarb is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

2. Blend the rhubarb-chipotle mixture in a blender until smooth. Place ground pork in a large bowl and thoroughly mix 2/3 of the blended sauce into the pork. Season with salt and black pepper.

3. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Form about 2 tablespoons of the pork mixture into a small patty and pan-fry the patty until browned and no longer pink, about 5 minutes per side. Taste the patty and mix remaining rhubarb-chipotle sauce, salt, and black pepper to taste into the uncooked pork mixture (do not taste uncooked pork).

4. Soak corn husks in warm water in a large bowl until softened, about 10 minutes. Heat a smoker to 250 to 275 degrees F (120 to 135 degrees C) and add wood chips to the smoker.

5. Scoop up about 1/3 cup to a scant 1/2 cup of seasoned pork mixture and form into a sausage shape; place into a soaked corn husk and tie the ends of the husk with twine to enclose the sausage. If husk is too narrow to cover entire sausage, use 2 husks per sausage. Repeat with remaining husks and pork mixture.

6. Smoke sausages in the preheated smoker until thoroughly cooked and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the thickest sausage reads 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), about 2 hours.

Cook's Note:

If there is any left-over rhubarb-chipotle sauce, use it as a marinade for chicken. Add a cup of water to the sauce and marinate chicken pieces for 2 hours in the fridge.