Sausage at Boarman's Meat Market in Highland

The homemade sausages at Boarman's Meat Market are worth the drive down to the intersection of Rte 108 and Rte 216 in Highland.

Boarman's is an institution at the crossroads just south of Clarksville and west of Fulton. The store is a small grocery and liquor store, but the long-distance draw is the meat department in the back. Specifically, check out Boarman's two kinds of house-made sausage -- a long Italian link and a "country-style" patty for breakfast.

The Italian is perfect just grilled in sandwiches. I used it last Saturday to flavor a fish and vegetable soup and went a more complex route sauteing the entire link to firm up the meat, then slicing it and putting it back in the pan to brown each exposed side. To me, foods like sausage should be something special. I'd rather pass up a month's average sausage so that I can indulge myself when I find something like Boarman's -- or the thick-cut bacon that Boarman's sells by the slice.

You'll laugh, but the sausage doesn't have the grease that you'd expect. Great flavor, but even when I sauteed slices, there was the lightest coating of fan in the pan when I went to cook onions. In contrast, the Mexican and Salvadoran chorizo at Lily's Mexican Market in Columbia looks wonderful, but it is too greasy for me to grill regularly.

Boarman's also sells steaks and other meat. I'd love a recommendation if you buy there. If you like bacon by the slice, you can also check out the Laurel Meat Market near U.S. 1 in downtown Laurel.

Click here for a comprehensive list of ethnic and organic markets in Howard County.

Boarman's Meat Market
13402 Clarksville Pike (Rte 108)
Highland, MD
301-854-2883

NEAR: This is the intersection of Rte 108 and Rte 216. It's south of Clarksville and west of Fulton.