Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Mr. Right's Baked Spicy Morning Sausages


Back when we had a satellite dish and too many channels, we occasionally watched a Sunday morning show whose name we can’t recall on the Cooking Channel. The cook, a young, flamboyant woman, made these glorious baked sausages and fried eggs. I cannot stand fried eggs. But the sausages? Oh, my.

Let the meat sit out on the counter, unwrapped, while you make your morning coffee. You’re going to mix this by hand, and you don’t want to freeze your fingies off. And yes, letting it sit 15-20 minutes is perfectly safe. We use plain, unseasoned pork sausage or mild Italian sausage.

We wrap these up two-by-two, and freeze them for those Sunday mornings when we want the taste and aroma of sausage without all the mix and muss.

In GUILTY AS CINNAMON, Laurel serves these to Pepper for Sunday breakfast on the houseboat. Laurel's teenage son loves them, too.

"Upstairs, feet hit the floor. Laurel smiled. "The smell of coffee means nothing to that boy. But sausage? Better than any alarm clock."

Mr. Right’s Baked Spicy Morning Sausages

1 pound lean pork sausage
1/2 teaspoon salt (kosher or flakes pack the best flavor punch)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted (see below)
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ cup panko bread crumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan
Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Toast the fennel seeds by heating them in a small, heavy frying pan over medium heat, about five minutes, stirring often. They will turn golden brown and give your kitchen a lovely fragrance. We grind them lightly in a mortar and pestle.

In a large bowl, break up the sausage with a spoon or your hands. Mix in the salt, pepper flakes, fennel seeds, cayenne, bread crumbs, and Parmesan.






Shape the sausage into small patties, about 3" round and half an inch thick. Spray a glass or ceramic baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Lay the patties in the dish, an inch or two apart.


 Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown but slightly tender to the touch in the middle. You may want to stick a knife in one to make sure they are thoroughly cooked and hot.





Wrap the leftovers in plastic wrap—we wrap two together—and place in a freezer bag. These thaw and warm beautifully.

One pound of sausage yields twelve small patties. 



Murder heats up Seattle’s Pike Place Market in GUILTY AS CINNAMON, the second Spice Shop mystery from the national bestselling author of ASSAULT AND PEPPER. 

"A zesty mix of a mystery with all the right ingredients to keep readers turning pages as quickly as possible. Delicious!" -- Suspense Magazine

"Leslie Budewitz is quickly becoming one of my favorite cozy mystery writers! I love how she blends together world building and character development to create just the perfect atmosphere for her stories.” -- Fresh Fiction 



Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries—and the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. The president of Sisters in Crime, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat Ruff, a cover model and avid bird-watcher.

Connect with her on her website or on Facebook.

21 comments:

  1. This looks so yummy, and the series is a Must Read!

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  2. Looks good!! Going to try this! Looking forwa d to Guilty as Cinnamon!

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  3. We made our own ground pork sausage this year. It is great in recipes, but I have yet to try it as a breakfast sausage. Possibly because I am not a sausage fan, but my husband and daughter love sausage for breakfast. Do you dislike eggs of all kinds??? My chickens are hanging their heads in sorrow!!!! Guilty as Cinnamon was a great read. When can we expect the next installment? ?? Pressure

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    1. Jody, so sorry to worry your chickens! I love eggs -- scrambled, hard-boiled, in omelets, quiches, frittatas and custards. (There's a yummy frittata recipe in Assault & Pepper.) But I don't like runny yellow goo -- so, no fried, poached, or soft-boiled eggs for me!

      Watch for Killing Thyme in October!

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  4. Yummy! I just made some homemade applesauce this morning, these would be a nice addition to the table (work closed today due tithe weather do I get to stay home). Thanks for another delicious recipe, Leslie!!! :-) p.s. What's on the back of the plate? Are they little omelettes?

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    1. "So" I get to stay home, not "do" - lol!

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    2. That sounds like a great combination, Nicole. And good eyes -- two little omelet muffins are lurking in the back, another of Mr. Right's discoveries. (He adores breakfast as much as I do -- maybe more!) Here they are, from last fall: http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/2015/10/omelet-muffins.html

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  5. I can understand how sausage cooking can serve as an alarm clock. It would usually be me doing the cooking, however, so it isn't going to get me up.

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  6. No fried eggs? Maybe you'll change your mind someday. I loathed scrambled eggs until I grew up and realized that my mother made them soft (ick) but that they could be cooked longer and then I loved them. These sausages sound fabulous. I plan to try them!

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    1. Krista, my dear, you may have my share of the fried eggs in the world. But share them with Elaine!

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  7. Fried eggs are good, especially in a bagel sandwich with cheese...

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    1. Elaine, you and Krista may have my share of the fried eggs in the world!

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  8. I know what i'm going to pick up at the store tomorrow. I can't want to make this for my husband as a surprise. He will love scrambled eggs with his and i'll have a fried egg, yum.

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    1. That's fun about eggs, isn't it -- so many ways to cook them, and so easy that they can be made to order!

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  9. I just finished reading Guilty as Cinnamon and had marked the sausage recipe as one to try since I love sausage. I loved the book too, and really want to visit Seattle again soon. Although I may have to stick with visiting via your books. I love Seattle, but I just can't deal with the traffic anymore!

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    1. KT, love that you'd already spotted the recipe!

      So far, I've kept Pepper in the city and she hasn't had to deal with freeway traffic, but you're right -- it is pretty nasty. Someday, Pepper will relive my nightmare on Jackson St!

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