ANDOUILLE SAUSAGE APPETIZERS RECIPES

Steps:

• If necessary, cook the sausages through and set aside to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 425°F and lightly grease a baking sheet.
• Prepare the dijonaise by placing all the dijonaise ingredients in a bowl and whisking until thoroughly combined. Place in a small serving dish and set aside.
• Onto a clean work surface, scatter a tablespoon or two of flour. Roll out 1 sheet of pastry to flatten it.
• Cut the sheet of puff pastry in half lengthwise (along the middle of the long side), roll out the pastry slightly if needed to fit the sausage. Lay a cooled sausage onto the pastry dough roll it to cover the sausage completely. It's okay to leave the ends uncovered but is also okay to wrap them completely, if you prefer. Sometimes, I add a small bit of the dijonaise inside the pastry dough but you can leave that for the side in case your guests don't care for it.
• Working with the second piece of dough the same way you did with the first piece wrap both sausages.
• Using a fork, press the pastry edges to seal. If needed, dip your finger in some water to wet the edge of the dough to make it stick better during the sealing process.
• Brush the tops of the pastry with the egg wash. This encourages browning of the dough.
• Slice the sausages into your desired thickness and lay them on the try an inch or two apart.
• Bake until the pastry dough is golden brown and has puffed up slightly, about 20 minutes.
• Serve hot or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Soak the casing in cold water for about an hour to soften it and loosen the salt in which it is packed. Place the wide end of the sausage stuffer up against the sink faucet and run cold water through the inside of the casing to remove excess salt.
• Cut the meat and fat into 1/2-inch wide chunks. Pass them once through the coarse blade of a meat grinder. In a large bowl, mix together the ground pork and fat with the garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne, thyme, paprika, bay leaf, sage, and hickory smoke. A wooden spoon works well.
• Cut the casing into 26 inch lengths and tie a small knot in one end of each. Fit the open end over the tip of the sausage stuffer and slide it on until the tip of the stuffer touches the knot. The casing will look like accordion folds. This keeps excess air from getting into the casings. Fit the stuffer onto the meat grinder or according the directions that come with the stuffer, or hold the wide end of the stuffer against or over the opening by hand.
• Fill the hopper with the sausage mixture. Turn the machine on if it is electric and feed the stuffing gradually into the hopper; for a manual machine, push the stuffing through with a wooden pestle. The sausage casing will fill and inflate gradually. Stop filling about 1 1/4 inches from the funnel end and slip the casing off the funnel, smoothing out any bumps carefully with your fingers and being careful not to push the stuffing out of the casing. Tie off the open end of the sausage tightly with a piece of string or make a knot in the casing itself.
• To cook, slice the sausage into half-inch rounds and grill in a hot skillet with no water for about 12 minutes on each side, or until brown and crisp at the edges.