Louisiana Hot Link with Creole Mustard, Onions, Peppers and Mushrooms

Hot Link!

     Louisiana Hot links are a popular spicy treat.  Hot links are all beef sausages with Louisiana Cajun spices.  Hot links can be purchased fresh, smoked or fully cooked.  

     I purchased one fresh made hot link, so I could make a late afternoon snack sandwich.  I was very hungry, because the fancy lunch that I cooked was absconded by the executive chefs at the chef school that I am attending.  I made fresh big sea scallops Coquille St Jacque Provencal and used the Parisienne style garnish of duchesse potato to line the plate.  The presentation turned out perfect.  In fact it looked a little bit too good, because the instructor chefs all kept tasting the scallops, till there was only one left.  I ended up with one scallop for lunch!  

     I am used to that, because chefs kind of like tasting my food, especially in restaurant kitchens.  I have had a few French chefs walk by and take an order from the window for themselves and they say "It is too good for the customer!  This one is mine!  Cook another order for the customer."  Ce est la vie!

     Anyway, I was happy with the flavor of the fresh hot link that I purchased at the market.  I was not happy with the poor craftsmanship of the sausage.  The sausage casing was drawn too tight and it split off of the sausage as it cooked.  Occasionally in restaurants, a whole case of purchased sausage will split and that can be a nightmare for a cook.  The only thing a cook can do it inform the chef, so the chef can duke it out with the food purveyor. 

     Fresh beef sausages seem to split casings more often than other meat sausages.  A cook has to wait for the sausage filling to become fully cooked before discarding the split casing.  It is still a good tasting sausage without the casing, but it is not as pretty.  Casing splits can be avoided by soaking the casing, before making the sausage or by leaving a small air gap when making the sausage.  Simmering fresh sausage in 155º water till the sausage is completely cooked is another way to avoid sausage casing splits.  Thick sausages do require simmering.  Thin hot links like the one in the pictures are almost never simmered before grilling.  They are just thrown on a grill.

     Creole mustard straight from the jar was used for this recipe.  There is no mistaking the flavor of creole mustard!  Creole mustard is just as popular as remoulade for a sandwich spread in Louisiana.

     Louisiana Hot Link with Creole Mustard, Onions, Peppers and Mushrooms:

     Place 1 Louisiana hot link sausage on a baking pan.

     Roast the sausage slowly in a 325º oven, till it is fully cooked.

     Prepare the rest of the ingredients, while the sausage cooked.

     Brush a split small baguette sandwich roll with melted unsalted butter.

     Grill the roll on a grill or saute pan over medium heat, till it becomes toasted.

     Keep the bread warm on a stove top.

     Heat a saute pan over medium heat.

     Add 1 small splash of vegetable oil.

     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter.

     Add 1 small handful of thin julienne sliced onion.

     Add 1 small handful of thin julienne sliced green bell pepper.

     Add 1 small handful of sliced portabella mushroom.

     Saute till the vegetables become al dente.

     Add sea salt and black pepper.

     Add 1 pinch of cayenne pepper.

     Spread a generous amount of creole mustard on the toasted roll.

     Place the sausage onions and peppers on the roll.

     Place the roasted hot link on the roll.

     Place the roll on a plate.

     Garnish the plate with pickled okra and parsley sprigs.

     An easy to make Louisiana Hot Link Sandwich!  This is a nice snack sandwich for lunch or sporting events.  Yum!  ...  Shawna