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Breakfast Sausage
Prick sausages with fork, put into frying pan with little shortening and carefully brown the sausage a little. Turn to prevent burning. Pour in enough boiling water to cover the bottom of pan half an inch deep, reduce heat, cover frying pan, and cook the sausage slowly for 10 minutes. Then remove cover, increase heat to finish browning. Pour the rich pan gravy over the sausage when served.
This is the braise-then-brown method for link sausages, and it still works better than dry frying. The steam stage cooks the interior through before the outside can scorch.
- The hinge: don't skip the waterAdding half an inch of boiling water and covering the pan is what keeps the middle from staying raw while the casing burns. Cook covered, then uncover and let the water boil off before you brown.
- Pricking is optional nowModern commercial casings are thin and rarely burst if the heat stays moderate, and piercing lets juices and fat escape. If you keep the pan below a hard sizzle you can leave them whole.
- ShorteningIn this period that means lard or a hydrogenated vegetable fat. Breakfast sausage carries plenty of its own fat; a teaspoon of oil to start the pan is enough, or none at all in a nonstick skillet.
- Heat settingsBrown over medium-high, then reduce to low once the water goes in, and back up to medium-high for the final browning. Total time is roughly 15 to 18 minutes.
- DonenessTen minutes covered will usually do it for standard breakfast links, but thicker sausages need longer. Pork sausage should reach 160F at the center; the meat will be firm and greyish-pink throughout with no translucency.
- "Rich pan gravy"This means the reduced drippings and browned bits, not a flour-thickened sauce. If the pan is very fatty, pour most of it off, add a splash of water or milk, and scrape the fond loose over heat.
- YieldThe recipe gives no quantity. As a modern serving guide, two or three breakfast links per person is usual; scale the pan so the sausages are not crowded.