Nana's Spicy Sausage Coins and Potatoes

Sausage is not just for breakfast and grilling. The myriad of sausages on the market are a treat for sausage lovers everywhere. There are bland, sweet, mild, hot, and fiery sausage meats in large links, tiny links, ground up, stuffed into rolls, and packaged like any other ground meat at the butcher shop. The best sausage is typically grown by your local farmer and prepared by your local butcher. If you have a good rapport with your butcher, he or she may allow you to call ahead with your order. Calling ahead will allow you to have ingredients added to your sausages that suits your tastes rather than having to buy right off the shelf.

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PREP & COOK TIME 35 - 45 Minutes

SERVINGS 4

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1 Lb Link sausage, I use pork sausage

1/2 Cup cooking oil

3 Large potatoes, cut into large cubes/chunks

1 Medium white or yellow onion, chopped

1/2 Teaspoon Mrs. Dash® Southwest Chipotle seasoning

1/4 Teaspoon Mrs. Dash® Extra Spicy seasoning

1/4 Teaspoon dried mustard

1 Jar salsa, 16 oz, or homemade salsa, (salsa should not quite cover potatoes and sausages)

Slice sausages into 1/2 to 3/4 inch (app.) thick *circles. Heat oil in large saucepan, add sausage 'coins'. Cook sausage until done. The small pieces will cook quickly. Remove sausages from pan, Set aside. Add potatoes and onions to the same oil with both Mrs. Dash seasonings. Cook potatoes, turning so they will brown (lightly) on all sides.

When potatoes are about half cooked, pour the oil off, move potatoes to one side of the pan and add the salsa and dry mustard. Stir to loosen the bits from the bottom of the pan. When the salsa comes to a heavy simmer, add the sausage pieces back into pan and stir potatoes and sausage to into salsa. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until potatoes are thoroughly cooked and salsa is reduced. Toss sausage and potatoes to coat with salsa.The salsa will cook into a thick syrup-like sauce. If it is too thick, add a little water and stir well.

*When feeding these sausage coins to children, slice them lengthwise to lessen choking hazard.

The exotic sweet taste of a mango fruit salad goes very well with this dish by helping to balance the flavors.

Spices can adjusted to suit your family's taste buds.

Ground pork should have an internal temperature of 160° F according to Food Safety.gov

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Finally, the one bit we cannot adjust. This recipe comes from an untitled work in progress (cookbook) by Jacqueline Cross. It is for personal use only. Please do not distribute multiple copies or add it to a collection without prior written permission. Ms. Cross thanks you from the bottom of her little pea-pickin' heart.

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