Sausage Croustade Recipes

SAUSAGE CROUSTADES

Steps:

• Remove crusts from bread; reserve for another use.
• With rolling pin, lightly roll slices to flatten.
• Press into lightly buttered muffin cups to form cups with 4 points.
• Brush lightly and sparingly with melted butter.
• Bake in 375f degree oven for 5 to 8 minutes or until light golden.
• (Toasted cups can be made ahead and stored in plastic bags in refriferator for up to 4 days. Return them to muffin cups before filling and baking.) In skillet, heat remaining butter over medium heat; cook onion and garlic (if using), stirring occasionally.
• Add mushrooms and sausage; cook,stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink.
• Add flour, salt, thyme, marjoram and pepper.
• Stir until flour is blended with drippings.
• Add cream and lemon juice; cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes or until mixture thickens.
• Taste and add more salt, thyme or marjoram, if necessary.
• Spoon sausage mixture into toasted cups and sprinkle with Parmesan.
• Bake in 375f degree oven for 5 to7 minutes or until heated through.

SAUSAGE CROUSTADE

Steps:

• Saute sausage in medium skillet over medium-high heat until meat starts to render fat, about 5 minutes. Break up sausage with back of wooden spoon. Stir in leeks and thyme and reduce heat to medium. Cook covered until leeks are golden and soft, about 15 minutes.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Unfold 1 pastry sheet on ungreased baking sheet. Spread half the sausage mixture lengthwise over half of pastry, leaving 2-inch border at long edge. Beat egg and milk lightly together and brush over 2-inch border with fingertips. Trim border with sharp knife. Brush top with egg wash. Cut slits in top 1/2 inch apart and parallel to short edges.
• Repeat step 3 with second sheet pastry and remaining sausage mixture.
• Bake until lightly browned and puffed, about 20 minutes. Cut into 1-inch slices and serve hot.

JAM-FILLED CROUSTADES

Steps:

• Dough: In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over milk; stir until dissolved. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla seeds. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment, mix together 4 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and 1/2 stick butter on low speed until butter is incorporated and mixture resembles coarse meal, 3 to 4 minutes. Add yeast mixture; mix until dough just comes together. Add eggs and yolk; mix until just combined, 2 to 3 minutes (do not overmix).
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, making sure to include any loose bits left at bottom of bowl. Gently knead to form a smooth ball, about 30 seconds. Wrap tightly in plastic; refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together remaining 3 1/2 sticks butter and 2 tablespoons flour. Shape mixture into a 12-by-10-inch rectangle on a piece of plastic wrap. Refrigerate 15 minutes or up to 1 day. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to an 18-by-10-inch rectangle, a little over 1/4 inch thick, keeping the corners as square as possible. Remove any excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Remove butter mixture from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until it is the same consistency as the dough. With a short side facing you, place butter mixture over two-thirds of the dough. Fold the unbuttered third over as you would a business letter, followed by the remaining third. This seals in the butter.
• Roll out dough again to an 18-by-10-inch rectangle, then fold into thirds as described above; refrigerate 1 hour. This completes the first of three turns. Repeat rolling and folding process two more times, refrigerating at least 1 hour between turns. To help you remember how many turns have been completed, mark the dough after each one: make one mark for the first turn, two for the second, and three for the third.
• Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to overnight. Dough can also be frozen, tightly wrapped in plastic, up to 2 weeks (thaw in refrigerator overnight before using).
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 20-by-16-inch rectangle, trimming edges if necessary. Using a ruler, cut into twenty 4-inch squares and transfer to one of three parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving an even amount of space between squares until you have two sheets with 7 squares each, and one sheet with 6 squares.
• Working with one square at a time, fold in half to form a triangle. Using a sharp pizza wheel, make a cut parallel to one of the short sides of the triangle, about 1/4 inch from the edge, stopping about 1/8 inch from the opposite short side. Make a second cut parallel to the opposite short side, about 1/4 inch from the edge, stopping about 1/8 inch from the first line. (Make sure lines do not meet.) Unfold triangle back into a square and brush egg wash along edges. Fold outer cut corners over to opposite inside corners. Press borders down to seal. Repeat with remaining squares. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Filling: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Fill center of each square with 1 tablespoon jam, then lightly brush dough with egg wash. Bake, rotating sheets from top to bottom halfway through, until deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Pastries are best served the same day.