Ingredients

• 6 thick pork sausageshigh meat content, so the cut pieces stay juicy
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp chilli sauce or 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 100 g creme fraiche or mayonnaise
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. 01

   Cook the sausages through

   Brown the sausages in a frying pan over medium heat for 14-16 minutes, turning regularly, until coloured all over and cooked through to 75 C. Do this completely before any sugar comes near the pan. Maple syrup would be black long before a whole sausage was safe to eat.

   6 thick pork sausages

   Cook, then cut, then glazeCutting first doubles the surface the glaze sticks to, and they are cooked before sugar hits the pan.

2. 02

   Rest and cut

   Rest for 2 minutes, then cut into bite-size pieces on the angle. Resting first stops the juices running out onto the board.

3. 03

   Caramelise the cut faces

   Return the pieces to the pan cut side down over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, until the exposed interiors are browned. This is extra surface for the glaze to cling to, and it is the difference between glazed sausages and glazed sausage bites.

4. 04

   Glaze in the same pan

   Pour off any excess fat and add the maple syrup, the chilli sauce, cider vinegar and 1 tsp Dijon. Bubble over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, tossing, until the glaze is sticky and coats every piece. The browned fond from the sausages is what makes it taste savoury rather than sweet.

   2 tbsp maple syrup · 1 tsp cider vinegar

   Pour off the fatOr the glaze slides off the sausages instead of clinging to them.

5. 05

   Mix the dip

   Stir the creme fraiche with the wholegrain mustard and the black pepper until just combined, then taste. It should be sharp and cool enough to cut through the maple glaze. Make it while the sausages roast and keep it in the fridge; a cold dip against hot sticky bites is the whole point of serving them together.

   100 g creme fraiche or mayonnaise · 1 tsp Dijon mustard

   Keep the dip coldCold creme fraiche against a hot sticky glaze is the whole point.

6. 06

   Serve hot

   Tip the bites into a warm bowl with cocktail sticks and serve immediately with the cool mustard dip.