homemade breakfast sausage

homemade breakfast sausage

Food confession: We are a 'breakfast meat' loving family.  Sausage links? Love 'em.  Canadian Bacon? Delish.  Bacon?  Worship.  Breakfast meats have a reoccurring role in weekend breakfasts but tonight they made an appearance in a little bit of kitchen theatre I like to call - 'Breakfast for Dinner'.  This tradition is often something I announce after a long day or maybe on a 'yes' day. (Shout out to Joy Kight in OH for introducing the Stumps to the glory and wonder of a good 'yes' day.)

'Breakfast for Dinner' - Always a hit!

'Breakfast for Dinner' always generates a lot of enthusiasm and often a few helping hands in the kitchen.  To round out strawberry smoothies, eggs and english muffins, I was scrambling for the oh, so important breakfast meat and found some ground pork defrosting in the fridge. (Thank you, Wooden Crate, for hooking us up with this local farm!)  Now, I've been wanting to try my own homemade sausage ever since my first breakfast at the Paramount on Beacon Hill.  If you're from Boston you'll know the Paramount. (If not - drag your favorite breakfast lover down to Charles Street and make plans to eat there soon!) Their turkey sausage is out of this world - and the prep is a little bit of food theatre in itself.

My men loved this recipe!  It was a big hit tonight and the four leftover patties are now in my freezer for a quick warm up in the microwave to tuck into breakfast sandwiches. This recipe is my own but you can find inspiration on the internet, too.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

Ingredients:
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 t fennel seed, crushed
(I used a knife to chop and mash; you could use a spice grinder.)
1 t paprika (sweet not smoked)
Dash of freshly ground nutmeg (or a pinch of nutmeg from a jar)
1 heaping t herbs de provence
(You could use italian seasoning, red pepper flakes for heat, or dried sage and thyme)
1 t black pepper, freshly ground
1 heaping t kosher salt
1 lb ground meat
(I used pork, turkey would be lovely, too.)
2 t vinegar
(I used apple cider, you could omit or use red wine vinegar, etc.)
1 egg white

Directions:

1. I combined all the dry spices in a bowl with a fork. (garlic - salt)

2.  Then I used my hands to incorporate all the spices with the pork, vinegar and egg white.  Refrigerate at least 15 minutes.  I imagine you could do this the night before and let the flavors meld.

3.  Put the meat mixture on a dish-washer safe cutting board.  I scored my into 8 sections.  Use your (impeccably clean) hands to make each section into a 2"+ patty.  To keep them uniform, I ended up with 10 patties.

4.  Coat a heated frying pan (I used cast iron.) with 2 t of canola or vegetable oil.  Cook each patty for 4 minutes per side.  I drain on paper towels to absorb any residual grease.

5. Voila!  Jeff likes to tuck his into an english muffin with eggs.  Tasty!

leftovers like these are like
money in the bank!