90. Homemade Sausage Patties (p. 492)

This recipe was yet another part of the holiday brunch buffet that I made for my family.

Years ago, my wife and I had a great brunch with some friends at The Blue Room in Cambridge. My favorite part of the whole meal were the savory grilled homemade sausage patties. Every now and then, I think about these sausage patties ... they were that good.

These sausage patties were almost as good as the ones at The Blue Room, and they're as easy to make as hamburgers.

First, I whizzed some almost-stale bread in the food processor to make some coarse bread crumbs. I mixed the crumbs with a little milk and let them stand while I browned some finely-chopped onions. Then I mixed the crumbs and onions with some ground pork, egg yolks and an array of spices including white pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne, cloves, thyme and sage. I formed the mixture into little patties (about the size of White Castle burgers) and put them on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. I did all of this the night before the brunch, and I stashed them in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap.

About ten minutes before brunch, I heated a little oil on my skillet and I cooked the patties until they are nicely browned and cooked all the way through. How were they? Great. I could eat these for breakfast every day. They were crispy and delicious. The mix of spices gave them a wonderful flavor ... familiar and unique all at the same time. One of the best things about this recipe is that, even though it's very easy, you'll really impress your guests when you tell them that you're serving homemade sausage.

I'll make these again, but next time, I'll plan ahead and get better pork. The pre-packaged ground pork that I got at the supermarket was probably too lean, and while delicious, the patties were a bit drier than they should have been. Next time, I'll go to the butcher and get some custom-ground pork with a little more fat in it.

Date Cooked: December 13 & 14, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: B+