Part the First: Breakfast Sandwiches – Apple Sage Sausage

Breakfast is a notoriously difficult meal to serve with a flourish. – Clement Freud

This is a Granny Smith apple. Photo: cookbookman17, Flickr ccl

Yesterday at work there was a fundraiser for Bust A Move, a Canadian fundraising event to raise money for womens’ breast health. A worthwhile endeavour for certain.

The fundraiser was a waffle breakfast. The smell wafting from the kitchen made me hungry, oddly enough, for breakfast sandwiches. Breakfast sandwiches are offered at several fast food establishes in North America, most notably McDonalds and Tim Hortons.

Did you know that sage is a perennial plant in Nova Scotia?
Photo: feministjulie, Flickr ccl

Since I’m prone to never take the easy route to a destination I started to assemble references to make my own. They’re not that much of a “sandwich” in the traditional sense: a sausage patty, fried egg, slice of cheese and English muffin.

You can probably see where I’m going. Now I could buy sausage and make patties and purchase English muffins, but where’s the fun in that? 

From past experience I know sausage is a breeze, but what sausage… I’ve opted for apple and sage. Apples and sage go together like grandmothers and gin. Sweet on the outside but a little “secret” when examined closely. That would be perfect.

If possible, always make your sausage the day before use. The flavours tend to combine a little better than made fresh and quickly used. So my sausage is done. Of course you can stuff in casings or use in any other way you desire. The recipe can be scaled up for a larger yeild quite easily as well.

By the way, this recipe calls for a Granny Smith apple. That’s a tart green apple commonly used in pies. If you can’t find one, use some other firm, tart apple.

Next on the “to do” list? English muffins. The dough is raising in a warm spot as I write this. Come back later for that recipe, and of course one for the finished sandwiches!

The onion and apple need to be chopped very finely. Do it
in a food processor, but don't make a mush...

Apple & Sage Breakfast Sausage

Yield: about 1-1/4 lbs sausage

1 Granny Smith apple (tart apple)

1/4 cup white onion, roughly chopped

1 lb pork, cubed (marbled with fat is best)

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Peel and core the apple. Cut into chunks. Place the apples and onion in a food processor. Pulse until quite small. Remove and place in a bowl.

Add the pork to the food processor and pulse until ground. Obversely you can use ground pork, but this way you control the amount of fat in your sausage. Place in the bowl with the apple onion mixture.

The finished sausage – ready for use!

Add the spices. Knead with your hands until well mixed.

Shape into 1/2 inch patties. Separate each patty with plastic wrap or waxed paper. Refrigerate until use or wrap well and freeze.

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