Thin and Crispy Sausage Patties

I love the thin and crispy sausage patties classically found on fast food breakfast sandwiches.  I'm not sure I want to think about how much of those patties is actually sausage, but I set out to create crispy sausage patties that would be perfect for my homemade breakfast sandwiches.  

However there was a problem--sausage does not like to stick together.  In fact it really wants to fall apart all over the place.  (Attempt one was a disaster lol.)  So I added some binders--an egg and a little flour.  And it worked! Thin and crispy sausage patties just perfect for putting on a breakfast sandwich.  The patties are crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and best of all they hold together!

Come back tomorrow and see how I combined the English muffins, these sausage patties, and baked eggs into delicious breakfast sandwiches.

Thin and Crispy Sausage Patties

author: Happy Food Happy Home

makes 8-10 patties

1 pound ground pork breakfast sausage

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon flour

oil for cooking (optional)

1. Heat a dutch oven or cast iron skillet over medium heat.  If your sausage is lean add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan.
2. Use your hands to combine the sausage, egg and flour until fully mixed. 
3. Divide the sausage into 8 or 10 even pieces.  Use your hands to gently press the sausage into a patty.  Flip the patty into the skillet and carefully spread the patty thinner; use a silicone spatula or your fingers carefully!
4. Let patties cook until bottoms are browned and then flip.  Cook until the other side is browned and the patties are cooked through.
5. Transfer cooked patties to a paper towel lined plate and then eat! 

Tomorrow I'm sharing the breakfast sandwiches that all the cooking this week culminated in!  The breakfast sandwiches go straight from the freezer to the microwave to the belly.  They are delicious and easy and totally do these sausage patties justice!

Whole Wheat English Muffins

I love English muffins by themselves; coated with butter, or jam, or (personal favorite!) apple butter!  I love the little crevices that the toppings can nest inside, the light and chewy texture, and how versatile English Muffins are!

I made these English muffins with the express purpose of making breakfast sandwiches.  McDonald's egg mcmuffins are a weakness of mine, and I often find myself wanting to stop on the way to work.  In order to resist the temptation I made English muffins.

I wanted to see if I could make English muffins; it was an interesting challenge because even though English muffins are not difficult to make, they do have a few steps.  And I'd never made them before!

I think the trickiest part of making the English muffins was making sure the bottoms didn't burn.  I might have blackened a few of them instead of browning--oops.  I watched the next batch more closely and no burned bottoms!

Whole Wheat English Muffins

Author: Happy Food Happy Home

makes 8-10 muffins

1 cup milk, heated to 100 degrees

1 ½ teaspoons yeast

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 egg

vegetable oil

cornmeal

1. Whisk together the warm milk and the yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Let sit and bloom for 5 minutes.
2. Whisk together the flours, sugar, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. 
3. Cube the butter into small cubes and add to the stand mixer bowl. 
4. Gently beat egg and add to the stand mixer bowl.
5. Add the dry ingredients in two batches and mix until just combined. 
6. Switch to the dough hook and mix for approximately 5 minutes until the dough pulls away from the bowl and is smooth and shiny.
1. Alternatively, use a wooden spoon to stir the milk and yeast, egg, butter, and dry ingredients until just combined.  Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until dough is smooth and shiny.
7. Oil a medium mixing bowl.  Transfer the dough to the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise for 1 hour until the dough doubles in size.
8. Divide the dough into 8 pieces for large muffins, or 10 pieces for medium sized.  Oil your hands and shape each piece into a ball.  Flatten the balls until they are about ½ an inch thick. 
9. Place the rounds on a cornmeal dusted cookie sheet.  Dust the tops with more cornmeal.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes. 
10. Heat a dry cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and place the cornmeal lined baking sheet in the oven.. 
11. Cook each dough ball for about 5 minutes per side.  The sides will brown quickly; let them sit for about 5 minutes, but watch that they don't burn.  If you turn them over too soon they can fall flat.
12. Once both sides of the muffins are browned transfer them to the baking sheet in the oven.  Let bake for about 5 minutes until the middles are cooked.  They will read 200 degrees on an instant read thermometer. 
1. Note:  If you have more muffins than will fit in your cast iron skillet you can cook them in batches.  Just be sure to transfer the muffins to the oven immediately  after browning-don't wait!
13. Remove the muffins to a cooling rack and let cool.  Use a fork to split the muffins, coat spread with in butter, and devour! 

English muffins are so yummy!  They were really fun to make; I totally enjoyed my kitchen adventure making English muffins.  And they were delicious to eat! 

Check out the finished breakfast sandwiches!

How to Clean and Care for a Wood Cutting Board

My best friend in the kitchen is my giant wooden cutting board.  It's literally huge, and I literally use it every time I cook.  My cutting board has his own spot on the counter-right between the stove and the sink.  It is the perfect prep spot and the cutting board let's me do all my work in one spot.

After!

I use my cutting board to chop and, for gathering my mis en place, and as a general spot to sit anything and everything.  I also use him as a back drop for food photos, and occasionally as a hot pad. 

As a result of all this hard work my cutting board was in need of a deep cleaning and an oiling.  (He was getting kind of grungy.)

Follow these steps for a great looking and working wooden cutting board.  If you take good care of the cutting boards they should last a really really long time.  

How to Clean and Care for A wooden Cutting Board

Author: Happy Food Happy Home

Supplies

Wooden Cutting Board

220 grit sandpaper

sanding block

Lemon

Kosher Salt

Coconut Oil

Paper Towels or a clean dry cloth

1. Optional-If needed use the sanding block and sandpaper to sand the surface of your cutting board.  Sanding will help remove stains, buff out knife scratches, and smooth the surface of your cutting board.  Don't try to be perfect--you might end up with an uneven surface; just lightly sand the surface. Use a damp paper towel to wipe off the sawdust.
2. Cut the lemon in half.  Pour a teaspoon of salt onto the surface of the cutting board. Use the lemon half to scrub the salt into the cutting board, focusing on stains.  Cover the surface of the cutting board with the lemon juice-salt mixture.  Flip the board over and repeat on the other side with an additional teaspoon of salt.  Let the cutting board sit for approximately 5 minutes.
3. Thoroughly rinse the cutting board and allow it to air dry completely.
4. Using your hands massage about 1 tablespoon of coconut oil into each side of the cutting board.  Flip the board over onto a towel before doing the second side.  Let the board sit overnight to allow it to absorb all the oil it can. 
5. After its overnight soak use paper towels to buff the excess coconut oil off of the board. If your board is dry, repeat the coconut oil massage and allow to sit again.   

Your board is ready for use!  To keep clean day to day rinse your cutting board after every use.  If you cut meat on your wood surface use soap to wash before using with other ingredients. Allow board to dry out between washings-if the board gets water inside it may crack. 

You can oil your board once or twice a month, or you can wait longer. Just follow steps 2-6 for a great looking wooden cutting board.  My cutting board was really overdue for a good cleaning and oiling, but looks wonderful now!  I would recommend only sanding about once a year-if you sand too often there won't be anything left of your cutting board!

Just a note:  I bought my wooden cutting board at a kitchen supply store.  It was cheap-only 15 dollars-but a little rough.  I did an initial sanding to smooth out the roughness before I ever started using it.  After sanding it was as smooth as butter and functions just as well as a 100 dollar cutting board. 

Deep Dish Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie

Dustin and I love chocolate chip cookies.  I try to keep some in the freezer to bake whenever the desire for chocolate chip cookies strikes, but I had recently run out of dough.  Oh no!

I decided to make a deep dish chocolate chip cookie, and because I had just made caramels I decided to put caramel in the chocolate chip cookie too.  The caramel was a very very good choice.  The cookie is chocolaty and doughy and the caramel is chewy and rich.

The deep dish caramel chocolate chip cookie is a great dessert.  The flavors are complex and familiar, and everything comes together into a delicious bowl of cookie and caramel!

Deep Dish Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 24 cookies
Author: Happy Food Happy Home

adapted from Dash and Bella at Food52

2 1/8 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup room temperature unsalted butter

1 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed

½ cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup dark chocolate chips (preferably large flat ones)

1. Sift or whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
2. In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the eggs one at a time.  Fully incorporate the first egg before adding the next one. Completely mix in the second egg and the vanilla.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. Add half of the dry ingredients and mix to combine.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Add the second half of the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips.  Mix until the flour just disappears. 
6. If just making cookies form two ounce cookies and bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees until edges are golden, but the centers are still doughy and delicious.  

Chocolate Chip Caramel Deep Dish Cookie

makes 1 deep dish cookie-16 servings 
Author: Happy Food Happy Home

1 recipe chocolate chip cookie dough

16-20  ½ inch caramels (either unwrapped store bought caramels or homemade)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a 8 by 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray or butter.  Make sure to grease up the sides.
3. Use your hands to place a half inch layer of cookie dough on the bottom of the dish. 
4. Evenly space the caramels over the top of the cookie dough. 
5. Put another layer of cookie dough around the caramels.  Allow some caramel to poke through the top to show of the deliciousness inside!
6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until the edges are golden brown.  The middle of the cookie will still be slightly doughy.  You can bake it for a little longer to set the middle, but watch the edges closely to keep them from getting too brown. 
7. Allow the cookie to sit for approximately 10 minutes to allow the caramel to firm up a little before spooning the cookie onto a plate, topping with ice cream, and devouring. 

Caramel Cookie Idea from Pinch of Yum

The deep dish caramel chocolate chip cookie was delicious and caramel-y.  I couldn't stop eating it!  With a big glass of milk to wash it down, this caramel chocolate chip cookie was the perfect dessert!