0 Apple Sausage Breakfast Patties A Thanksgiving Breakfast Treat ise

Today in mah Serious Eats column: Ellie Kriegers Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes. Three cheers for the chef! (Ellie, not me.)

In the hubbub over Thanksgiving dinner, we often forget the wonder of glory of Thanksgiving breakfast. And y’know what? It’s a dang shame.

Think about it: The flurry of dinner preparations has not yet begun. Every member of your family is bizarrely and totally accounted for. The older kids are home from college. The younger ones haven’t scurried off to school. Mom isn’t due at the 5am Kohl’s Black Friday sale for another 21 hours. Dad’s awake, and he’s wearing pants. In this day and age, it’s practically a coup d’etat in the name of togetherness.

So, sweet readers, don’t waste this opportunity. This Thanksgiving, sit down and bond with your immediate family before the extendeds and all 57 of their drooling, deafening toddlers arrive. Brew some joe. Scramble some eggs. Toast some, er, toast. Whip up Apple Sausage Breakfast Patties from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

“Make my own meat?” you might holler across the plains. “Are you insane? I’ll have a 34-pound bird to defrost, brine, baste, and slice later that day. Why in the name of Super Grover would I spend my 40 minutes of Thanksgiving free time mixing sausage? Go home, nerd!”

Yikes. You’re not in a good mood today. That’s okay. I understand. And I’m telling you: never fear. These patties only take about 20 minutes, and half of that is cooking time. You can be doing a ton of other things while they warm through, like peeling potatoes and calling Grandma to tell her to bring that gravy bowl you like.

Ooo. And I forgot to mention. Apple Sausage patties are inexpensive, way delicious, and comparatively light. (To give you a yardstick, a Jimmy Dean turkey patty is almost three times the calories and more than four times the fat.) Essentially, they’ll alleviate any negative feelings you’ve ever had about making sausage, plus communism and athlete’s foot.

Of course, if you should try them, know these two things:

1) The parsley in this is listed as “optional,” which is a clever way of saying that I mistook the cilantro in my fridge for parsley, and subsequently failed to purchase any from the supermarket. I didn’t miss it. Neither will you.

2) Nutritional calculations come from Better Homes and their respective Gardens.

Remember folks: Thanksgiving should be a day of appreciation. For everything. Especially family breakfasts.

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If this recipe makes you want to play pattycake, these will propel you right up to double dutch:

• Autumn Sausage Casserole
• DIY Turkey Breakfast Sausage
• Hush Puppy Corn Cakes

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Apple Sausage Breakfast Patties
Makes 8 patties.
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.

1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1/2 cup apple, peeled, cored, and finely diced (I used a MacIntosh – Kris)
3 tablespoons quick-cooking oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash o’ cayenne
1/2 pound 93/7 ground turkey breast (I used Shady Brook - Kris)
Nonstick cooking spray

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

1) In a medium bowl, combine egg, onion, apple, oats, salt, sage, nutmeg, pepper, cayenne, and parsley if using. Stir. Add turkey and mush all ingredients together with your hands, as you would for meatballs. Form into eight patties, each about 2 inches long and 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick.

2) Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Once hot, add patties. Cook until first side is browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Flip. Do the same to the other side. Cut into one patty to make sure everything is cooked through. Serve hot.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price Per Serving
51 calories, 2 g fat, 0 g fiber, 4 g protein, $0.33

Calculations
1 egg white, lightly beaten: $0.33
1/4 cup onion, finely diced: $0.05
1/2 cup apple, peeled, cored, and finely diced: $0.24
3 tablespoons quick-cooking oats: $0.06
1/2 teaspoon salt: $0.01
1/2 teaspoon ground sage: $0.08
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg: $0.03
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper: $0.02
Dash o’ cayenne: $0.01
1/2 pound 93/7 ground turkey breast: $1.68
Nonstick cooking spray: $0.10
TOTAL: $2.61 (Nutritional calcs from Better Homes)
PER SERVING (TOTAL/8): 51 calories, 2 g fat, 0 g fiber, 4 g protein, $0.33