Breakfast Sandwiches

• servings: Makes 4 sandwiches
• active time: 25
• total time: 35

Ingredients

1/2 pound of ground pork (around 80% fat if the label mentions it)

1/4 of a medium white onion, finely minced

3 cloves of garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)

1 tablespoons of dark brown sugar

1 tablespoons of avocado oil (vegetable or canola work too)

1 teaspoons of ground sage (or minced fresh sage if feeling fancy)

1/2 tablespoon of red pepper flakes

1/4 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

FOR SERVING

4 english muffins, toasted

4 eggs cooked in preferred manner

4 slices of easily melt-able cheese like american, colby jack, muenster cheese, etc.

4 strips of bacon (optional)

A condiment of your choosing (optional, siracha or chipotle mayo/aioli are great choices though)

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, add the spices, oil, sugar, onion, and garlic to the ground pork. Mix together until well incorporated and evenly distributed.

2. Allow the ground pork mixture to sit for 10 minutes or so to absorb some of the flavors more thoroughly. If making scrambled eggs for these, you could take this time to prepare them (see note 1)

3. Form the pork into 4 equal sized patties. You are looking to have these a little bit wider than your english muffins, as they will shrink when they cook.

4. Typically you shallow fry sausage links over the stove, but it's easy to burn the sausage without actually fully cooking them. If you are comfortable skip to step 7.

5. So, an easy trick to cooking these without burning them is use low heat and a little water. Starting with a cold pan of your choice, add just enough water so that there is maybe 1/4 of an inch of water in it. Add the sausage patties and heat over a low-medium heat. Once the water begins to simmer and boil, cover with a lid.

6. Let them sit for 2-3 minutes before checking on them. We are waiting for them to be completely grey on top. If they need a little longer, cover with the lid again and add warm/hot water if needed. Once they are fully cooked, add a little oil and continue to cook and flip periodically until they are approaching the level of crispiness you desire.

7. Just as your sausage is about where you want it (and above 150 internally aka grey all the way through the inside), add a slice of cheese, covering the pan if necessary to help it melt. If storing any of these for later in the fridge or freezer, do not add the cheese yet! (see notes 2 and 3)

8. Once the cheese is melted, place each patty aside to rest while you toast your english muffins and cook your eggs.

9. Assemble and enjoy!

Notes

1. The key to the most tender scrambled eggs of your life is to whisk them with a little bit of salt about 15-20 minutes before you intend to cook them. The salt denatures the proteins and... Well, in basic terms it makes them fluffier and helps them stay moist once cooked.

2. If making some of these for the freezer/fridge, do not add the cheese until you let everything cool down first, only then should you assemble and store. This way the cheese doesn't end up being cooked a second time when you reheat it later.

3. When storing these in a freezer, if using a condiment that is a creamy emulsion like mayo/aioli or yogurt-based stuff, you may want to hold off on said condiment until it's ready to eat. Freezing these kinds of condiments can give them a weird sort of texture when reheated from frozen.