Beef Breakfast Sausage

Ground beef was on sale for $1.97 per pound, but you had to buy at least three pounds.  There was no ground meat in my freezer, so I decided to take the plunge.

Let's be honest, these sausage patties are an excuse to eat burgers for breakfast.  Well, I did make all that ketchup.

I ate a lot of meat this Passover, if you include fish.  Still not sure why kosher rules don't count it as meat.  It bothered me more than usual that the only protein-rich grain I could have was quinoa.  And that sneaks in under the technicality that it was unknown in Europe a millennium ago, when the rules were finalized.  I really feel for vegetarians and vegans during this time, especially vegans.  At least vegetarians can get by with cheese and eggs for protein and iron.  I ate a lot of cashews.

That said, these patties are freezable for later, both raw and cooked.  And you don't have to cook them as patties.  If you prefer your breakfast sausage in crumbles, it's perfectly fine to cook this in that way.  The only difference between sausage and other forms of ground meat is the flavorings that are used.  One expects breakfast sausage to taste a certain way, which is usually different than a hamburger, kefta, or other ways to flavor ground meat.  Sausage has a lot of herbs and spices, usually with something like chili to give it a bit of a kick.  I went easy on the pepper flakes, but you can go as spicy as you like.

1 lb ground beef (lean is fine)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried sage
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tb olive oil

1.  In a medium bowl, knead together beef, herbs, and spices until uniform.  Chill 1 hour, to let the flavors meld.  Ignore that my meat looks brown.  It had been out of the freezer one day longer than expected and had oxidized a bit.  Perfectly safe, and yes it was still raw.

2.  Heat oil in a rimmed skillet over medium-high heat.  Form meat into 4 or 8 patties, or place in the pan as crumbles.  For patties, make them thin.  Meat seizes up as it cooks, and you don't want to end up with sausage meatballs.  Unless you do.

3.  Cook until 165º in the center of the patties, flipping once after about 5 minutes.  Remember, this is still ground meat and needs to be cooked through to be safe.  Serve hot as part of breakfast, or cool and refrigerate or freeze for another day.  Raw patties can also be frozen and defrosted to cook fresh.

Difficulty rating  π