Holy Moly! 5 more days till Christmas! I am so ready;) Not really-I have barely shopped…..
We have had house guests the past few days. My very best friend in the whole world brought her family up to visit us. She wanted her boys to see the snow, and lucky for her, we have gotten a ton of it in the last couple of days. The best part of her being here was that I got to put her to work….I had a sous chef! We made a great breakfast yesterday morning that would be a fantastic Christmas morning breakfast. We made our own homemade sausage patties and banana cakes, which are really just pancake covered banana slices. This breakfast takes a bit of time, so it won’t be your go to weekday morning breakfast, but for a special occasion, like Christmas morning, it is perfect!
I will start with the sausage……By homemade, I mean that I embellish some packaged sausage and form my own patties. I don’t grind my own meat and put it into cases. That would just be weird.
I start with 2 packages of maple flavored pork sausage; you know…the kind that comes in the tubes?? I also use 2 green apples and a whole onion.
I put the apples and onion in the food processor to chop it, but you could totally chop both by hand. I was just trying to speed the process up a bit. Plus, I hate to chop onions by hand because your hand smells for the next day.
-Secret Ingredient Alert!-
I add about a palm full of Poultry Seasoning to the chopped onions and apples. It has sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg in it. It is such a great seasoning blend to have in your cupboard. Who really keeps marjoram on hand, or even know what it tastes like? Just buy Poultry Seasoning…..it is really not just for poultry.
I mix the apple/onion mixture into the sausage and form patties. You will have to mix with your hands, and that is pretty much just the breaks…..
I brown the patties on one side, flip them, and put the lid on the pan. I cook them, covered, about 5 minutes more. The time depends on the thickness of your patties. Since this recipe makes a lot, you can keep the patties warm in a 170 degree oven while you cook in batches.
These sausage patties are such an unexpected treat. How often do you get fancy sausage in your own home? Probably not a lot. Unless you are married to a chef, and if that is the case….stop reading this and ask him/her to cook for you;)
Onto the banana cakes…..I start by making a gingerbread batter to dip the bananas in. I love gingerbread during the Christmas season. I have made these banana cakes with regular pancake batter, but I love this recipe for the holidays.
I start with the wet ingredients. I use eggs, brown sugar, coffee, water, and buttermilk. Just use your leftover coffee…..If you don’t drink coffee, you can also use soda. Sounds weird, but it works;)
I mix all of the wet ingredients together. Little tip-if you don’t have buttermilk, you can add white vinegar to regular milk and get the same idea. Use about 1 tablespoon per 1 cup of milk.
Here is where the recipe gets looooooong……Gingerbread uses a lot of spices. I use flour, baking powder, ground cloves, ground ginger, nutmeg, ground cinnamon, salt and melted butter. Yes, I know melted butter isn’t dry.
I mix all of the actually dry ingredients together (no butter yet). This will get rid of any big chunks. Nobody wants to bite into a big bit of baking powder, trust me.
I slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing the whole time. You want to mix just until blended. Don’t over mix. What that means is don’t beat it to death….it isn’t whipped cream.
I stir in the melted butter at the end. Once this is blended, set the batter aside and get your bananas!!
I slice them into pieces, about 1/3 of an inch thick. If you slice them too thin, they will fall apart. If you slice them too thick, the batter won’t cook all the way through.I use slightly under ripe bananas because they will hold their shape better.
I dip the banana pieces into the batter, and then place them on a greased griddle. I cook them just like I would a pancake, about 4 minutes per side, or until they are browned on both sides. This recipe makes a whole lot o’ bananas. If you get bored dipping and frying, feel free to use the rest of the batter to just make regular sized pancakes, but feed those to adults because kids love the banana cakes!!
I serve mine with one of my Gourmet Rooster fruit spreads and maple syrup. I let people pick;) Because I am suuuuuper nice.
We had such ha good time making these recipes and everyone loved them! I know that your family and friends would love this for Christmas breakfast. Make sure they eat a lot! It takes a lot of calories and energy to power through all of those gifts!
I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! This is my last post until after ChristmasJ I am going to take a little vacation…..but just until the 27th! See you next week!
Court’s Sausage
2 16 ounce packages ground pork sausage, maple flavored
2 green apples
1 white onion, medium sized
1 tablespoon Poultry Seasoning
Chop onion and apples and mix with Poultry Seasoning. Mix apple mixture, by hand, into sausage. Form patties and brown on one side. Flip patties and cover pan. Cook an additional 5 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through.
Gingerbread Banana Cakes
5 eggs
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 ½ cup buttermilk
½ cup water
½ cup brewed coffee
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon nutmeg
6 tablespoons butter, melted
Under ripe bananas
Mix eggs, brown sugar, buttermilk, coffee and water together.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.
Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet. Do not over mix. Stir in melted butter.
Slice bananas into pieces, about 1/3 of an inch thick. Dip into batter, coating the entire banana. Place dipped bananas on a pre-heated (medium high), greased skillet. Brown on both sides (about 3-5 minutes per side).
No comments:
Post a Comment