Epicurious' 4 Levels series features amateur and advanced home cooks preparing a comfort food alongside an Institute of Culinary Education Chef demonstrating the professional approach to the dish. In this week's episode, Chef Frank Proto prepares his take on a breakfast sandwich.
Chef Frank's sandwich combines tender, square cream biscuits that hold up well, flavorful pork shoulder sausage and creamy cheese. He seasons everything throughout the process, including his eggs, and grates the cheese so it melts faster on the eggs.
"I think breakfast sandwich, I think butter," he says. Watch the video for his techniques, from grinding fatty meat to using the leftover sausage fat for flavor, and get the complete recipe below.
Breakfast Sandwich
Yields 4-6 servings
Cream Biscuits
Yields 6 servings
Adapted from James Beard
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
Directions
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the cream and stir to combine.
- When most of the cream is absorbed, turn the dough out onto a flat surface and roll to about 1-inch thickness.
- Cut into six large biscuits, brush tops with melted butter and bake on a sheet tray (ungreased) for about 15 minutes at 400 F.
Breakfast sausage
Yields 4-6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or lard
- 1 medium onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pounds pork butt, ground
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- 1/4 cup ice cold water
Directions
- Heat the fat in a sauté pan. Add the onions and garlic. Sweat until soft. Chill.
- Add all the ingredients, including cooled onion and garlic mixture, to a bowl. Mix well to incorporate all the spices. Add the water and mix again.
- The finished mixture should be a little sticky. Chill. Make into patties.
Assembly
- Biscuits
- Sausage mixture
- 6 eggs
- 2 tablesoons butter
- 1 pound pepper jack cheese, grated
- Sriracha hot sauce
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Add 1 tablespoon butter to a large sauté pan and sauté the sausage patties.
- Remove and set aside in a warm place.
- Add the other tablespoon of butter to the pan and crack the eggs, season with salt and pepper. Cook for 1-2 minutes then flip. Top each egg with grated cheese. Cook for another 2-3 minutes (I like my yolks runny so I cook the eggs less).
- Cut the biscuits in half. Place a sausage patty on the bottom half. Top with the egg and cheese. Add hot sauce to taste and serve.
See more pro breakfast recipes from Epicurious' 4 Levels series.
