Chicken Apple Sausage Patties - cooking recipe

Ingredients

For the Sausage:
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 (4 ounce) package pancetta
2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon crushed toasted fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
2 Granny Smith apples
For the Pan Gravy:
1/2 tablespoon oil, or as needed
6 tablespoons butter
8 leaves fresh sage (optional)
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth, or more as needed
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/3 cup creme fraiche
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 buttermilk biscuits, split

Preparation

Cut chicken thighs into 1-inch pieces. Chop pancetta finely using a meat cleaver until paste-like in texture. Mix chicken and pancetta together. Sprinkle salt, pepper, thyme, fennel, coriander, cayenne, nutmeg, and sage. Mix until combined and place mixture on a plate; cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 15 to 20 minutes before grinding.
Peel and quarter apples. Grate apples into a bowl. Place grated apples in a paper towel and squeeze all the water out. Add apples to the partially frozen chicken sausage meat.
Place 1/2 of the chicken mixture in a food processor. Pulse on and off until mixture is slightly finer than coarse sausage. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to let the flavors develop, 4 hours to overnight.
Use a large ice cream scoop to portion out the meat. Flatten scoops with dampened hands to make patties about the same size as your biscuits.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook patties until bottom is browned and leaves a deep brown fond in the skillet, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and flip patties over. Add butter and sage leaves. Cook until patties are firm to the touch, removing leaves once they stop bubbling, about 5 minutes more. Remove patties.
Whisk flour into the pan; cook and stir until starting to thicken, about 1 minute. Pour in broth and bring to a boil, whisking the browned bits of food off the bottom of the skillet. Add maple syrup and creme fraiche; season with salt and pepper. Cook until gravy is spoonable and reaches desired thickness, 2 to 3 minutes more. Add more broth if gravy is too thick. Remove from heat.
Place biscuit halves on individual plates. Top each with a chicken sausage patty; spoon gravy on top. Garnish each with a fried sage leaf.