Chicken Patties with Apples & Herbs

Sausages for breakfast always sound good to me. If people ask me what I like most about hotels, it is the breakfasts that are served in the morning. A hot cup of coffee, croissants, bagels, and sausages are my favorite American eye opening menu items. However, most of the sausages use pork with quite a lot of fat that make them tasty.  I love sausages, but I had not yet made any from scratch until a few weeks ago when I decided to buy a meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer. I liked it immediately and started making some chicken ground meat. The first recipe that came to mind was making chicken sausage, and here it is right now.  I like to add apple and different kinds of herbs because my herb garden is doing well this year. The apple adds natural sweetness, and it made me decide to add some maple syrup into this recipe. Smoked paprika and garlic give this sausage a little kick. This is an easy recipe to create healthy sausages at home.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground chicken
1 Granny Smith apple
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sausage mix
1 chicken powder seasoning
2 tbs maple syrup
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp each of these chopped fresh herbs: sage, thyme, parsley and marjoram

Directions
Peel, core, and chop the apple to fine.

In a sauté pan, add 1 tsp of oil. Add garlic, onions and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add apple and cook for 5 minutes or until apple has wilted.

In a mixing bowl, combine cooked apple and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Form all the chicken mixture into 10 to12 patties approximately 3 inches in diameter and ½ inch thick (if not cooking and serving all the patties immediately, wrap each uncooked patty in plastic wrap, put into a Ziploc bag, and store in the freezer until needed. Patties freeze well).

To cook sausage patties:
Place patties on a hot grill or in a pan with some oil and fry sausage patties 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Top with some cheese (your choice), if desired. Serve with bagel, toast, or by themselves.