Email to Cat      

Breakfast Pork Burgers

Source of Recipe

From "The Ultimate Burger" by America's Test Kitchen


Recipe Introduction

"This recipe features everything we love about breakfast in burger form: savory, salty pork with a little maple sweetness, a fresh soft-cooked egg, and a hearty English muffin to mop up any errant, oozing yolk. To keep the patties from drying out during cooking, we relied on the traditional meatball standby of a panade; mixing this paste of mashed bread and milk into the ground pork ensured a juicy patty that stayed tender. A little soy sauce amped up the savoriness of the patty and seasoned it throughout, while fresh sage made the flavors pop. A touch of maple syrup added a rich flavor that was just sweet enough and encouraged beautiful browning. We weren't sure our decadent breakfast burger needed a topping of cheese, but after trying a couple of iterations, we loved how the tang of Cheddar offset the burger's ample richness. Look for English muffins that are at least 4 inches in diameter. Serve with hot sauce."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 slice hearty white sandwich bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
â—¦ 1 shallot, minced
â—¦ 2 tablespoons milk
â—¦ 2 tablespoons maple syrup
â—¦ 4 teaspoons soy sauce
â—¦ 2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
â—¦ ½ teaspoon plus â…› teaspoon pepper, divided
â—¦ 1 ½ pounds ground pork
â—¦ ½ teaspoon plus â…› teaspoon salt, divided
â—¦ 4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
â—¦ 4 slices Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
â—¦ 4 large eggs
â—¦ 4 English muffins, toasted


Recipe

Using fork, mash bread, shallot, milk, maple syrup, soy sauce, sage, and ½ teaspoon pepper to paste in large bowl. Break ground pork into small pieces and add to bowl with bread mixture. Gently knead with hands until well combined. Divide pork mixture into four equal portions, then gently shape each portion into ¾-inch-thick patty. Using your fingertips, press center of each patty down until about ½-inch thick, creating slight divot.

Season patties with ½ teaspoon salt. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until just smoking. Transfer patties to skillet, divot side up, and cook until well browned on first side, 4 to 6 minutes. Flip patties, top with Cheddar, and reduce heat to medium-low. Continue to cook until browned on second side and meat registers 150 degrees, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer burgers to platter and let rest for 5 minutes. Let skillet cool slightly, then wipe clean with paper towels.

Meanwhile, crack eggs into two small bowls (two eggs per bowl) and season with remaining â…› teaspoon salt and remaining â…› teaspoon pepper. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to now-empty skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Swirl to coat skillet with oil, then working quickly, pour one bowl of eggs in one side of skillet and second bowl of eggs in other side. Cover and cook for 1 minute. Remove skillet from burner and let sit, covered, 15 to 45 seconds for runny yolks (white around edge of yolk will be barely opaque), 45 to 60 seconds for soft but set yolks, and about 2 minutes for medium-set yolks. Serve burgers on muffins, topped with eggs.

Serves 4