Recipe: Sausage breakfast biscuits with fruit jam

My husband and I often lock horns when it comes to choosing seasonal fruit for me to make jam with; he’s a 100% peach or cherry person while I will always go for the raspberry. But you don’t stay married for 40 years without learning to compromise.

This super-easy breakfast biscuit recipe brings together the two summer fruits in the best possible way in an easy refrigerator (no cook) jam. All it takes to create the harmonious blend of sweet and sunny flavors is some chopped or crushed fruit, granulated sugar, a splash of lemon juice and a saucepan. Simply cook the ingredients over a low flame until it’s thick and jammy.

The homemade sausage patty that gets tucked into a simple drop biscuit along with a slice of cheddar is nearly as simple. If you’ve got a mixing bowl and a hot frying pan, it’s a cinch to pull together in about 15 minutes, and it tastes so much fresher than the mass-produced one in your grocer’s freezer.

You can either divide the biscuit dough into four portions for hearty, Whopper-sized breakfast biscuits that take two hands to tackle (my choice) or opt for ones half the size. Either way, you’ll be starting the day right.

For the sausage:

1 pound minced pork

2 ounces breadcrumbs

1 egg, beaten

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or marjoram

3 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the jam:

2 1/2 cups finely chopped peeled peaches

1 1/2 cups crushed raspberries

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

For the biscuits:

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus more for greasing the pan

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon fine salt

2/3 cup cold whole milk

4 slices sharp cheddar cheese

Make jam: Combine raspberries, peaches, sugar and lemon juice in a large skillet. Set over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves and starts to boil, 1-2 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is bubbly, about 10 minutes. Continue cooking until thick, 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, skim off foam and cool until warm or room temperature to use right away, or transfer to a jar and refrigerate until ready to use. (The jam can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 1 year.)

Make sausage: Place all ingredients except olive oil in a bowl and mix thoroughly, then season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. (Fry a tiny bit of the mixture in a hot pan with a little olive or sunflower oil to check the seasoning. Add more if required.)

Divide mixture into 4 pieces for large patties, or 8 pieces for small patties. Shape meat into a round patty and slightly depress the center with your thumb (to get a more even patty once it’s cooked). Place on a baking tray or plate and set aside while you prepare biscuit dough. (If making ahead, you can chill them for a day in the fridge or you can freeze them.)

Prepare biscuits: Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a small baking sheet. (Keep the cubed butter cold.)

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add cold butter and toss to coat, then cut butter into the flour using a pastry cutter or by pinching it with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse sand, with no bits larger than the size of gravel.

Add the milk all at once and quickly stir with a fork until the dough comes together in a shaggy mass. Use the fork to scoop and drop 4 even mounds of dough onto the prepared sheet, spacing apart. Gently pat the tops and sides to form round pucks; don’t worry if the tops are a little craggy. For smaller sandwiches, divide the dough into 8 even mounds.

Bake until golden brown, 20-23 minutes. Let cool on the pan on a rack while you prepare fillings.

While biscuits are baking, prepare sausage. heat frying pan on a low to medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive or sunflower oil and gently fry for 12-15 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden on all sides and completely cooked through. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Assemble sandwiches: Split each of the biscuits in half and spread jam on both halves. Place a sausage patty on the bottom halves. Add a slice of cheese and then the top halves and serve warm.

Makes 4 large or 8 small breakfast sandwiches.

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