Chicken and Apple Round “Sausages”

This is one of our favorite recipes to come out of JCC Manhattan’s Patti Gelman Culinary Arts Center. We call the patties “sausages” because of the traditional sausage spices used—sage, allspice, garlic, and fennel seed. Using dark meat chicken only, they are moist and tender. When you’re looking to cut down on red meat, this is a terrific hamburger alternative. By the way, when testing this recipe, we tried using fresh apples and found that the dried apples actually yielded a more intense flavor.

SERVES 6

1 cup packed dried apples

1 cup apple cider

2 pounds ground chicken thigh meat

1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped (about 1 tablespoon)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage

1 tablespoon fennel seeds, crushed

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

2 teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 to 2 tablespoons olive or grapeseed oil

6 hamburger buns, rolls, or pita breads

6 leaves red-leaf or Boston lettuce

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Cornichons, for garnish

For the purist, you can grind the chicken yourself at home using a food processor or the grinder attachment of a standing mixer.

In a medium saucepan, combine the apples and cider and simmer over medium heat until the liquid becomes syrupy, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and pulse to chop.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the ground chicken, egg, garlic, sage, fennel seeds, allspice, salt, and pepper and combine thoroughly with your hands. Make six patties with the mixture.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat, or brush a grill pan with oil and heat. Add the patties and cook, turning once, until just cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes per side.

Place a burger on one half of each bun. Top with the lettuce, onion, and the remaining bun half. Serve garnished with the cornichons.