Maple-Fried Egg and Sausage Biscuit

Directions

1. Make the Biscuits: Place the flour, and black pepper in a large bowl. Cut 8 tablespoons of cold butter into cubes. Using your clean fingers or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour until the crumbs are the size of peas, flattening the butter pieces a little as you go to create flat, shingle-like butter pieces.
2. Drizzle in the cold buttermilk, and stir with a fork or spatula just until the flour is moistened. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and using your hands or bench scraper, press the dough into a rough rectangle shape that's about 1-inch thick.
3. Using the bench scraper, lift and fold the long edges into the center to meet, similar to how you fold a letter. Roll the biscuit dough out once more into a rough rectangle shape and repeat the letter fold. If at any time the dough seems soft or difficult to lift or work with, pop it in the fridge or freezer to firm up before proceeding.
4. Once you have completed two letter folds, wrap the biscuit dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge while you make the sausage patties. (The biscuit dough can be made several hours ahead of time and chilled.)
5. Make the sausage patties. In a medium bowl, combine the ground pork, and spices. Using your clean hands or a spatula stir to combine, until all the spices are evenly distributed. Form into 4 even patties with your hands, and place on a sheet tray lined with parchment or wax paper. Let chill in the fridge while you finish the biscuits.
6. Cut and bake the biscuits. Preheat the oven to 450°F/232°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon maple syrup in a small bowl using the microwave or stove top. This will be used to brush on the just-baked biscuits.
7. Turn the chilled biscuit dough dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll dough with a rolling pin until 1-inch to 1 ½-inch thick. Cut out biscuits using a floured 2-inch to 2 ½-inch biscuit cutter, the rim of a cup works great as well. You will ideally have 4 perfectly round biscuits and some leftover dough. With the remaining scraps, you are welcome to reroll and cut to make additional biscuits.
8. Place the biscuits on the baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown, rotating once halfway through the bake time. Remove from the oven. Brush the tops with the melted butter and maple mixture. Set aside to continue to cool. Turn the oven down to 300°F/149°C.
9. Fry the sausage. In a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet, warm 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat and fry the sausage patties on each side 2 to 3 minutes until deeply golden brown. The sugar in the sausage mix will make the patties brown a lot quicker than you think, so keep an eye on them so they don't burn. Once cooked through, transfer to a sheet pan or place the entire skillet, if oven-proof, in the 300°F/149°C oven to keep warm.
10. Prep your biscuits. Slice each in half, then lay them open face on a sheet pan. Lay a cheese slice on each of the biscuit bottoms. This will make your maple egg sandwich assembly go smoothly.
11. Make the fried maple eggs. In a small nonstick skillet—8 inches if you have one—warm 3 tablespoons of the maple syrup over medium heat. Crack 1 egg into the center and season with salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes, or until the white has set and the yolk is still runny. You will want to watch the heat and keep it low so as not to burn or cook the maple so much that it turns to candy.
12. With a fish spatula or other wide and thin spatula, lift the egg from the syrup and place on one of cheese-clad bottom biscuits. Continue to fry the eggs, wiping out the skillet as you go, adding 3 tablespoons of maple for each egg. Once all the eggs are fried and on their respective biscuits, an optional but delicious step is to return the sheet pan to the 300°F/149°C oven to let the cheese melt and the biscuits warm through, about 5 to 7 minutes. (Be sure to watch your yolks if you don't want them to set too much.) Top with the biscuit lids and enjoy immediately.