½ lb ground chuck
½ lb ground pork
(add or substitute up to ⅓ lb of other meat of your own choice, e.g. lamb, veal, sausage…)
1 medium onion, peel and finely chop or use food processor
2-3 gloves of garlic, mince or press through garlic presser
½ – ¾ pound of rose cabbage (Brussels sprouts) – (SEE NOTE) , cut ends, peel outer layers, finely chop or use food processor
salt
freshly ground pepper (black or we like to use rainbow peppercorns)
marjoram
Dijon mustard
egg
slice of bread (use any kind that you have on hand, in our case it’s usually whole wheat bread, but white will work too/ I would recommend to stay away from potato bread:-)
milk enough to cover the slice of bread to soak in
bread crumbs (we make our own; it’s cheaper and the bread crumbs taste better)
oil for frying (amount depends on the skillet you are using; you want about ¼ inch depth of oil)
olive oil
Pour olive oil into non-stick medium skillet, turn to medium high heat; add onion and lightly brown; add garlic and stir for 30 seconds; add rose cabbage, salt, and pepper, and continue sauteing for couple more minutes; add 1-2 tablespoons of water,cover and steam for about 10 minutes or until vegetable is wilted/appears done. In the mean time, put slice of bread into a bowl just small enough so the amount of milk required to soak the bread in is as small as possible. Set aside to cool down.
Combine in a bowl: meats, salt, pepper, marjoram, Dijon mustard, egg, and soaked slice of bread – squeeze out any excessive milk and crumble. Mix together and add sprout mixture (room temperature). You can use wooden or silicon spatula initially, but you will need to use your hands to achieve desired incorporation of all ingredients (Never use blender to combine the above!). At this point, you may need to use some of your cook’s intuition: adding either dry (bread crumbs) or wet (egg) ingredients, you are looking for uniform but not over processed matter. Divide meat mixture into equal sized portions (about 8) and form a Pattie like you are forming a hamburger – make sure you make the patties slightly thinner in the middle as it will prevent the patties to over blow a stay more evenly proportion after frying.
Reheat frying oil in large skillet till hot enough so when a bread crumb dropped into the hot oil, crumb bubbles and sizzles. Coat each Pattie individually with bread crumbs pressing crumbs lightly into the Patties. Once all Patties coated, your oil should be ready to go. Be careful, hot oil is one of the most dangerous things in the kitchen! Put about 4 Patties in the skillet and maintain the heat so you have a nice sizzle going. Fry about 4 minutes a side or until the outside is brown. Place in heavy pen and put in preheated oven (170 F) to keep worm while you fry the second batch.
Serve with Mashed Potatoes, Pommes Anna, Roasted Potatoes or just as it with fresh pickle (European Style).
NOTE:
You may substitute Spinach for the Brussels sprouts. In case you are using Spinach, use baby spinach or cut regular spinach into ruff pieces; saute for just couple minutes – you don’t want to overcook this one.
Slow Down and Cook 