'Go Home Thomas' Egg and Sausage Sandwich

'Go Home Thomas' Egg and Sausage Sandwich [Photograph: Bruce Wolf]

Weekend brunch was pretty much a given when I lived in Portland. Somehow I braved the inevitable long lines in the rain on many a Saturday (free coffee helps) in hopes of demolishing a platter of build-your-own hash browns or an egg and bacon sandwich.

Laurie Wolf devotes an entire chapter to the meal in Portland, Oregon Chef's Table, a testament to its popularity. While many restaurants offer over-the-top dishes of fried meats smothered in gravy, Southeast Portland's Toast offers simpler (but no less hangover-curing) dishes like their egg and sausage sandwich named 'Go Home Thomas.' Their recipe offers directions for making each element from scratch, including the English muffin.

Why I picked this recipe: Egg and sausage may seem like an obvious choice for a brunch recipe, but this totally DIY recipe had me excited to try my hand at homemade English muffins.

What worked: The muffins were full of nooks and crannies, and the smoked paprika in the sausage was an inspired addition.

What didn't: I would have liked a little less sausage and a little more cheese in my sandwich (who doesn't want more cheese?), but that is easily fixed next go-around.

Suggested tweaks: Be sure to well-season the sausage mixture before cooking; you can test a small bit in a skillet before assembly to make sure you've added enough salt. Also, scrambling the eggs was a fine option (especially when making several sandwiches at once), but I'm sure the dish would be great with a runny fried egg instead.

As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Portland, Oregon Chef's Table to give away.