Thursday, July 8, 2010

Scotch Eggs...Not Scottish at all...

SCOTCH EGGS...

not Scottish at all ??? then why are they call Scotch Eggs ?!!! they were actually invented by the famous London department store, FORTNUM & MASON in 1851 and they were originally wrapped in SCOTCH Beef...just a fun little foodie fact i found at Wikipedia.

i don't recall where i first saw these and got the bee in my bonnet, but i knew i had to try them. i'm all about a good full protein breakfast and quite often i have to eat it on the go. these are perfect...and so dang CUTE as well.

so easy to make. i chose the easiest route. basically you cover a hard boiled egg in your favorite sausage, dip that in some breadcrumbs and bake 'till the sausage is done. there are so many variations out there with more involved meat recipes, but why go there when there are so many wonderful fresh handmade sausages at your favorite markets. Bristol Farms has an incredible selection. their Chicken Apple Sausage with chunks of granny smith is so delicious as well as the Chicken Jezebel and Spicy Italian Turkey. my first batch was made with good ol'Jenny-O's Spicy Italian Turkey Sausage found at most major markets. so... fancy sausage or packaged store bought, these are easy, fun, portable, ADORABLE and kids will love them.





i chose to bake these. i'm not a fan of deep frying YET. i like to leave that to the professionals. deep frying scares me a bit and since i don't do alot of it (YET), the oil would be a one time use. seems like a waste. then there's the pain of getting rid of it, not spilling it, letting it cool enough to pour it back into the container you were hopefully smart enough to keep and finally throwing away some perfectly good frying oil. i must admit, i think i secretly would love to fry more things. i kind of wish i could have a mini fryer in the kitchen. shhhhhhh.

SCOTCH EGGS
loosely adapted from Recipezaar #69970...

Ingredients
1 lb chicken, turkey or pork Italian sausage
4-5 large eggs, hard boiled (not too large)
flour (just a little to coat the eggs)
1 large egg
2 cups fine dry breadcrumbs (i used Panko). you don't need to use the whole 2 cups!!
Directions
1. remove meat from casing. one large sausage should cover 1 egg (a little less than 1/4 lb). use your judgement. i made 5 scotch eggs from a 1lb package of Jenny O Turkey Sausage for the first batch.
2. roll the eggs in flour. (this helps the meat stick to the egg)
3. wrap each egg evenly in a portion of meat, being sure they are covered completely. roll it around in your hands a bit to ensure even sausage coating.
4. beat the remaining egg in a small bowl
5. dip each egg/sausage ball in the beaten egg then coat thoroughly in breadcrumbs.
6. optional...chill for one hour...or don't...i didn't.
7. bake until golden brown on a cookie sheet (line with tin foil for easy clean up) at 375°F; about 30 minutes. mine took about 35 minutes.
these keep really well in the fridge for a few days. just warm in the microwave. i like to slice in half and eat like an apple...on the go. of course, you could fancy these up for a fun brunch treat. they make for such a cute presentation with the surprise egg inside.

24 comments:

diva said...

scotch eggs are the perfect party food! yours are so cute!

Wanna Be Chef Mysti! said...

ive never seen anything like this! very cute and im def. going to try!

Erika Beth, the Messy Chef said...

Wow! These look so tasty! I don't cook with meat much (um, like twice a year) but I will have to try this!

Leslie said...

A lovely irish pub in Virginia Beach serves these with grainy mustard - they were amazing, however, we have moved and I miss them. Now I can try this recipe, thanks for sharing!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Those look so good and beautiful!

Cheers,

Rosa

Jess @ Sugar High said...

Those look fantastic! Great job.

The Kosher Tomato (Sandy Leibowitz) said...

I wonder if this can be don't with some type of veggie protein around it??

Gali said...

That's quite interesting! I now wish it wasn't so hot outside... but it's a great recipe to keep in mind for the colder times.

julialikesred said...

How awesome! I've only ever seen deep frying as a technique for these. Really cool to know you can bake them.

Pam said...

Way to go! They look delicious!

Frankie said...

These look so delicious! I've never even heard of scotch eggs before..but I will definitely try these ASAP!

Caitlin said...

Wow. LOVED this. I've been intrigued by this recipe since I first saw it in the summer and I finally mustered up the guts to make it. Totally worth it!

Jules and Ruby said...

Caitlin...WOW back at ya...thanks for giving a report back...so glad you like them as much as i do. i have some hard boilers in the fridge just waiting.

Anonymous said...

all lyou need is pork sausage meat, eggs and shake and bake for pork chops. Cover the egg with sausage, roll in shake and bake, and oven bake until sausage is cooked. Use small eggs if you want to use them for appetizers at a party. No other seasonings are needed. No deep frying. Best ever. even my English friends love them

Anonymous said...

Omg!! I was thinking how did you get the shell out? Duh!!! Blonde moment!! Lol

Jules and Ruby said...

Anonymous...hilarious...good one. thanks for the comment and the laugh

Unknown said...

They remind me of haggas in looks, definately not in taste. The scotts are many things, culinary genius is not one of those. I would like to see a meatless version with a tempah or some kind of meat subsitute. Vegitarians are always in need of high protein snacks.

supergran said...

As a Brit, who has grown up eating Scotch Eggs and regarded them as commonplace, it's rather nice to view them through fresh eyes as something rather "exotic"! I always deep fry mine but, if you bake them (which is a good idea), I would spray them first with a little oil.

Jules and Ruby said...

hi supergran...love the name. thanks for the tip. next time i make them, i'll give them a little spray.

supergran said...

Just a couple of other tips: Don't boil the eggs for too long - the yolks need to retain a little bit of creaminess, so 5 minutes should be sufficient. Also, it's nice to add finely chopped fresh herbs and spring onions to the plain pork sausagemeat for a change. Alternatively, you can roll the Scotch Eggs in dry stuffing mix (do you have such a thing in the States?) instead of breadcrumbs prior to cooking.

Jules and Ruby said...

hi again supergran...love your suggestions, especially undercooking the eggs. i usually use a flavorful spicy herb sausage, but i love the extra chive addition. thanks for the tips....AND the dry stuffing mix would make a great "big ball meal" breakfast for sure.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for reminding me of this breakfast treat. It brought back memories of our sailing days. We would make these up in advance, wrap them in foil, and store lots of them for quick b'fast or any other time we needed a quick boost of protein while underway. They tasted great cold. I can't wait to try one just out of the oven all these years later!

Marge Jones

Jules and Ruby said...

hi Marge...great comment. i never thought of packing them for a healthy protein snack. i might have to make some soon.

sheila said...

I'm new to this site and loving all the dishes and discussions. Our family has always enjoyed some different foods like pigtails and gizzards so these types of recipes are right up my alley. Looking forward to trying the pork belly, bacon fudge and beef cheeks to start with.

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