scotch eggs

the portable provision: scotch eggs--hard-boiled eggs wrapped in sausage meat, rolled in bread crumbs, then deep-fried. a traditional scottish breakfast item, ideal picnic item, and plastic-packed staple of petrol stations around the UK. for those of us who won't be cruising down the M1 motorway anytime soon, these are easy enough to make, they store in your fridge quite well and are very suitable for your bento or lunch box. unless you've got one like this one which pieman so thoughtfully rolled out for me....probably with a forklift.

i'm assuming that back in the day these were made with small or medium-sized eggs, which are near impossible to find in your average supermarket; if you use large-sized eggs, be careful with the amount of sausage meat you use, as you can end up with a brobdingnagian baseball of meat. also, try and find organic eggs for this, as they are tastier than your average cold-storage egg. you can use store-bought sausage meat, seasoned to your preference, or you can do what i did and make your own--i just bought ground turkey meat, seasoned it with dried sage, white pepper, salt, and the tiniest bit of maple syrup, and let it sit in the fridge overnight. although these eggs are quite delicious once fried up, oddly, they are almost irresistible at room temperature or even cold. hm. sounds like a scotsman i once dated. but that, nenes, is not for public consumption :P


scotch eggs

6 large or 8 small/medium hard-boiled eggs, well chilled (i try to cook them to just past soft boiled stage, then stick them in the coldest part of the fridge to firm up)
1 pound good quality sausage meat, homemade or store bought
1/2 cup AP flour
1 to 2 eggs, beaten
1 cup panko-style bread crumbs
Vegetable oil for frying

peel eggs. divide sausage into 6 portions for large eggs, 8 for small/medium eggs. roll each egg in flour then shape a portion of the sausage by pressing it gently but firmly around each egg. dip sausage-wrapped eggs into beaten egg and roll in panko. at this point you can refrigerate them to make them easier to handle or to fry at another time (up to 24 hours ahead of time). heat oil to 350˚F . cook each egg for 4-5 minutes (4-5 min on each side if shallow frying) or until sausage is cooked and browned.