Monday, April 13, 2009

Scotch Eggs - As it turns out, they couldn't be simpler to make.

I had picked up some spicy pork sausage while shopping one day, because it sounded good, but wasn't sure what to do with it. Sure, I could totally fry it up and have it for breakfast, but that's too dangerous because we'd eat the whole package since I'd have to cook up the whole package because you can't just use half - then you don't have enough left over to make anything else, so you might as well just cook it all. And I'd do it with the intention of saving some for hash the next day or something, but the reality is that it would never make it to see the next day. So, scratch that idea. I could add it to a pasta dish - that's classic and you can't go wrong there. But... pasta is my go-to thing for the times when I'm lazy and only have boring protein, like chicken. Then it hit me - Scotch Eggs! So, I made them from memory. And I left off the breadcrumb coating, only because I knew these would be fattening enough and the breadcrumbs (or in my case it would have been Panko) would have just held on to more of that fat. So just sausage. And really, isn't that enough?


These could not be easier. You take a hard boiled egg, then wrap it in sausage. There is a tip I can offer though; try to make the sausage coating as even as possible, and don't go too thin because it will "crack" during cooking since the sausage will shrink as the fat melts away. It's not a big deal I guess, but wouldn't look as pretty.  


I used my grill pan so that it would drain the fat a little as it ran off. I cooked these at 350 in the oven until the sausage was cooked through. If you overcook it, you will also have troubles with it cracking. The traditional cooking method is to deep fry these - and if you have a fryer - be my guest, I'm sure they'd be to die for! If you were going to coat them in breadcrumbs, you'd roll them in it after you apply the sausage. 

Fully cooked, golden brown. I served it with crispy potato casserole and a green salad.