Scotch Eggs

So I was at the Highland games the other weekend, and got a little rumbly in my tumbly. I'm guiding the family through the food vendors section. Hot Dogs for the kids, and even for the wife, I, however, am a more adventurous sort. I always enjoy trying something new, especially if it's ethnically appropriate to the venue. Since I enjoy wearing a kilt to various Scottish events, I'm often eating haggis, meat pies, sausage rolls, or something of the sort. This year however, several vendors were advertising Scotch Eggs for sale. Now, the prices seemed a little high to me, $4.00-$5.50 depending on the vendor, but I figured I'd give it a try. After all, Tam often goes on about the lusciousness that are the Scotch Eggs served at her local brew-pub.

Well, I was absolutely hooked after the first bite. A boiled egg, wrapped in sausage, crusted with bread crumbs, and deep fried. What's not to like? I spent way too much money on those eggs at the games. The next day, I was still hungering for more, and no way to purchase any, as we don't have a pub selling Scotch Eggs in the area, at least we don't that I know of.

I tried to distract myself with some light blog reading, however, as usual, I end up perusing my favorites, one of which is Brigid's blog, liberally sprinkled with delicious pictures and recipes.

So I think to myself, how hard can this be, and go surfing the net for a simple recipe, and then plundering the fridge and pantry, looking to see if I have the makings. Half an hour later, I've got a pound of venison sausage from last winter thawing in the sink, and a half dozen eggs at a simmering boil on the stove. My wife had made some bread crumbs for a recipe of hers several days previously, so I had those ready to go. I used the suggestion for ingredients to add to the sausage that I found online, a bit of salt and pepper, some thyme, and a splash of worchestire(sp?) with a spoon full of all purpose flower. Mix well, then spread it out into a thin patty, plop the peeled egg in the middle, fold and seal it around the egg, and pinch of the excess. It did say to make sure you squeezed out any air bubbles. I suppose this would be very important when deep frying. At this point, I dipped it in a beaten egg, and coated it in bread crumbs.

I decided against deep frying(I know, that's a sin down here) mainly because I'm not set up for deep frying much of anything. so I placed the eggs on a cooling rack, on a cookie sheet, and popped them into a 325 degree oven for about 40 minutes. The results looked like this.





I was quite proud of my first effort at Scotch Eggs, and no doubt will make them again. Though now I'm out of venison sausage, and will have to resort to pork.

Try something new the next time you're out, and you might find a new family favorite :)


Casey