Scotch Eggs are my most favourite savoury snack.
Small, meaty, a little juicy, and ideally packed with flavour; straight out the fryer, there ain’t nothing better.
A good pub will usually have them as a bar snack or starter option, though they lose considerable points when they don’t warm it up. You’re also very likely to find them in most street food markets these days too, though again not always with the option of being warm. And while some of these guys can give you something that is half decent and with a good just set/ still runny yolk, I’ve not ever had one that’s had more flavour than one either me or my Mum has made, more times than not they just lack decent seasoning, and can often be a little dry.
- Disclaimer; no I haven’t tried every scotch egg ever so don’t start. -
Mum taught me how to make them when I was about fifteen, she used to make batches of ten to a dozen at a time and take them down to the pub/ restaurant I worked at in Grimsby and even the head chef would drop what he was doing to come and get a famous Jo Scotch Egg, they were a celebrated thing. In more recent years we just used to full on compete with each other. Six each at a time because there were usually enough people around the house, and if not I’m a greedy fucker so yay me. A chicken chorizo versus a black pudding batch here, a curried crab versus a mushroom tarragon there, we had some good battles. One of my proudest moments ever was the last time we competed. When we finished our batches and tasted, Mum hung her head at the counter looking all forlorn, and just said “damn.” I’d won. And that’s all the certification I’ve ever needed.
At the time of writing this the date is Thursday 30th April, and we’re officially into our sixth week of Covid-19 lockdown. I’ve been making weekly batches of eggs, all with a little inspired variation, and today my Dad asked for a recipe as he’s been liking the look of them so I thought I’d actually put pen to paper, finger to keyboard, whatever, and share todays invention: The Sunday Stuffing Scotch Egg, with Beef Gravy Mayo.
I love a Sunday roast and I bloody love a good stuffing (waaaaaaay). Sage is my favourite herb and in the same vein as cauliflower cheese, if stuffing didn’t appear on my favourite meal of the week back in the day then the meal just wasn’t the same. It became, meh…
Now be warned, if this is your first time then prepare and clean as you go as otherwise it could take you the best part of half a day. Scotch Eggs are simple enough but are a time consuming thing to make, so next time you’re at a food market and you’re looking at anything upward from four quid for something that’s pretty decent, don’t squirm at the price. Yes they’re small but the labour involved is what hoiks up the cost. You need a conveyer belt system to help you speed things up.
So please enjoy the below, it’s my first written recipe and I’m not a chef so apologies in advance for any glaringly obvious mistakes.
It’s also imperative to have an appropriate dip to accompany, which should show as much variance as the egg itself. In my case it’s always a mayo. I love mayo.
Sunday Stuffing Scotch Egg w/ Beef Gravy Mayo (makes 6 eggs)
Prep time: Anywhere between an hour and the whole month of January
Cooking time: 5.5 for the egg boiling, 4 for the frying.
Nutritional value: don’t know, don’t fucking care.
Ingredients:
1 medium red onion
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon caster sugar
4 teaspoons instant chicken gravy granules - yeah you heard.
2 tablespoons cold water
7 good chonky pork sausages, skins off
2.5 tablespoons dried sage
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
7 medium eggs (free range obvs)
100g plain flour
150g bread crumbs - I find sourdough is best, and not quite panko size but not too fine either.
(the flour and breadcrumbs can be swapped out for GF versions without any issue too - just watch out for the sausages if you need GF, check the label)
2.5 tablespoons of mayo
1 x beef stock cube - yup.
1 x tablespoon boiling water
First things first, get your onions on as you’ll want these to cook for as long as poss on low. So a bit of oil in a small frying pan then add the finely chopped red onion and cook for a few minutes till soft. Make sure it’s fine too, if the onion pieces are too chunky you’ll have trouble sealing your meat around the egg later (ahem…)
Once softened, add the worcesesesestershire sauce, sugar, gravy granules (to add that oh so familiar Sunday dinner vibe), and a couple tablespoons of cold water to the pan and mix together. Keep on the lowest heat until they’re needed later, and just add more dashes of water if they start getting too dry. You want them soft and wet but not dripping (ahem…).
Next get your eggs going. Water in a saucepan, bring it to the boil. Once boiling, gently lower in 6 eggs, then start the timer. I time mine for five and a half minutes usually, as this means I still get a runny yolk even after the frying process, but still have them cooked enough to peel the shells off easily. Anything under that and you’ll struggle. If you like your yolks a bit more well done, aim for the six and a half to seven mark.
Once the timer goes just take the pan to the sink and pour out the boiling water being careful not to let the eggs fall out, then just fill the pan with cold water and leave to slowly cool in there.
Next up, mix your sausage meat, sage, salt, pepper, and olive oil together in a mixing bowl till thoroughly mixed through, then set aside for just a mo.
Prep your dipping bowls. Making sure you have your station properly prepped for the coating process can help alleviate a lot of stress as it can be quite messy. Doing this now also allows your onions a little more cooking time, and your eggs time to cool off a little more. So in three separate shallow bowls have one with your breadcrumbs in, another with the remaining egg (and give it a whisk), then the last with the plain flour (give an added bit of seasoning and one teaspoon more of dried sage to this and mix in). Then just have ready two dinner plate size non stick dishes of some sort ready too.
Carefully peel your eggs. Give the eggs a gentle tap all around on the work surface and a gentle roll to get it cracked all the way around, then carefully peel off. Try and find that winning membrane that allows you to peel the lot off in a oner. It’s as satisfying as peeling an orange in one, or having the fabled one wipe wonder.
Now you can take your onions off the heat and add to the sausage mix and again thoroughly mix together. You can start mixing with a spoon then work to your hand. Your meat should be sticky enough to hold itself together, but not so sticky that it won’t come off your hands easily (I mean that’s too easy…). If it’s a bit too wet, just add a spoon or two of plain flour to help bind it a little.
When combined I find it very useful to roll it out into a sausage shape so that it’s easier to divide equally into 6 with a knife, otherwise you can end up with varying sizes if you just eyeball it. If you’re being proper then of course use scales. But I’m not proper.
Pat one of these pieces of sausage mix out into a fairly flat disc just under a centimetre thick into the palm of one had, place a peeled egg in the middle, then gently close the meat around it. Try and keep it as even as possible all the way around to allow for even cooking, and make sure it’s completely sealed all the way around. Place these on to one of your flat dishes.
Once you’ve wrapped all your eggs it’s coating time. You can switch on your fryer now to warm up while you do this, 180 degrees C. In this order then, it’s flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Make sure each egg gets a complete coating of one before you move on to the next, and make sure you jump it in your hand a bit to get rid of any excess before transferring it to the next coat. I’d definitely advise having a wet hand and a dry hand too, so keep one hand for the flour and breadcrumbs, and use the other for the egg part. Otherwise you’ll end up with your hands caked with all of it, you’ll make a mess, and you’ll end up with lumps of crumbs around your egg. Place on your second flat dish.
When you’ve completed coating, fry in pairs for a total of 4 minutes. I can fit two in the basket comfortably at a time. Fry for 2 mins, turn them over, then fry for 2 more, then place on to kitchen towel to absorb a bit of the excess fat.
To make that gravy mayo (which is stretching it a bit), take a beef Oxo cube and dissolve it in one tablespoon of boiling water till you have a thick paste. Then thoroughly mix in your mayo and boom, gravy mayo!
Crack on (egg pun) and dig in.
To re-heat later just place in the oven (no covering) on 180 for 20 mins.
That’s more than an oeuf from me today, enjoy.
#harrisonthehand