I found an original recipe for Scotch Eggs in this great little $5, [compulsive buy], Irish Pub Recipes, mini-mag. I’d never heard of them before. Seriously I felt like I’d won the lottery. Hard boiled eggs, sausage, AND a crispy crunch?!! Yes I’ll play for the million dollar win!
And so began one of our favorite food finds this year. I love that they are classic ‘man-food,’ easy appetizers, simple to make, and great cold! (Oh, I guess that would fall under the ‘man-food’ category.)
There isn’t much else to say about the recipe because it really is just simple and great, but I did take some time to research a little about Scotch Eggs:
So apparently, not that unlike the great pizza issue of New York, there is an ongoing debate over whether ‘Scotch Eggs’ are a knock off of the ‘Narcissus Eggs’ of oriental decent. The naming of Narcissus comes from their inside being visually similar to the narcissus flower, and that is certainly a very Asian thing to do. I’ve seen other recipes were boiled eggs were added to the center of Kafta meatballs, making it a more middle eastern dish. But then I keep seeing recipes where the Narcissus Eggs are served with a ‘curry’ sauce and either lentils, rice, or the like.
…Now, anyone who has ever watched Alton Brown will probably be very quick to tell you that ‘curry’ is not, I repeat, not, an Indian food. That’s right. It is a pretty well known fact that the best curry places in the world are indeed not in India, as so many would assume either by common culture or culinary similarities, but are actually in their native created location of… wait for it… Great Britain, namely London. After returning home from service in Occupied India many British ‘foodies’ craved the flavorful and heavily seasoned foods they had grown accustom to while away. So that… well is some information about a pretty much useless topic to this recipe.
I guess what I take away is that I’m pretty sure it’s likely that Narcissus Eggs came first, but that’s mostly a gut feeling with a little common knowledge facts floating around in there to make an educated guess. Besides, what (if any) other good foods come from Scotland? I’d be sure to steal a fittingly traditional idea, too!
I am going to suggest that those other creative cooks out there try different renditions of the ‘egg in meatball’ idea. Based on the little snip’its above, I’m sure there are many great dishes to be made with subtle changes to seasoning, sauce, and dish composition. UPDATE: I ended up creating a simpler concept, as “Brunch Eggs.” It’s a total winner, and doesn’t involve dealing with the sausage.
Either way, here you have it; the very simple and very good recipe for Scotch Eggs:
Scotch Eggs
Ingredients
- 6 eggs; hard boiled and peeled
- 1 pound ground sausage; Italian or Breakfast as preferred
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 2 T ground mustard
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- ½ cup traditional bread crumbs
Instructions
- Whisk the ground mustard into the heavy whipping cream. (also see note)
- Toss together the panko and bread crumbs on a large plate.
- Place a ‘pancake’ of ground sausage in the palm of your hand. Flatten it out with the heel of your other hand and place an egg in the center. Using a combination of cupping and spreading with your fingers roll the egg and sausage around until the egg is completely engulfed, adding or taking away sausage as needed.
- Dip the egg/sausage ball in the heavy whipping cream and roll it around in the bread crumb combo until it is completely coated.
- Place the scotch eggs on a baking sheet that has been prepped with cooking spray, and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes; until golden brown and the sausage is no longer pink.
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