Scotch-Eggs-msg - 3/6/05 The sausage-coated hardboiled eggs commonly called "Scotch Eggs". A fairly common lunch food and fingerfood in the SCA. NOTE: See also the files: eggs-msg, sausages-msg, meat-smoked-msg, Scotland-msg, cl-Scotland-msg, haggis-msg, chicken-msg, fd-Scotland-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ From: caradoc at enet.net (John Groseclose) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: breakfast poll Date: Wed, 01 Mar 1995 10:10:11 -0700 Suze.Hammond at f56.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Suze Hammond) wrote: <snip> >Usually called Scotch Eggs. I've tried to make them, and no matter what I >do (and what advice or recipe) I can't keep the meat covering from cracking. > >I've tried three Scottish cookbooks so far... This is one of my favorites... > >HHHHHHELLLPPPP! > >... Moreach NicMhaolain Well, if you make the covering too thin, it'll crack, and if you make it too thick, it'll crack... Between 1/4" and 1/2" is what works for me... Deep-frying cooks the meat more evenly so there's less chance of cracking. If you pan-fry, you need to keep the eggs moving so their covering cooks evenly. The last batch of these I did was a dozen, and I cracked the coverings on two of those. Practice makes perfect. Also, don't forget to dip them in the beaten egg, as it helps to hold the whole delicious mess together. -- John Groseclose <caradoc at enet.net> From: Corbie <corbiegirl at aol.com> Newsgroups: soc.culture.scottish,alt.scottish.clans,rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Scottish Eggs was Haggis Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 14:27:01 -0700 Peterson wrote: > I just went to the Ozark Highland Games yesterday and had Scottish Eggs for the first time. All of us agreed > these were great. I was wondering if anyone had a recipe out there. It was a hard boiled egg rolled into some > type of sausage with added spices. Kind of spicy. Any suggestions. Cheers > > Cory I make Scotch Eggs for breakfast all the time. My recipe is a little different from the previous posted recipe; I take loose country sausage or ground pork (the lower the fat content, the better, as a high fat content will cause the meat to shrink too much). Spice the sausage to taste (I use hot sauce, pepper, salt, and various spices). Hard boil some eggs and peel them. Wrap them in sausage. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Two pounds of sausage will cover about eight to ten boiled eggs, depending on how thickly you cover the eggs with the sausage. That's it! I like them better baked than fried, as they taste a lot less greasy. I also find they're great to take to events -- a compact, portable, filling little meal. Cheers, Mara From: Brian Annesley <brian at scotbooks.demon.co.uk> Newsgroups: soc.culture.scottish,alt.scottish.clans,rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Scottish Eggs was Haggis Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 21:32:48 +0100 Robert Gurley <robert.l.gurley at worldnet.att.net> writes >Peterson wrote: >> >> I just went to the Ozark Highland Games yesterday and had Scottish Eggs for >the first time. All of us >> agreed these were great. I was wondering if anyone had a recipe out there. >It was a hard boiled egg rolled > into some type of sausage with added spices. >Kind of spicy. Any suggestions. Cheers >> >> Cory > >Cory, > >It's a very basic recipe. Wrapped hard-boiled eggs in sausage dip in >beaten egg and roll in flour. Deep fry til golden brown. The spices >usually come from the sausage, from what I've tasted. > >Robert They are known as Scotch eggs nothing to do with Scotland take: 4 eggs 2 tablespoons of flour 8oz of Sausage meat breadcrumbs 1 egg for coating 1/2 teacup milk for coating Deep fat for frying Hardboil 4 eggs cool & shell. divide sausage meat into 4 fold evenly round lightly floured eggs, coat with blended egg & milk roll in breadcrumbs. Fry till sausage meat is cooked (this is important if you don't want a sick tum) Half each egg with sharp knife (mind the fingers) serve hot or cold. -- Brian Annesley books of Scottish Interest 26 Duchess Drive HELENSBURGH G84 9PR Scotland 01436 676222 http://www.scotbooks.demon.co.uk returns ok within 10 days but first please email:brian at scotbooks.demon.co.uk From: mikepat at backhaulnet.com (Micheil Rob Mac Phdruig) Newsgroups: soc.culture.scottish,alt.scottish.clans,rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Scottish Eggs was Haggis Date: Thu, 01 May 1997 13:14:39 GMT Organization: HookUp Communication Corporation, Vancouver, BC, CANADA Brian Annesley <brian at scotbooks.demon.co.uk> wrote: >They are known as Scotch eggs >nothing to do with Scotland I wonder why nobody told us. I shall go through my Scots cookbooks and rip out the offending pages immediately. Mcheil Rob MacPhdruig Dridh:duine-uasal Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 20:48:25 -0800 From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <acrouss at gte.net> Subject: Re: SC - Scotch eggs Hi all from Anne-Marie, While I don't believe they're period per se (I know of no medieval recipes involving a hard boiled egg wrapped in meat and bread crumbs and fried or baked), they are tasty little tidbits. I find that if you start with small eggs, not large you'll be much happier and have much fewer blowouts. thanks for the idea of baking them! I never thought of that. - --AM Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 00:10:07 -0400 From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com> Subject: SC - More on Scotch Eggs > You are quite welcome! These are still *very* rich, but I am sure that baking > or roasting (ooh on a skewer over the fire pit!?) would make them a little > leaner, your choice or make of sausage coating would probably control the fat. > Somebody eating with us also suggested making "scotch devils" by cutting them > in half and mixing the yolks with the mustard and then refilling them. > The kids could probably *make* them too! > - -brid Another possible way to reduce the fat slightly is to use lean raw ham, ground up. I recall reading somewhere that the original dish was made with ham, and that the sausage version was introduced later. Don't recall offhand where I ran across this info. I believe the dish was originally used by 19th-century English chefs (yes, they did exist) as a garnish for roast game, and entered the Pub Food repertoire later. Adamantius troy at asan.com Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 08:13:32 -0600 From: Wes Will <wwill at siu.edu> Subject: Re: SC - Scotch Eggs >think I would like to try this baked version, sounds like something that >would not be as hazzardous to my health! Healthier version, minor amendments. Use a 1-pound roll of turkey breakfast sausage; add to it enough (usually about 3/4 cup) of seasoned bread crumbs, and work it all together until it will hold up easily when wrapped thinly around a soft-boiled (4-5 minute) egg. Roll the coated egg in more of the bread crumbs. I sometimes like to lightly dry and toast these for the outside layer. Place on a jelly-roll pan (baking sheets without lips are a bad idea. Eggs love to roll.) and bake at 350 about 20 minutes, or until the sausage is completely done. Cheap way to feed a lot of hungry folks, and they're quite portable if wrapped in foil or such, for lunches. Or even a hand-held breakfast. Eoin Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 09:20:45 -0700 (MST) From: Sabia <sabia at unm.edu> Subject: SC - Scotch eggs Sabia here: this is the recipe Mistress Kathryn used at St Cecilias Feast Day a year ago. They went over well, although as noted at the end the switch to oven baking was comtemplated. <Snip> Recipe from "A Feast of Scotland" by Janet Warren Makes 5: 1 lb sausage (2 cups, firmly packed) 5 hard boiled eggs, shelled 1 large egg, beaten a dusting flour dry white breadcrumbs deep fat for frying Dust each egg with a little flour. Divide the sausage into 5 and on a floured surface work each piece into an oval. Place an egg in the center of each one and mould the sausage round it making sure the surface is free from cracks. Put the beaten egg and breadcrumbs onto separate plates and coat each egg first with the egg and then in the breadcrumbs so that the surface is completely covered. Coat each egg again if you like to ensure a really good surface. Heat a deep fat fryer half full of oil to 360 degrees, lower in the eggs and cook them for about 5-6 minutes. If the fat is too hot the outside will brown before the sausage is cooked. Drain when cooked and leave to cool. Serve with a salad for lunch or as a picnic food - --------------------- Cealte and Kathryn tricks/changes: Make sure the egg is completely dry and wrap the sausage around it w/o the flour. Dip into the beaten egg, but roll alternately in fine Scottish oats. Bake the eggs in the slow oven 10-12 minutes or until sausage is cooked. Less fat and they taste better I believe with the scottish oats inside of the breadcrumbs <SNIP> Sabia (sabia at unm.edu) Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 20:07:21 EST From: LrdRas <LrdRas at aol.com> Subject: Re: SC - Frozen Scotch Eggs themorrigan at softhome.net writes: << The >texture was a little tougher than fresh, but the taste was fine. Also, the >outside was a little wet. >> Heating them for a half hour at 350 degrees fahrenheit, would crisp the exterior and freshen the product. A wet exterior would indicate to me, IMO, that the technique used for reheating was not the correct choice. Ras Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 17:20:42 -0500 From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com> Subject: Re: SC - Scotch Eggs On Tue, 7 Mar 2000 10:27:03 EST Seton1355 at aol.com writes: > I am going to make Scotch Eggs for Friday. I've read the recipe but > never actually made them before. Some advice please. > > 1. Wrapping a 5-6 minute egg in ground beef / turkey sausage.... > How hard boiled is the egg at that point? Wouldn't it just gush > out, OR do you just wrap very carfully & gingerly? I would not necessarily under-boil the egg just because it will be cooked again. The main trick when frying them is to get the sausage to cook long enough without burning, and to heat the egg inside all the way through, but I wouldn't count on it really adding doneness to the egg . Using a frying temp of 300 - 325 is best. You can also cut your eggs in half and then wrap them, as the whole ones tend to be quite large. This is an especially good idea if you are going to be serving these with other foods. And yes, wrap very gingerly. I have never seen this done with beef sausage, only pork and turkey. > 2.How thick a coating of ground sausage do you give each egg? About 1/3 - 1/2 inch. You want to make sure it will not break open and expose the egg underneath to the frying oil. By the way, something I rarely see in S.E. recipes that I consider a very important step. When you are assembling them, dip the egg itself in egg wash, and then apply the sausage. This holds true even if you are doing half or quarter eggs. (Most recipes take you from there to then dip the whole thing in egg wash, and then roll in breadcrumbs - a step you can omit if you want. The breadcrumbs tend to burn, anyway.) The eggwash layer between the egg and the sausage will keep the whole thing stuck together as a unit. Without it, you get the egg rolling around inside the sausage casing, and it becomes difficult to eat it. Remember to serve this with a mild mustard sauce, mmm, where did you say you would be serving these on Friday? ;) > 3 Is another name for Scotch Eggs: "hedgehogs"? Nope. Those are meatballs with almond slivers, made to look like bristling hedgehogs. As far as I know, Scotch Eggs are not period. Tasty, but not period. Good luck, Christianna Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 13:10:45 -0400 From: Lurking Girl <tori at panix.com> Subject: SC - [OOP] Vegetarian Scotch Eggs Some while ago, people were discussing vegetarian variations on Scotch eggs. I went out pub-crawling with a friend last night who inclines that way, and she mentioned she had an excellent recipe for same. Finally, it has been unearthed... Vika share and enjoy ******************************** Here's that Vegetarian Scotch Eggs recipe I've been promising: Scotch Eggs Vegetarian-Style From: The Complete Vegetarian Cuisine by Rose Elliot Serves 4 4 Hard-Boiled eggs, shelled 1 egg, beaten 1/2 quantity Brown Lentil Bake mixture (see recipe below) salt and freshly ground black pepper Whole-wheat flour and fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs for coating vegetable oil for deep frying Dip each egg into beaten egg, then coat with a quarter of the lentil mixture, pressing it around smoothly and firmly. Coat the eggs first in the remaining beaten egg, then in seasoned flour; then repeat egg and breadcrumbing. Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 325 degrees F., or when a small cube of stale bread browns in one minute. Put the Scotch eggs into the oil and fry gently until golden. Remove the Scotch eggs with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Cut the eggs in half and serve hot or cold. Brown Lentil Bake Mixture 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped 1 large garlic clove, crushed 1 cup dried green or brown lentils, cooked until tender, and well drained 2 tablespoons chopped parsely 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence 2 tablespoons soy suace salt and freshly ground black pepper Heat the oil in a large suacepan and saute the onion for 10 minutes until soft and lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, lentils, parsley, mixed herbs and soy sauce. Mash by hand or puree roughly in a belnder or food processor, until the mixture holds together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. ******************************** Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 12:01:05 -0000 From: nanna at idunn.is (Nanna Rognvaldardottir) Subject: Re: SC - Help!!! Gwynydd wrote: >Umm, I feel really bad saying this, but I have a nasty feeling that "Scotch >Eggs" are neither Scottish nor Period. (The first is from a quick wander >through the Florigieum, the second is something which one of the cooks on >this List said to me - she suggested that they are 17th or 18th century. According to John Ayto, that is probably correct: "The Scotch egg - a hard-boiled egg enveloped in sausage meat and then fried - appeared on the scene at the beginning of the nineteenth century, although whether as a new invention or simply as a wider dissemination of an ancient traditional dish is not altogether clear. The first known printed recipe for it appears in M.E. Rundell's New System of Domestic Cookery (1809)." (A Gourmet's Guide). Alan Davidson supports this and adds that the Scotch egg may possibly be a descendant of a form of Indian kofta. The recipe first appeared in a Scottish recipe book in 1826. Nanna Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 14:38:57 -0500 From: <kingstaste at mindspring.com> Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Scottish Eggs revisited To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> The steps that seem to be left out by most folks is re-dipping in the egg wash on every level. Dip the hard boiled egg in the egg wash before you apply the sausage layer and it will stick together. Apply egg wash on the outside and then roll the whole thing in bread crumbs for a consistent coating, which I would think could help keep them from cracking as well. Christianna >>> I made Scottish Eggs, for the first time, last week for Estrella War. They were very well received and very convenient, as they are a nice food to prepare ahead and pack in the cooler. However, the sausage coating on the egg had a tendency to crack, and I realized the subject had been discussed on this list in the past. I don't recall the preferred remedy. Was it baking them rather than frying, or was it, perhaps, freezing them a bit first? Beathog <<< Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 11:50:38 -0800 From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Scottish Eggs revisited To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Beathog wrote: >I dusted the hard boiled egg in flour, coated it with the sausage, dipped it >in an egg wash and finally in bread crumbs. Still, they cracked. > >Beathog Hmm. Maybe the sausage layer was not thick enough? I use a 12-ounce chub of breakfast sausage for four eggs. I also deep-fry them for an even exterior treatment. My low-carb version, which nobody seems to have noticed yet, was to substitute a mixture of half soy flour and half wheat bran for the breadcrumb exterior. Browns up nicely and supplies some fiber, a Good Thing when living la vida lo-carb! Selene, Scotch Egg Veteran Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 15:43:50 -0500 From: "Mairi Ceilidh" <jjterlouw at earthlink.net> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Scottish Eggs revisited To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> What I was told by a Scot was that they crack because they are being cooked too hot. Cooking oil should not exceed 345 Deg. F. Mairi Ceilidh <the end> Edited by Mark S. Harris Scotch-Eggs-msg Page 9 of 9