You have to cook it right: Scotch Eggs Done My Way

I first had a Scotch egg about 10 years ago at a bar in Rochester, MN. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either, there was too much breading and the sausage had almost no flavor. The egg was hard boiled and it wasn't served with much, just a bland ranch style sauce. I was not very impressed and because of that I was not very eager to try them again. A few years later a friend of mine had a party and he made scotch eggs, they were better than the ones I had before and got me thinking that maybe a scotch egg could be good if it was cooked right.

Then last year I was at a bar in Apple Valley, MN and they had scotch eggs on the menu. I ordered a plate and was amazed at what a difference there was from the ones I had in Rochester. The breading was light and crisp and the sausage actually tasted like something. The eggs were still hard boiled but what really sold me was the two types of mustard and the pickled onions the eggs were served with. That pretty much did it for me, I knew that at some point I was going to have to make scotch eggs. As I read the different recipes online and in some of my books I noticed that many called for a soft boiled egg with a runny yolk. This made perfect sense to me because my favorite part of an egg is a nice runny yolk.

I figured if I was going to make a scotch egg it wold have to have some form of wild game in it and I didn't have enough duck to make a duck sausage so I chose to use ground antelope. Antelope is very lean and I was worried that it would crumble and fall apart as it was fried so I added an egg to one pound of ground antelope. One of my least favorite things about the scotch eggs I had in the past was the breading. It always seemed to heavy and didn't add anything to the egg, I decided that instead of bread crumbs I would roll my eggs in crushed pork rinds. I know that sounds strange but it worked better than I hoped. It provided just enough crunch on the outside of the meat but was not dense, it also added a little more flavor to the whole thing as I use the hot and spicy pork rinds.

What I ended up with was a beautiful scotch egg that made me want more. My yolk's were soft and runny and the meat was seasoned perfectly. The real shock to me was that scotch eggs aren't that easy to make, it requires a certain amount of patience and a delicate hand. Once you get the hang of it it isn't to hard and these will be made may more times in the future. I would love to get my hands on some duck eggs and make an all duck scotch egg with a duck sausage then wrap the whole thing in duck skin and fry til crispy. I almost can't wait for the next duck season to start so I can try that.

My Scotch Eggs

4 soft boiled eggs (boiled in a medium boil for 5 minutes)

1 pound ground antelope (or other ground meat)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

oil to fry in, I like peanut oil or canola oil

1. boil the eggs for five minutes on a medium boil then cool and peel carefully

2. mix together the meat, egg and seasonings then put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

3. take a 1/4 pound of the meat and press it flat on a piece of plastic wrap, press it out so that it is about 1/4 inch thick, then form it around the egg. use the plastic wrap so that the meat doesnt' stick to your hands.

4. Roll the eggs in the crushed pork rinds and fry in 350 degree oil for 2-3 minutes. It doesn't take long as the meat cooks very quickly and you want the egg yolk to stay runny.