Scotch Eggs from An Echo in the Bone
I put down my cup and stared at him.
“You don’t mean you aren’t planning to go ho-to go back to the Ridge?” I had a sudden empty feeling in the pit of my stomach, remembering our plans for the New House, the smell of balsam fir, and the quiet of the mountains. Did he really mean to move to Boston or Philadelphia?
“No,” he said, surprised. “Of course we shall go back there. But if I mean to be in the printing trade, Sassenach, we shall need to be in a city for a time, no? Only ’til the war is over,” he said, encouraging.
“Oh,” I said in a small voice. “Yes. Of course.” I drank tea, not tasting it. How could I have been so stupid? I had never once thought that, of course, a printing press would be pointless on Fraser’s Ridge. In part, I supposed, I simply hadn’t really believed he would get his press back, let alone thought ahead to the logical conclusion if he did.
But now he had his Bonnie back, and the future had suddenly acquired a disagreeable solidity. Not that cities didn’t have considerable advantages, I told myself stoutly. I could finally acquire a decent set of medical instruments, replenish my medicines — why, I could even make penicillin and ether again! With a little better appetite, I took a Scotch egg.
Diana Gabaldon, An Echo in the Bone (Chapter 74 – Twenty-Twenty)
The origins of the Scotch egg are a little up in the air, much like the short-term future of our favourite hero and heroine.
London’s Fortnum & Mason claims to have invented it as a portable snack for rich coach travellers in 1738. The eggs would have been smaller (from a pullet, or young hen,) and the meat would have been gamier, and with a texture more like a pâté rather than the modern sausage.
Others have speculated that Scotch eggs were inspired by nargisi kofta (“Narcissus meatballs”), a dish of minced meat and boiled eggs from the kitchens of 16th C Imperial India.
A third explanation is a little more pedestrian, which, in my opinion, makes it the most likely: the Scotch egg was a portable lunch made from leftovers; a variation of a Cornish pasty, bridie, or any other working man’s lunch from that era in Britain.
My Scotch eggs were a little light on the sausage — the quantities I’ve given in the recipe make up for this shortfall, and will leave you with slightly beefier eggs than the ones you see below.
Speaking of sausage, don’t feel the need to stick to the traditional pork breakfast variety. I switched things up a bit and used some fresh chorizo on half of the eggs, and turkey sausage on the other half.
I deep fried the chorizo eggs and baked the turkey ones. Although the baked Scotch eggs never browned to a beautiful golden like those fried in oil, they did crisp up nicely, to a point where I can honestly say that you’re not going to lose a lot of flavour if you forgo the mess and cleanup of deep fat frying and bake the eggs instead.
Because while JAMMF may very well live forever, the rest of us could probably stand to give our arteries a break.
Scotch Eggs from An Echo in the Bone
: An easy, make-ahead, protein-packed snack that can be fried or baked.
Yield: 6
- Eggs – 6 (see notes)
- Vegetable Oil (for frying) – 3 to 4 Cups
- All Purpose Flour – ½ Cup
- Salt – ½ tsp
- Cayenne – ¼ tsp (optional)
- Egg – 1
- Dried Bread Crumbs – 1½ Cups (I used Panko)
- Sausage – 1½ lb (see notes)
Place the 6 eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a full rolling boil, remove from the heat, cover, and set aside for 10 minutes. Drain, then cover the eggs with ice water until cool to the touch. Remove from hot water, cool completely and peel.
If frying your eggs, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high to 350° F. If baking your eggs, preheat oven to 400° F.
Assemble the breading station: stir together the flour, salt and cayenne in a small bowl or plate. Beat the remaining egg with 1 tsp of water. Place the breadcrumbs in a small bowl or plate.
Flatten about 4 oz. of sausage into a patty in the palm of your hands, and form it around the egg. Repeat with remaining sausage meat and eggs. Roll the sausage-covered eggs in the flour to coat lightly, roll in the beaten egg, then in the bread crumbs to cover evenly.
Deep fry until golden. Drain on paper towels. Alternatively, bake in the preheated oven until light golden, about 25-30 minutes.
Serve hot or cold.
Notes:
- Hardboiled eggs made from farm fresh eggs can be difficult to peel. Use 7-10 day old eggs to make it easier. Store-bought eggs will be fine at any age.
- Pork breakfast sausage is traditional — but you can use any sausage your heart desires. Beef, turkey, even veggie!
I don’t generally post on here because …. well, what do I know, I’m just a dumb redneck from Oklahoma…….I have, however, made Scotch eggs many times, they’ve sorta become something of tradition for Thanksgiving at my sis-in-law’s, we bring the eggs (both scotch and deviled) and mom…..
Anyway, the thought never occurred to me to wrap the eggs with RAW sausage, I’ve always fried it up like you would hamburger meat, drain it on paper towels and then run it through a food processor to get an even consistency. Add a raw egg or two and a little bit of milk to make a paste and using wet hands form the sausage mixture around the egg, then roll in milk & egg mixture and roll in breadcrumbs, then pop it in the oven till it gets golden brown……….
The first time I ever had a Scotch egg was at Scarborough Medieval fair outside Waxahatchie, TX, they sprinkled/rolled their eggs in paprika before wrapping the sausage around it.
Another woman I know uses crushed cornflakes to roll her eggs in before baking……..I guess there’s really no right or wrong way to make them, as long as the end product is an egg wrapped in ground meat.
:-)
I’ve never heard of that method, Shelly, but if it works, and the family loves them, then it must work wonderfully! :)
I’ve had these many times, but my 1st was when my Swedish/ Italian aunt made them. She called them Boccie Balls in honor of my Italian uncle, and they were HUGE! She continued to make them for my husband every Christmas until she could no longer cook. This year, I’ll make them for her for Christmas.
I’m not the most experienced cook in the kitchen but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to get the sausage to flatten and mold around the egg. Is there a particular type of sausage to use. I was using andouille sausage and it either fell apart or wouldn’t close when I wrapped around. I ended up just breading whatever I had and baking it. Still tasted good but a definite F in presentation.
hmmm…curious. The first question that comes to mind is whether it was raw sausage or cured? Andouille can be both. You want raw sausage. I flattened it into a pancake, then wrapped it around the egg in the palm of my hand. Not tricky at all, which makes me think you maybe had a cured/smoked sausage?
Yes, I did used cured sausage. This suddenly makes sense, lol. I didn’t realize you needed it raw. These are usually the kind of silly mistakes I make in the kitchen, lol. Thanks!
Mystery solved! Onwards and upwards… ;)
Aha! Saveur has a recipe for Scotch Eggs and I’ve been debating whether or not to stick a tab on that page. You’ve decided me. Yours looks so delicious; I need to give these a go!
Your family will love them, Christiane! I`m making another few this week…
Yum! I love scotch eggs!
so do I, Deniz!
Weird!!!! I was JUST THINKING that you should make a Scotch Egg…. And now I have it…. Making this tomorrow for sure!!!!
I strive to please, Mindy ;)
That looks yummy. The fair is coming to town and I would pick this over any fried oreo, snickers or banana!!
I bet you’ll have the chance, Aaron! I love Fair days…
I first made Scotch Eggs back in the late 1970′s. I was a new bride and wanted something special for my husband’s Sunday Breakfast. These were a huge hit.
I have made these before. I liked them. My family thought I was bonkers.
why would they think you were bonkers? Scotch eggs have been around for hundreds of years and are now popular all over the world!
Janetta’s egg sounds wonderful for a whole meal
I looked it up in one of my books – very similar but my recipe had chopped anchovies as well and called the meat ‘foremeat’…
Thanks for bringing this to light.
Forcemeat is sausage meat by another name, Debra…the anchovies would really add flavour though!
The first time I had a Scotch egg was at a Renaissance Festival…I fell in love! Thanks for the great recipe..
Awesome! I’ll be making these soon!
That is a deliciously fascinating twist on my regular weekend meal. I wonder if Woman is interested trying this recipe.
In Iran they have a similar recipe: kofte tabrizi. It is made with minced meat (a lot thicker layer around the egg that scotch eggs) and is simmered in a tomato sauce. Served with delicious iranian rice…