Recipe : Scotch Eggs

Ok, can't think of anything to post today, so I'm going to share my recipe for uber-delicious scotch eggs.

You will need:

Eggs
Sausage Meat
Breadcrumbs
Cooking oil.

1) Boil the required number of eggs (totally up to you, depending on how many you want). Leave to cool and shell.

2) 'Work' the sausage meat a little until it's nice and pliable. Then give the shelled boiled eggs about a third to a half-inch coating of sausage meat. (Again, this depends on the size of the egg, just use your best judgement). Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

3) While you're waiting for the eggs to cool, beat an egg in a bowl. You may need more than one, depending on how many eggs you're making.

4) Take your sausage covered eggs from the fridge and roll in the raw egg. Then roll in the breadcrumbs until you have a nice coating. (If you don't want to use store-bought breadcrumbs, just chuck a few slices in a blender and leave to dry out). Feel free to spice the breadcrumbs in any way you like. I'd say at least a little black pepper.

5) Put about 1/8th of an inch of cooking oil in a large skillet. Heat the oil to a medium heat (if it's smoking it's way too hot) and drop your eggs in, turning often to ensure even cooking.

6) Once the sausage meat is cooked, use kitchen towels to absorb the excess oil, and either eat hot, or put them in the fridge. They're excellent cold and are great for picnics.

Hints:

The last step is absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, you pretty much need to fry scotch eggs to get the coating cooked right, but the sausage meat puts off a lot of grease by itself. Without leaving to cool on a stack of towels to absorb that extra grease...you end up with sausagy grease-balls instead.

Another technique (although I have to say I've never tried it), is to spray the eggs down with Pam or some other cooking spray after coating in breadcrumbs, and baking them in the oven.

Let me know what you think!