To the tune of: Take me home, Country Road:
Runny yolk, take me home
To the barn I belong
Best for dinner, mountain clucker
Take me home, runny yolk
...by that 70s song-stylin' dude, John Henver. :-)
There seems to be a lot of discussion on other websites about the runnyness of the yolks in these eggs, and how uninformed I must be. Yes, I know a Scotch Egg is supposed to be a hardboiled egg, but have you not noticed the song lyrics my friend invented?? This recipe reflects those lyrics!
The theme for this month's End of Month Egg on Toast Extravaganza is Seventies Song Lyrics, and all credit for both creations above to my old friend, L, who is truly the King of Cheese. L, who recently moved to Osaka to teach English (after that infamous cocktail party) and has the biggest collection of cheesy records I know (Tijuana Brass...Matt Monroe...!). We've known each other for years and spent countless hours together discovering our love for cooking, whilst living as poor uni students at a college with very dull dinners. It's amazing what you can do with a bar fridge, toaster and a kettle.... Only this weekend he started up his own foodblog, chronicling his culinary adventures in Japan. Good on you! I thought it couldn't get any better when you suggested John Henver "Runny Yolk", but when you emailed me and said "why don't you go for a complete 70s theme and make a Scotch Egg?" I bowed to your genius. :-)
Scotch Eggs seem to inspire involuntary shudders of disgust from, well, everybody. A. looked faintly disgusted when I suggested it, but agreed to give it a go. I mean, how bad can a boiled egg packed in sausage mince and breadcrumbs and then fried in a deep vat of oil be?? Besides going straight to your heart with its cholesterol-packed goodness. And possibly causing indigestion. Millions of Scottish can't be wrong!
So, I boiled me a couple of eggs and squodged a pack of commercial sausage mince around them til they were submerged. This is a messy process. Don't try to answer the phone or turn on a tap unless you enjoy finding dried bits of sausage meat greeting you the next morning. Then toss it around in a bowl of breadcrumbs; I used a combination of bog-standard stuff, and some Japanese panko - in deference to the Japanese connection. ;-) Then bung them in a pre-heated deep fryer for about 7 minutes or something. I seem to have a real thing about deep frying boiled eggs, don't I? We have an inbuilt deep-fryer so it was easy, but L. says he's baked them in the oven before, which would definitely be the healthier option! I cooked mine until the crust was very dark brown and crunchy, but as you can see, I still maintained my Runny Yolk....... Yay!
And the taste? Pretty damn good, actually! Not nearly as awful as we expected. In fact, we were a little worried that they could become a regular indulgence. It'd be a novel way to enjoy a sausage and eggs breakast...
So, John Henver 'Runny Yolk' Scotch Egg Perfection! To complement the cheesiest boy I know :-P
Tagged with eggs + EOMEOTE
he he he - thanks Niki! they look really delicious. I have been trying to work out what to make here to take to school for lunch. All the other teachers have bentos, but scotch eggs would be great!
ReplyDeleteThat is so funny, I was at a rennasiance festival last week (I'm not sure if they have those in austrailia but they are mostly big festivals where people go to dress like knights and wenches and drink mead and cider and have a good time, lol) anyway they had scotch eggs there and my boyfriend I tried them and we really liked them. It's gross and fattening but also a very delcious combo. (tastes great with some honey mustard) so thanks for sharing a recipe!
ReplyDeleteI think that scotch eggs involve a great combination, but are often ill prepared (or very cheaply made) in commercial settings. Besides, it involves fewer innards than many Scottish dishes (I apologise to any haggis fans, but it's just not for me). I bet that runny yolk really improves it. And I love that plate, Niki.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother made a variation of this with mashed potato and mince and herbs wrapped around the egg. It was my fave side dish.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, how did you maintain the runny yolks? I always have a problem with that. They turn up completely hard boiled right to the yolks or the entire is too under-cooked to peel successfully. Appreciate the tip.
Lucas - I reckon a scotch egg would look hilarious next to a bento box! How more 'slobby westerner' could you get?!
ReplyDeleteJess - No, we don't have them here, but I've seen a Renaissance Festival on that Simpsons episode! They seem to focus on a 'particular' aspect of Renaissance culture; as you say, knights and wenches. I'm more interested in liturgical choral music of the Renaissance, but that's not to say I wouldn't enjoy a good mead drinking afternoon dressed as a wench! I almost enrolled in a subject at uni during my music degree called 'Renaissance Dance', but it was run by a big, scary German woman who didn't make it look like fun at all! One step out of place and I reckon she would have hit you with a ruler.
Yes, scotch eggs are tasty! We had a second one for breakfast yesterday, reheated. Unfortunately we didn't have any HP sauce, like the Brits would have, so I slathered mine in creamy goats cheese, but my bf tried his with a chili apple chutney; which he said was great! I imagine honey mustard would be great also.
Nic - I completely agree. I saw an episode of a healthy eating program from the UK which profiled a woman who lived on prepackaged frozen scotch eggs which she heat up in her microwave. Euughhhh.
Yes, I much preferred the runny yolk version to the hard yolk one we had the next morning.
MM - I was actually thinking of flavouring the sausage mince with something, but decided to try it au naturel first. I would like to experiment with flavourings though.
For the runny yolk, it was a bit of a fluke I guess. I boiled the egg for 4 minutes (it was cold from the fridge) which left it with a runny yolk. It was then left to cool for a few hours before I actally coated it in the mince and fried it, so the yolk would have been runny AND cold when I cooked it; so the heat woulnd't have penetrated as easily. I think that's how I managed it. The second one I put back in the fryer for a few minutes to get a hard yolk bc my bf is not a runny yolk fan (heresy!!)
Oh Nic - I have to admit that I really enjoy haggis! I tried it in Scotland, with trepidation (with a rep like it has, you can understand why!), and I really loved it. Tastes just like spicy hamburger mince!!
ReplyDeleteTa Niki! Appreciate the tip. Will try it out this weekend - my grandmother's style, now that you've got me all inspired again.
ReplyDeleteAnd we usually have her version with chilli sauce or chutney. Very yummy.
And I like haggis too. First time I tried it, my Scottish housemate decided to gross me out and brought one home. The tables were turned when I wolfed it down with relish. He couldn't bear eating it himself! LOL.
What a curious eggs, these definitely must be mixed with some kind paste or flour, am I right???
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