Scotch Eggs

My proudest achievement so far during this 2019 New Years Resolution, I still can't believe I actually made these from scratch and how authentic they taste. Bloody amazing, and not as tricky as I anticipated.

Honestly, it was the prep-ping of the eggs and chopping of the bacon that took the longest in this recipe. 7 minutes (for large eggs) was about right - another 30 seconds would have been perfect.

Once everything was chopped and in the bowl, mixing the forcemeat and wrapping the eggs was actually very easy.

It's an oddly satisfying feeling to cover the egg in the forcemeat mixture. Hiding the whites. Unusually, the recipe made just the right amount of mixture too!! It's also fun getting your hands dirty. Cooking should be fun and messy.

I was nervous about deep-frying. I didn't have quite the right amount of oil, also, my first test egg the oil was far too hot and it burnt. But the last three came out perfect. Golden brown and delicious with a running yolk. Bloody amazing!!

I'm still blown away by how well these came out.

I had mine with mustard!! YUM!

Scotch Eggs

4 (I used 6) rindless back bacon rashers, finely chopped or minced

50g shredded suet

175g fresh white breadcrumbs

grated rind 1/2 lemon

1 tsp finely chopped parsley (I used dried)

1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme, marjoram or oregano (I used dried)

generous pinch of ground mace

salt

cayenne pepper

2 eggs, beaten

4 hard-boiled eggs (I boiled mine for 7 min then put in an ice bath.)

plain flour for coating

oil for deep frying

Mix the bacon with the suet, half the breadcrumbs, the lemon rind, parsley and thyme, marjoram or oregano. Season the mixture with mace, salt and cayenne pepper to taste, then mix well until thoroughly combined. Stir in about half the beaten egg, or slightly less, to make a forcemeat which binds together and can be shaped by hand. Lightly whisk 2 tsp water into the remaining beaten egg.

Divide the forcemeat into quarters. Dust the hard boiled eggs with a little flour. Flatten a portion of forcemeat into a circle on the palm of one hand. Place an egg on top and gently mould the forcemeat around the egg to enclose it completely. Try to make the coating as even as possible and ensure that it clings to the egg.

Place the remaining breadcrumbs in a large shallow dish. Coat the scotch eggs in a little flour, then roll them in the beaten egg and coat them with breadcrumbs. Press the breadcrumbs on neatly.

Heat the oil for deep frying to 160C or until it will brown a cube of day-old bread in 2 minutes. Fry the scotch eggs until they are crisp and golden, turning them in the oil if necessary so they cook evenly. They will need about 10minutes cooking.