Scotch Egg

Hey all, it's Annie here and today I've made Scotch egg. I haven't quite stuck to the traditional method of making them. Rather I've used quail eggs and vegetarian haggis, both of which I bought at the fishmonger in Twickenham. The recipe I used was very basic and included very few ingredients. My main change was substituting quail eggs for chicken eggs. Luckily the recipe only called for 6 eggs, two of which were used as binding for the breadcrumbs. Instead I used 12 quail eggs and no eggs for binding.

Firstly, I boiled the quail eggs using the recipe on the back of the box. It only took a few minutes. After the eggs were cool, came the dusting of flour over the peeled eggs. I'm not sure the reason for this, but I assume it helps the haggis stay on. I then took the vegetarian haggis out of its two layers of plastic. I was surprised how well it stayed together. I then took a small chunk of the nutty haggis and flattened it in my hand, which also created a curved area for the eggs to fit in. Then the eggs was placed in and I covered it with more haggis and squeezed the egg tight. Then finished off the 11 more quail eggs. The haggis balls were also covered in flour. I again read over the directions and discovered that I hadn't left any eggs aside for binding the breadcrumbs. As I was completely out of eggs, I decided to pour some milk in a bowl and use it. I was very surprised how well it worked. The milk mixed with the flours from the eggs and made a little paste, and then I rolled them in the breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs were seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg and allspice. I think maybe a larger pinch of everything might have really jazzed everything a bit more. I next fried the eggs on all sides in a little oil and put them in the oven. The recipe said 10 minutes on one side and then turn them over and 6 minutes, then voilà! Homemade vegetarian quail-scotch egg.

To be perfectly honest, I was surprised how good they were. Having shaped the vegetarian haggis earlier, I was expecting more veg burger/vegan flavor. But actually it was rather nutty and had real bite. These are really tasty and a much better option to the pre-made vegetarian "picnic eggs" sold at the super markets, which are terrible.

I really recommend using vegetarian haggis in your scotch egg recipes, thank!

A