Scotch Eggs

[Splinty]

Oh man, I'm glad I found this! We make them at the brewpub I work at and I have made hundreds of the little suckers.

When we first started making them, we had the problem of them not being cooked all the way to the egg (deep fryer) before they got too dark on the outside. When we thinned out the sausage layer to have it cook faster the sausage layer cracked and exposed egg. Plus, more sausage is better!

The solution is: we add fine breadcrumbs and egg to the sausage, and bake then fry them. I'll give you the recipe.

Sausage Coating
2 lbs bulk sausage (get it from your local meat market.. the fat content.. which is the shrink factor... is lower)
1 egg
1 c. very fine breadcrumbs (like goldendipt)
1 T each minced chives and parsley

medium hardboiled (but just) eggs. Medium because of the higher sausage-egg ratio.
Flour
Raw egg
Dijon mustard
Panko Breadcrumbs (mmm crunchy!)

After doing hundreds of them, I discovered that using about ~3 oz of sausage coating per egg is reasonable. that's about twice the volume of a medium egg. Roll the sausage into a ball, then make a nest shape. Roll an egg in flour and tap off the excess. Push the egg into the sausage "nest" and close the sausage over the egg. roll back and forth between your hands to even the sausage jacket out. Once you get all the eggs coated in sausage, whisk an egg with a tablespoon of dijon mustard. Lightly coat the scotch eggs in the mustard mixture (I usually dip half of it in and then smear it to not get too much egg on it) and roll it in the panko to coat.

Bake in a 275 degree oven (that's Fahrenheit) for 30-45 min. They shouldn't brown at all. This is just to cook the sausage all the way through so you don't end up in gastrointestinal agony. Best bit, is now you can fridge/freeze them for later and they come out just great. When you're ready to eat them, either deep fry or pan fry until the breading is crisp and browned.

The awesome side effect of adding the breadcrumbs and egg to the sausage is that it has the same effect as it does on meatballs.. makes the meat more tender. Best with a three mustard/sourcream/horseradish/beer sauce.

*edits: done-ness can be determined by a poke (shouldn't feel like the sausage is wiggly. Oh man that sounds bad.. but that's the test. We use a instant read digital thermometer. Poke it in about a half inch or so (so you just barely hit the egg) and it should read 155F when done. Residual heat finishes it off