Breakfast of champions

Next time you're in the mood for a good stick-to-your-ribs country breakfast, you should make Scotch Eggs with Hollandaise sauce.  Your arteries won't thank you, but your tastebuds will.  After we made them this morning, I've been daydreaming about the leftovers all day!


This photo doesn't do them justice.

I tweaked the original recipe a bit - they called for a ridiculous amount of sausage - but the final product was still fantastic.  Next time we'll try baking them instead of deep-frying.  My apologies to southern cooks who love to fry everything... or maybe that's just American cooks in general?

Here you go...

Scotch Eggs
(adapted from this recipe)

1/2 pound pork sausage meat
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
2 tsp flour
dash salt
dash pepper
1 egg white (tip:  separate the eggs for the Hollandaise sauce before you get to this step and use one of those whites)
1/2 cup crushed Ritz crackers
A small saucepan of veg oil for deep frying

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the pork sausage and Worcestershire sauce. Combine the flour, salt and pepper; mix into the sausage.
2. Divide the sausage into four equal parts and flatten them into patties. Mold each patty around one of the hard-cooked eggs, rolling between your hands to shape. Place the egg white and bread crumbs into separate dishes. Dip the balls into the egg, then roll in the bread crumbs until coated. Shake off any excess.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan or deep fryer to 365 degrees F - flick a few water droplets in there, and when they sizzle it's ready. Lower the eggs carefully into the hot oil. Fry for 5 minutes, or until deep golden brown.
4. Drain on paper towels.  Slice lengthwise and drizzle with Hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise sauce
(I used Mark Bittman's recipe in How to Cook Everything, very similar to this one)

3 egg yolks
1 tsp water
4 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks, lemon juice, cold water, salt and pepper. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Gradually whisk yolk mixture into butter. Continue whisking over low heat for 8 minutes, or until sauce is thickened. Serve immediately.