Cooking Like Heston: Scotch Eggs

Eric Isaac gets inspired by Heston Blumenthal’s recipe for Scotch Eggs, and decides to give it a spin.
By Eric Isaac

I’ve been inspired by a new British series, How to Cook Like Heston. Each episode focuses on a key ingredient: Beef, Eggs, Chocolate, etc done by Heston Blumenthal, chef/owner of the 3-Michelin star Fat Duck in London. This latest episode I saw was all about eggs, so i’ve done his scotch eggs. Later, I’m hoping to do a few other egg dishes, but for now, I give you Heston’s scotch eggs – soft boiled eggs, wrapped in sausage and coated with bread crumb – which as you will note by the photograph, still have a somewhat runny yolk. Hard to imagine for an egg that has been boiled, deep-fried and then baked. The key is cooking at the right temperature. You soft boil the egg by getting the egg and water right to boiling, cover the pot and let sit for 3 minutes, then stop the cooking with an ice bath. Deep fry at 190c(375F) until just golden brown and then bake for 10 minutes at 190c(375F). My yolk is a little hard, which I think must have happened in the boiling process considering that the other two temperatures were spot on.

Heston’s recipe can be found here. I’ve reprinted it below with the conversions.

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Scotch Eggs
Serves 8

INGREDIENTS
10 medium eggs
450g (1lb) good-quality sausages, skins removed
½ tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp cornflour
45g (3/8 cup) French’s mustard
Salt and black pepper
Plain flour
50g (1/4 cup) whole milk
125g (5/8 cup) breadcrumbs (If you use coarse breadcrumbs, blitz them in a food processor for approximately 5 seconds to create a coarse powder so the crumbs don’t absorb too much fat during frying.)
Groundnut oil, for deep-frying

Method

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5 (375F). Put 8 of the eggs into a pan in which they fit in a single layer. Add enough cold water to cover the eggs by 3cm and cover with a lid then place the pan over a high heat.

Once the water comes to a boil, remove the pan from the heat and allow to stand for 3 minutes. In the meantime, fill a bowl with ice and cold water and after the 3 minutes, transfer the eggs to the iced water. Leave to cool for 10–15 minutes.

Place the sausage meat in a food processor with the smoked paprika, cornflour, mustard, and a splash of cold water. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and blitz together. Divide into eight balls, approximately 55g (about 3tbsp) per portion.

Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, carefully peel off the shells using a teaspoon.

Flatten each portion of sausage meat between two sheets of clingfilm into a circle, then remove the top layer of clingfilm. Place an egg in the centre of each sausage meat circle. Wrap the sausage meat around the egg, by bringing all of the edges together and twist the top of the clingfilm. Press the edges to seal but don’t press too hard. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, put some plain flour into a small bowl and season it with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Beat the remaining eggs in a second small bowl and stir in the milk. Put the breadcrumbs into a third bowl. Roll each coated egg in the flour, gently tapping off any excess, then dip it in the beaten egg. Finally, roll it in the breadcrumbs, making sure that all sides are coated. Place the eggs in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Heat a deep fat fryer to 190ºC (375F) or place a deep saucepan of oil over a high heat until it reaches this temperature.

Fry the Scotch eggs two at a time for 2 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on a cooling rack over a baking tray. When all the eggs have been fried, place the tray in the oven for an additional 10 minutes. Serve immediately while the yolks are still runny