Scotch eggs

     After going to the Renaissance Faire this year with my friend Lyz, she and I made a plan to visit each other again soon.  Since cooking with friends is always fun, we made a plan to have a cooking date and, inspired by our recent visit, decided to make Scotch eggs.  Scotch eggs, if you've never heard of them, are hard boiled eggs covered by sausage and breadcrumbs and then fried.  They are delicious!  Since one of my favorite book series/show, Outlander, takes place in Scotland, I decided to use my Outlander Kitchen cookbook by Theresa Carle-Sanders for this Scottish recipe.

Scotch eggs from Outlander Kitchen by Theresa Carle-Sanders

Ingredients:

7 large eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs

1 1/2 lbs pork sausage 

vegetable oil

Procedure:

1) In a large saucepan, cover 6 eggs with cold water and top off with an extra inch.  Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, remove from the heat, and cover for 7 minutes.  Drain and cover the eggs with ice water until cool to the touch, then peel them.

2) In a small bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and cayenne pepper.  In another bowl, beat the remaining egg with 1 teaspoon of water to make an egg wash.  Fill a third bowl with breadcrumbs.

3) Flatten 4 ounces of sausage into a patty in the palm of your hands, and wrap it around a peeled egg.  Repeat with the remaining sausage meat and eggs.  Roll the sausage-covered eggs in the flour to coat lightly, then in the egg wash, and finally in the breadcrumbs to cover evenly.

4) In a large frying pan, heat 3 inches of vegetable oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Fry the Scotch eggs until golden, turning occasionally, about 3 minutes.  Drain on paper towels.  Alternatively, bake in a 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven until light golden and crispy, 25-30 minutes.

5) Serve warm or cold.  Store leftovers up to 3 days in the fridge.

Peeling the eggs and looking good doing so!

Cooking with friends is the best!

We've got our egg station all ready to go

Waiting for the oil to come up to temperature

We're frying, baby!!

Eating our (now very crisp) scotch eggs!

     Although this recipe was definitely a lot of work, it went totally fast with good company and an extra pair of hands!  The recipe was definitely delicious, but a bit tricky.  The first time we went to eat our scotch eggs, we found that the sausage was still undercooked.  We had to re-fry the eggs for another three to six minutes before everything was cooked through!  I took a while since we fried the eggs in batches of three and had to wait for the oil to get back up to temperature each time.  All together, we ended up frying in five separate three minute batches.  

  This was my first time deep frying something and it wasn't as terrifying as I thought it would be.  Once everything did cook up, it was delicious!  Crispy on the outside with a softer egg/meat on the inside.  It kind of reminds me of an Egg McMuffin without any muffin.  I would definitely make these again, but would change things around slightly.  I think I would start heating up the oil right away, as it took quite a bit of time to come up to temperature.  I would also be more careful about exactly measuring the sausage (we just eyeballed it) and would definitely make sure that the sausage was spread more thinly across the egg; it seemed to be the big bulges of sausage that were raw.  Come to think of it, maybe I'd even bake it and save myself all of the frying trouble.  Either way, definitely worth it as a fun treat!

Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana

    Welcome back!  I thought I couldn't let this year end without at least one recipe.  I've actually been using this blog a lot, but just as a source for recipes for myself.  My poor hubby has been sick for a little over two weeks now, so I thought that a soup would be just the thing to warm him up.  I've been seeing this Zuppa Toscana recipe make the rounds on the Insant Pot Facebook group, and have always wanted to try it.  I made it for him today and I am sure glad I did!

Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana 
from https://www.simplyhappyfoodie.com/instant-pot-zuppa-toscana-sausage-potato-soup/

Ingredients:

3 Strips of Thick Cut Smoky Bacon, chopped
2 lbs Ground Hot Italian Sausage (use 1/2 hot and 1/2 mild if you don't like much spice)
1 Large Onion, chopped
1 tsp Oregano, dried
5 Cloves of Garlic, pressed or minced
4-6 Medium Potatoes, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick
6 cups Chicken Broth, low sodium
1 Bunch of Kale chopped, with rib removed
1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream

Procedure:

1) Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté mode, and add the chopped bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon renders out most of its fat. Remove and set aside.

2) Add the sausage and brown it, stirring a few times. If you can get a good browning on it the flavor will be even better!

3) Remove everything, leaving behind 2 tsp of the fat (enough to cook the onions).

4) Add the onions and oregano.  When the onions start to look translucent, add the garlic and stir.

5) Pour in the broth, stirring, and make sure you scrape the bottom of the pot to get up any brown bits (deglaze).

6) Add the potatoes and sausage, and add the bacon back in.  Check to make sure the contents don't go over the Max Fill line marked on the inner liner.  Cancel Sauté mode.

7) Close the lid, set the steam release knob to Sealing.  Set to Manual (or Pressure Cook), and choose 5 minutes (High Pressure). The pot will take several minutes to come to pressure.

8) After cooking cycle ends, allow a 10 minute NPR (Natural Pressure Release). Do a controlled Quick Release for the rest of the steam, and when the pin in the lid drops, open the lid.

9) Add in the kale, (or thawed spinach, if using) and stir well. Cover and let heat through for 5 minutes or so to soften the kale. If using spinach, just stir it in and proceed to the next step.

10) Stir in the heavy cream and serve.

  This was a lovely recipe.  It is apparently inspired by Zuppa Toscana (sausage potato soup) that they serve at Olive Garden.  Having never had the soup at Olive Garden, I can't tell you how it compares.  I can, however, tell you that the soup is very delicious.  It is hearty, has a nice contrast in texture between the potatoes, kale, and sausage, and a lovely taste.  I used all hot italian sausage and found it spicy but not too spicy.  The original notes from the recipe say that you don't need to add in more salt as the sausage is already salty enough.  I did indeed find that to be the case.  It goes lovely with a nice side of bread and some lovely company.  The sick hubby loved it too!