Ebony's Pearls

Here, in almost complete photographic detail, is how I make my Scottish Eggs. Please note these are not authentic Scottish Eggs, as the authentic ones are fried. Mine are baked.

Step One: Boil Eggs

There is no photo for this step yet because I never remember the camera until my hands are all greasy from the bulk sausage in Step Three. Still, you start by soft-boiling as many eggs as you want to eat or make. I usually make 36 eggs at a time because when I make them, it's always for a lot of people.

Boiled and Peeled Eggs
Originally uploaded by nodigio

Normally, I wouldn't include this step as I feel it should be obvious, but after receiving several complaints about the shells on the eggs, I now include this step. Peel your boiled eggs and throw the egg shells either in your compost or save them in a jar to puree into a powder to put on your plants.

Mixed Bulk Sausage
Originally uploaded by nodigio

You can use any combination of ground meat you want. I tend to use pork, but lamb, turkey, or even ground beef is acceptable. I add herbs to mine: parsley, sage, oregano, thyme, summer savory, ground white pepper, dill weed, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, and a pinch of ground ginger. You can use whatever combination you like. You'll need about 2-3 ounces per egg (depending on if you use medium eggs or jumbo eggs).

Bread Crumbs for Scottish Eggs
Originally uploaded by nodigio

You can use pre-packaged stuffing mix (I recommend the savory herb stuffing mix from Pepperidge Farms), or make your own, or use herb seasoned panko. You'll need a nice handful per egg.

Covering Eggs in Sausage
Originally uploaded by nodigio

Form 2-3 ounces of the mixed bulk sausage into a patty and wrap an egg in it. Make sure the egg is completely covered and that no egg white shows through any part of the patty.

Rolling Egg in Bread Crumbs
Originally uploaded by nodigio

I've had recipes that suggested dipping the sausage wrapped egg in a beaten raw egg and then rolling it in bread crumbs, but this seemed unnecessarily messy to me. Making these things is already messy enough and the raw egg isn't really needed to hold the bread crumbs on. I suppose, if you used really fine bread crumbs instead of the coarse ones I use, you might need the beaten raw egg to make a decent coating. So, if you use really fine bread crumbs, try dipping the sausage wrapped egg into a beaten raw egg first. The rest of us will roll our meaty eggs in coarse bread crumbs and be done with it.

Eggs Waiting For Oven
Originally uploaded by nodigio

Cover a jelly roll baking sheet (one with low sides) with that quick release foil and place your coated eggs on it in preparation to baking your eggs. Now, if you'd rather fry them, you might want to heat up a vat of cooking oil in one of those Fry Daddy things or set a cast iron pot full of cooking oil on the stove and heat it up to about 375ºF.

Step Eight: Cooking the Eggs

There's no photo here, either, because really, eggs baking in an oven is boring to watch, and I don't fry mine. It might be exciting to catch a photo of an egg being dramatically lowered into boiling oil (ah, the torture references we made in the olden days of frying Scottish Eggs!), but we bake ours. Dull, boring, unphotographed, baking of eggs.

To fry them, dip the egg into the hot oil with a slotted spoon so you don't spatter yourself with hot grease. Let the egg fry until it rises to the top all brown and crispy, then remove it with a slotted spoon and let it drain on paper towels. The rest of us will slide our baking tray full of eggs (12 can fit onto a single baking sheet) into a nice warm oven (350ºF) and let them bake by themselves for about 35 - 45 minutes.

Step Nine: Eat the Eggs

There are no photos of finished eggs because they were all eaten by the time I had the camera ready. I will try to get pictures of the next batch, but I'm not making any promises. You can eat the eggs while they are still hot from the oven, juggling them from hand to hand and blowing on them, then sucking in cool air as you try to chew the very hot eggs (by far the most popular way to eat them - hence the reason why we have no photos). You can allow them to cool slightly and eat them in a civilized fashion off a plate with a fork and knife, and plenty of sauces to dip the pieces in. I like a spicy German mustard, you could try ketchup or pickle sauces or even hollandaise. And then, should any eggs survive long enough, you could chill them to eat out of hand while wandering a Faire, or as part of a work or picnic lunch, or as a traveling breakfast.

And there you have it. Scottish Eggs are a bit messy to make, but very easy. It's three simple ingredients: eggs, bulk sausage, bread crumbs.