Scotch quails' eggs

Having spent last Saturday at the Soho Food Feast seeing Angela Hartnett, Fergus Henderson and Ben from the Saltyard Group cook in front of me and eating nibbles from Wright Bros Soho, St John, 10 Greek Street, MeatLiquor, Brindisa, Quo Vadis and Kopapa (to name drop just a few), this Saturday I decided to get my apron on for the first time in ages and try to make scotch eggs.

Obvs we're not talking about those refrigerated supermarket picnic ones (my sister thought the filling between the egg and the breadcrumbs was....more bread) but the monster ones containing a whole egg which have exploded all over pub menus in the last few years. Special favourites near me can be found at the Harwood Arms (venison version), The Ship and The Sands End. During one lunch at the Harwood we had one to start, and then another one instead of pudding.  The key is a crispy shell and a runny yolk.

Having been reliably informed that panko (Japanese breadcrumbs, the stuff on the outside of chicken katsu) would give me the crispiest crust, and that I should try using quails' eggs for a more manageable bite size snack, I took the opportunity to go and hang out in Waitrose. Whilst it was a still a second to none shopping experience, they had no panko and no fresh quails eggs. Panic buying for the jubilee long weekend no doubt. So I settled on some hard boiled quails eggs, some normal eggs, and cornflakes. 

Following the recipe below, I managed to produce 12 quails eggs scotch eggs that got eaten pretty quickly and looked fairly professional. I give them 8/10. However, when I made one with a normal egg it became pretty apparent why nobody bothers with a quails egg version. The yolk was runny, the proportions were better and it was a definite 10/10. If I do say so myself. I don't have a picture of that one though so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Quails Egg Scotch Eggs

makes 12

12 quails eggs

350g sausagemeat 

2 tbps tarragon

Pinch mace, sage, nutmeg, whatever you want

1 egg yolk

Half a packet of cornflakes, blitzed to a powder

Seasoned flour

Egg wash (1 egg and a splash of milk)

500ml sunflower oil.

• Boil the eggs for 3 minutes and plunge into iced water. Peel the eggs.
• Mix the sausagemeat with the spices and the egg yolk
• Roll some of the mixture into a ball and sort of push an egg into the middle of it, shaping around the outside to make sure the meat is covering the egg on all sides.
• Dip the egg meat ball in seasoned flour, then egg wash then cornflakes so it is completely coated.
• Heat the oil in a heavy based pan. Use some of the meat to check the temperature, which should be around 160degrees for those with thermometers, or until it takes about 10 seconds for the meat to cook and bounce to the top.
• Drop the scotch eggs in carefully and fry for 10ish minutes.
• There is no real way of telling when they're done. You're looking for a crispy brown shell. 
• If you soft boil the eggs, you will end up with a runny yolk and it will stay runny throughout.

Serve with dijon mustard