To celebrate the launch of our new menu in The Pig & Whistle, our kitchen team are sharing their recipe for this season’s Scotch Egg.
Ingredients
4 eggs
1 Smoked Haddock from Alfred Enderby, skinned
1 Bay Leaf
6 medium Maris Piper potatoes, washed, peeled and quartered
Salt and Pepper to season
3 sprigs of fresh Tarragon, chopped
1 small handful of flat leaf of curly parsley chopped
15g plain flour for dusting
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 Egg, whisked
½ pint semi-skimmed Milk
100g Plain Flour
100g Bread Crumbs
Method
Bring a large pan of water to the boil with 1 tsp of salt and add the potatoes. Cook for 15 minutes until soft to touch with a fork. Once cooked, drain and place back into the pan, mash immediately and set to one side to cool.
In a medium-sized sauce pan, place the haddock, bay leaf and milk to cover and bring to the boil. Simmer the fish for 1 minute and remove from heat, leaving to cool for 2-3 minutes and then remove the haddock from the milk and leave to cool for a further 2 minutes. Once the fish is cool enough to handle, flake into the mashed potato along with fresh tarragon, parsley and the zest and juice of a lemon. Bring the mixture together using your hands and season with salt and white pepper. Lightly dust a baking tray with flour and spread over the fish and potato mixture, dusting another fine sprinkling of flour over the top. Leave to cool.
Bring a pan of water to the boil and place in 4 eggs. Cook for 5 minutes for soft boiled eggs. Once cooked, leave to one side to cool. Gently peel the eggs ready for making your Scotch Eggs!
Dust your hands with flour and take a quarter of the potato mixture. Flatted out into a 10cm round and place one of the peeled, soft boiled eggs in the middle. Work with potato mixture around the egg, making sure it’s fully covered, and repeat with the remaining eggs.
Take 3 bowls, one for the egg mixture, one for the flour and one for the breadcrumbs. A little tip (use one hand for the wet ingredients and one for the dry, other wise things are going to get a bit messy!) Firstly, place your covered egg into the flour, egg and then into the breadcrumbs and repeat to ensure the potato is fully coated! Either place this into the fridge and leave over night, or if you’re making these to serve straight away, prepare your deep-fat-fryer.
Pre-heat your oven to 175ºc. Place the coated eggs into a hot deep-fat-fryer , cook until golden brown and then place on a baking tray into a hot oven and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Steven Bennett, Chef Patron “Here at the Pig & Whistle we’re serving ours with a delicious charcoal and vinegar-seasoned straw potato. We’ve spirallized the humble potato, fried until golden and dusted with charcoal and vinegar for a zingy contrast to the rich smoked haddock scotch egg.”
