I am a collector of recipes….some of which, I literally wait years to make, and other which become regulars and firm faves.
Take this no-fry Scotch eggs, for a start – 5 years since I first saw the recipe and this year,….I finally made it. My tea-smoked fish on the other hand has featured twice in recent times!
So, without further ado, I present two recipes to you: both for your enjoyment and perfect for a stress-free Christmas brekkie…or brunch!
Easy to make ahead….what are you waiting for?
Recipe #1: Oven baked Scotch eggs
Adapted from Delicious, September 2004
The fact that making these Scotch eggs took so little and yet the results were incredibly fragrant, tasty not to mention healthy. No crumbing, flouring and importantly….deep frying! Easy peasy.
Four quick facts about Scotch Eggs
- They are not Scottish!!!!!!!! Fortnum & Mason created them in either 1738 or 1851 for picnic hampers! Whatever year there were made, they are delish!
- I grew up eating and making the deep-fried version at home in Nigeria. They are a very popular snack, along with egg rolls (eggs wrapped in doughy pastry and also deep fried)
- People consider them to be the preserve of gas (service) stations but…no longer
- This no-fry recipe ROCKS!
Ingredients (for 3 Scotch eggs)
4 medium eggs, at room temperature 2 slices of (wholemeal) bread, crusts removed 100ml milk 400g good-quality (beef) sausage meat 1 teaspoon chopped lemon thyme (or other herbs) 3 slices of veal bacon (desalted, if you wish)How to
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade (375 degrees Fahrenheit)
Put 3 of the 4 eggs in a saucepan of hot water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes from the moment the water starts to bubble, then drain and run under cold water to prevent further cooking and grey-ringed yolks!!!! Obviously, I didn’t follow this step 🙂
When cool, peel eggs carefully as they may be a bit soft.
Soak the bread in the milk for a minute and then drain and squeeze it dry.
Put the bread and sausage meat in a large bowl along with the remaining egg, lemon thyme (recipe calls for parsley but I heart the citrusy flavours of lemon thyme) and nutmeg. I added a sprinkling of black pepper and a pinch of salt.
Line a muffin mould ( I used my colourful silicone ones) with a rasher of (desalted) bacon and press some meat mixture into the base. Add a boiled egg to each mould, pointy end up and pack the meat mixture around and over the eggs until completely covered.
Bake for half an hour, or until nicely browned. I found that a lot of the fat from the sausage meat and bacon baked and drained away.
Slice in half and serve warm,….or cold. Mine was part of a huge cook – up I made for Scottish High Tea and it was a sumptuous affair! Though my yolks were tinged and rimmed with silvery ash….I thoroughly enjoyed the rolls, as did hubby.
Recipe #2: Tea-smoke Mackarel with Mini Pancakes, Creme Fraiche and Chilli
The beauty of this recipe is you can smoke the fish days ahead and leave it nicely wrapped up in some foil in the refigerator then bring it out when needed. You can also season it anyhow you desire – an extra sprinkling of coarsely ground black peppercorns, some cumin and coriander seeds….you are only limited by what you can conceive. In this case, I left mine plain :-).
I love the convenience of having smoked fish when ever I want plus the fact that there are not many ways I like my mackerel. Smoked is one of them! Think of all the Omega-3 and 6 too!
Four quick facts about Tea-smoking before we begin
- It is a Chinese Technique, also known as wok-smoking
- You don’t need a BBQ…you can do it perfectly on the stove-top
- Traditionally, the ’smoke’ is created by mixing raw rice, sugar, Jasmine tea leaves and Star Anise and heating it up till smoking
- It could result in a very smoky kitchen so ensure all windows are wide open and your extractor is on!
Ingredients
How to Tea smoke
Ensure the cooking area is well-ventilated. I had all my doors and windows open just in case it got too smoky but it was fine (admittedly, the weather hadn’t taken on this fine chill!)
Mix the rice, sugar and tea leaves together in a bowl. Line a wok with triple-folded (heavy-duty) kitchen foil and pour the mixture on top. If using any flavourings, add them now.
Put the wok on the stove pot and cover tightly. Let heat up for 2 – 3 minutes on medium heat till it begins to smoke. The heat is important as you want the food to taste smoked and not charred so watch it.
As soon as it starts smoking, remove the cover and place an oiled trivet/metal steaming basket above the smoking mixture.
If you don’t have any of these, cover the smoking mixture with a double layer of foil onto which you’ve drizzled some oil.
Place the fish on it.
Replace the lid of the wok and leave to smoke for about 5-7 minutes (for fillets) and 12 – 15 minutes (for whole fish).
Take off the heat and set aside till ready to serve. Dispose of very burnt rice mixture!
Leave fish to cool down and flake into litle bits.
Perfect served atop mini pancakes, with a dollop of creme fraiche and some chilli. Though also delish with bread….think kippers but not. And all done in the comfort of your home!
So, what do you think about tea-smoking? I find it fascinating…..Do you?
[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Christmas Brunch or Brekkie: Oven-baked Scotch Eggs & Tea-smoked Fish – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]
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I thought the forks were exquisite and fun and now all this wonderful food. Scotch eggs for my semi-Scottish husband, to be sure! He’ll kiss the cook.
As to the sausage, a farmer brought us fresh pork sausage. The taste is utterly ambrosial and will be perfect for this recipe.
You know the first time I tried a Scotch egg I can’t say I loved it. I think it might have been from Tesco though…or somewhere horrible.
But these…well these just look divine.
ps: I just had a look at your Scottish Tea post. That lemon thyme curd sounds amazing! Really beautiful photos. Happy holidays 🙂
scotch eggs are so unique and interesting–i’m always thrilled to see (and eat) them. also, i’m referring to breakfast as “brekkie” for the rest of my life–i love it. 🙂
How fantastic! 🙂 I’ve always wanted to know how to make Scotch eggs! 🙂 And the fish looks marvelous too 🙂
Kate, but I love the chill of winter, especially if you’re smoking :-)…
Thanks Sophie!
Melissa, I am sure it would be DELICIOUS with trout. I must try it too.Kiss Ezra please…
I’ve always wanted to make scotch eggs…now I shall and use your recipe…they look devine!! And tea smoked fish..I’ll have to try that with our local trout..delish delish!
Waw,…the whole dishes look amazing & ooh soo cool as well,…it amll screams: fabulously delicious!!!!
Waw!!! MMMMMMMMMMMMMM,…& tea smoked mackerels!! Very apart & ooh so tasty too!
Ozoz, Thank you for your quick facts. I didn’t know most of that stuff! I’m not a fan of eggs, but that smoked mackerel went right into my ‘to try’ file, waiting till it’s warmer so I can open my windows!
Rebecca, so will you be trying them soon?
Zurin – this coming year, I will try to bake and grill more…and then I can have the extra butter on toast:-)
Jen@Unplanned cooking – we have a date, if I don’t come knocking first!
Sarah,please smoke NO mackerels….please. Stick with the Scotchies (probably a wrong abbreviation for Scotch eggs but hey)
Bethany…way to go. MRBourne deserves it!
Ann and Beth@990, wow. How much we take things for granted. I assumed….and wrongly too that everyone knew Scotch eggs. Will you try them….please?
mademoiselle délicieuse, would you believe that last week I had a whole pack of 20 quails eggs but gave them away? I had planned on making a truffle mayo and devilling them but now this will have to be done, plus I have 3 mini cupcake trays. Will tell you how it goes!
How to make Scotch eggs even better? Use quail eggs and they become incredibly cute! Not sure what to put them in if they’re to be baked though – a mini cupcake tray, perhaps?
I had never heard of scotch eggs until you shared them here–and I think I might be a little scared! They’re so different from anything we do here, except for maybe deviled eggs!
I love the smoked mackerel pancakes and you’ve inspired me to do something similar for xmas morning! Hubby would also love the scotch eggs, though…. so perhaps it’s both 🙂
Scotch eggs look fabulous, I’m always a sucker for these in motorway service stations and it never occurred to me to make my own. They look way better.
I love the idea of smoking my own fish although my husband would be hopping mad with the smoke alarm going off so I’m not sure I could take the pressure!!
I so want to meet you for brunch one day. Would it be weird if I showed up at your place and asked you to cook ;)? Your photos and recipes are always so fabulous.
Wow thank you for the recipe for smoked mackeral…its something new and more importantly,try-able. the fish looks so good smoked! and I like the idea that food is not deepfried.I am too trying to get away from deep frying and I have managed to bake a few recipes which I normally deep fry. They turned out just as delicious! you know, sometimes I’m convinced it is all in the mind :D…well… most of the time anyway…:DD
How fun, I have never heard of these but I think I’ll have to try them!
oh wow those scotch eggs rock, haven’t had them in years