Greetings Gastronauts, this is Keef Cooks, I’m Keef,
and today it's, well, we're in the middle of a heatwave.
Summer has arrived [ CHEERS ] so I’m going to do a classic British picnic thing - I’m going
to make a scotch egg.
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So scotch eggs were invented not in Scotland but by posh London grocers
Fortnum and Mason in 1738. Good grief! They’re thought to have been based on
an Indian dish called Nargisi Kofta - I think that's how you pronounce it.
Which I might make sometime - it looks interesting.
But yeah so there's nothing to do with Scotland at all but I’ll tell you what...
Fortnum and Mason they still sell their scotch eggs and I’ve had some from them
and they are the best ones I’ve ever ever had. And that includes the ones that I make myself.
So there you go - what an accolade - Fortnum and Mason, by appointment to Keef Cooks. Yes!
Anyway I’m wIttering - if you enjoy this video give it a like share subscribe etcetera
and let's get on with it -scotch that egg oh yeah! Right, first job, boil your eggs. I’m
going to make four scotch eggs so I’ve got four eggs and a spare one which we'll need for
doing the coating, the breadcrumb coating. I didn't explain did I - a scotch egg is a
boiled egg wrapped in like sausage meat, breadcrumbed and deep fried.
And it sounds pretty unhealthy but it's actually marvellous - once in a while will not kill you.
I’m aiming to have a runny jammy yolk in mine because that's how I like them.
Mrs Keef Cooks doesn't like them like that - she likes a firmer yolk so I’ve marked her eggs
with crosses hopefully we won't get them mixed up. All right, chuck them in a pan - not a big pan,
just big enough to accommodate them. And cover with cold water,
stick it on the stove, bring it to the boil. So I was inspired to do this, well first of
all the weather, perfect picnic weather. And also I was in a local village which
actually has a real butcher (we don't) and they make their own pies and pasties and scotch eggs.
And a handmade scotch egg is a thing of beauty - unlike anything you get in a supermarket.
Don't ever buy supermarket or service station scotch eggs, they're just
disgusting. They really are, they're awful. Anyway so yeah I had this scotch
egg - handmade scotch egg that I was very looking forward to and actually
I was a little disappointed, I must admit. So I ate half of it and let Mrs Keef Cooks
try the other half. She actually liked it, but there's no accounting for taste.
Anyway I’m doing my own because I really want a decent scotch egg. So off we go.
When it's boiling, turn it down to a simmer and for the runny
jammy yolk let it simmer for four minutes. And for the firmer one I’ll give it seven minutes.
When that time's elapsed, remove them from the water and plunge them into a bowl of iced water
and that will stop them from cooking any further. Okay, there's the boiled eggs. I’m going to let
them cool down for about 10 minutes then I’ll peel them and here's our meat.
Now I always like to confuse you by giving you lots of options.
You want about 400 grams of minced pork, basically, or sausagemeat, or a mixture.
So you could get your favourite sausages - I recommend
Cumberland or Lincoln sausages - and just take the stuffing out of them throw away the skins.
Or get pork mince and mess about with it yourself, or make your own pork mince.
So I’ve got some pork chops - nice chunk of fat on the edges there - so that'll be great.
But there is a bit of bone so I need to trim that off and then cut the meat into chunks that will go
through the mincer feed tube. Okay, let's mince it.
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I think we've got some fat clogging that up so I’m going to have to take the
front off and give it a scrape. It's actually a great idea
in weather like this to freeze everything. Freeze the scrolly bit and freeze the meat.
Not completely freezing, but just getting it really really cold
because that works better. But I forgot. So I’m going to peel my eggs - not all of
them actually, just the hopefully soft boiled ones that are for me.
And I’ll do Mrs Keef Cook's ones separately
when you're not looking. The temptation to cut this
open and see if I’ve really got a runny yolk is quite strong. But I shall resist.
Okay I’m going to make up the seasoning mix so I’ve got an empty jar and a teaspoon of salt…
a teaspoon of black pepper,
half a teaspoon of thyme, half a teaspoon of sage.
And you can mess about with these flavourings in any way that you like - because I do.
But the secret ingredient - a chicken stock cube.
Actually I’ll put that straight in with the meat because it's easier.
Fortnum and Mason included anchovies in their original mix, I think.
Just give that a good old mix and get a latex glove and we'll just mix that all together.
I’ve seen recipes where they add a bit of sauteed onion and also the ones that add garlic which
is a definite definite no-no for this recipe. And oh, breadcrumbs. You would have breadcrumbs
or rusk if you used sausage meat - that's probably not a bad thing but well I’m not.
Okay that'll do - divide that into four equal bits.
Right we'll start assembling our scotch eggs. So get your boiled eggs and just
dry them off a little bit - not completely because if they are a bit moist then you
can roll them in flour that will stick. And that will help the meat to stick as well.
It's all about making things stick. So, get a ball of meat. These are
actually a little bit bigger than I would normally do, but never mind they'll be lovely.
And just roll them out into
a kind of disc that looks big enough to enclose a boiled egg. And squish it all over…
and smooth it so it kind of sticks to itself
without any seam. It’s sometimes
tricky this step. I reckon that'll do. Right, I’ve got a little production line going
on. I’ve got beaten egg and breadcrumbs. Well I haven't got the beaten egg yet
-I’m actually using two eggs for this, not the one as previously advertised.
All right, roll your scotch egg in it,
get it fully coated and then in the breadcrumbs. These are homemade breadcrumbs - nice and coarse.
You could use panko. Or you could use, y’know, you can buy like
breadcrumbs and seasoned and coloured and they're really smooth and they're really bright orange.
And they're really not right for a proper scotch egg.
So okay so that's double coated, that'll be super crispy.
Let's do the other one. Now we're going to cook the scotch eggs so
you want a pan with oil in it or a deep fat fryer. If you're using a pan don't overfill it - really
not more than a third full as long as it will cover the eggs when you put them in.
And you want to heat that to 170 degrees Celsius and pop the eggs in.
Just keep them moving, make sure they're not sticking on the bottom,
and after about five minutes they should be like golden brown.
And if you stick a thermometer in, the internal temperature should be at least 63 degrees Celsius.
And then take them out, drain them, let them rest for 10 minutes or so.
They're nice warm - you don't want them stinking hot out the fryer.
We've got fairly decent slightly runny yolks there so that's good and the whites are cooked.
And now it's taste test time with me. So it's me eggs, looking pretty good
actually. I really do wish I could figure out how to get perfect yolk like that every time
but well I haven't managed it yet. But that's acceptable to me so
Oh that crunch, crispy crunch of the breadcrumbs and that meat is
really tasty and the egg is an egg what more could you want?
So homemade scotch eggs - if you've never had one like this,
do try it because it'll change your mind about scotch eggs forever - this is the real deal.
Thanks for watching and see you next time.
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