Here’s one more root vegetable recipe before we switch over to asparagus and salad greens. I clipped this out of a New York Magazine while we still lived in NYC, because we occasionally shopped at Windfall Farms. I also don’t really have any good rutabaga recipes, other than our standard roast-everything-in-a-pan method. “Hold on there, Lindsay”, you might say, “The title of this post says ‘turnip’ not ‘rutabaga’.” Yes, observant reader, it is actually . . . → Read More: Gilfeather Turnip Casserole]]>

Here’s one more root vegetable recipe before we switch over to asparagus and salad greens. I clipped this out of a New York Magazine while we still lived in NYC, because we occasionally shopped at Windfall Farms. I also don’t really have any good rutabaga recipes, other than our standard roast-everything-in-a-pan method. “Hold on there, Lindsay”, you might say, “The title of this post says ‘turnip’ not ‘rutabaga’.” Yes, observant reader, it is actually a rutabaga, but Mr. John Gilfeather thought it was a turnip. Also, Jerusalem artichokes are neither Israeli nor artichokes. What can I say? Vegetable identity crisis.

The Gilfeather turnip is a Slow Food Ark of Taste product, which makes it worth seeking out. The Ark of Taste program finds and protects endangered flavors – those beloved by old-timers, but threatened by industrial agriculture. Just for fun, here are some other Ark of Taste products from the Northeast.

• Bay scallops
• Boiled cider (used as a sweetener)
• “Old-Type” Rhode Island Red chicken
• Shrub (okay, not technically a Northeast thing, but a new favorite of mine)
• True Red Cranberry bean

Kind of makes me want to make an Ark of Taste bingo game…

Back the to rutabaga! It looks like a big white turnip, but is a little milder with less of a bite. Originating in southern Vermont, it’s even more local to us now that we’ve moved to Boston, so I was delighted to find one in one of our last CSA pick-ups.

This would make a great light lunch, but we cooked up some sausages to make a more substantial meal. It was nice and fluffy, like mashed potatoes, but with a more complex flavor – just enough peppery-ness.

Gilfeather Turnip Casserole

Serves 4 as a side or 2 as an entrée

Directions

1. Peel the rutabagas and chop them into cubes. Try to make the chunks close in size, so that they all cook in the same amount of time.
2. In a medium pot, add the rutabagas, a pinch of salt, and enough water to cover. Boil until the rutabagas are soft, about 30 minutes.
3. Once the rutabagas are soft, drain them and allow them to cool for a few minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. Put the rutabagas, eggs, milk, salt, spices, and flour into a food processor and process until smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, you can mash everything by hand, but I’d recommend mashing the rutabagas until they’re smooth first, then the eggs (one at a time), then the rest. This will help you get all the chunks out.
6. Rub just a little of the butter on the bottom and sides of a 1-quart soufflé dish. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish.
7. Use a fork to mash the remaining butter into the bread crumbs and sprinkle it over the top of the rutabaga mash.
8. Bake for an hour or until the buttery crumbs are nicely browned.

Looking at that photo, I think that it would be a really pretty side for dinner guests if it were baked in individual ramekins. It’s not terribly attractive sunk down in that big soufflé dish (we don’t have a 1-quart one, so I used what we had).

We loved it so much, we didn’t take a single photo. . . . → Read More: Dark Days Challenge Week 6: Embracing Curly Kale]]> In our sixth week of the Dark Days Challenge, we learned to appreciate curly kale. We love love love lacinato/Tuscan/dinosaur/black and Red Russian varieties, but for some reason we (*cough* Erik *cough*) discriminate against the standard curly variety. Like most biases, we just had to meet an individual curly kale recipe in “person” to let go of our stereotypes. Oh, also, the chorizo helps.

We loved it so much, we didn’t take a single photo. [Update: oops, we did. I just wasn't on top of things - Erik ]

Smoky Kale and Chorizo

Serves 2

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 2 teaspoons of the salt.
2. While the water is coming to a boil, rinse the kale, remove the stems, and tear the leaves into large pieces.
3. Once the water is boiling, add the kale and let it cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, taste a leaf to make sure it’s not rubbery. If it is, cook for another minute or so. Once it’s done, drain the kale in a colander – pressing to remove as much water as possible.
4. Meanwhile, heat large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once it’s warm, add the chorizo and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until it just starts to brown.
5. While the chorizo is cooking, measure the spices and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt into a small bowl.
6. Once the chorizo has cooked for 4 to 5 minutes, add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds.
7. Push the chorizo and garlic to one side and dump the spice mixture directly onto the pan. Stir the spices around for a few seconds to toast them. Once you can smell the spices, mix them into the chorizo.
8. Add the kale to the skillet and stir for a minute to combine and reheat the kale a little.
9. Turn off the heat and add the honey and sherry vinegar, stirring to combine.

This is a great variable vegetarian recipe. If you were to skip the Kielbasa altogether, it would still be tasty (but why bother?). Or, you could load up on the meat.

We used the Kielbasa that we had in the freezer left over from making Casoulet. I’d say it was probably a little over one foot long. In the end it yielded about three half-inch pieces of Kielbasa per serving of cabbage, which was . . . → Read More: How to Make Ale-braised Red Cabbage with Kielbasa]]>

This is a great variable vegetarian recipe. If you were to skip the Kielbasa altogether, it would still be tasty (but why bother?). Or, you could load up on the meat.

We used the Kielbasa that we had in the freezer left over from making Casoulet. I’d say it was probably a little over one foot long. In the end it yielded about three half-inch pieces of Kielbasa per serving of cabbage, which was perfect for being on the lighter side while adding meaty flavor.


Ale-braised Red Cabbage with Kielbasa

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Slice the onions as thinly as possible.

   When looking for long, thin slices, I treat an onion like a globe. I cut off the north and south “poles”, then I cut the onion in half from pole to pole. You can see the “lines of longitude” within the halves. I then cut the halves in half, in the same direction, forming “long” quarter-onions.

   Finally, I lay each quarter down flat and cut in parallel to my last cut, as thinly as I can. At no point do I cross the “lines of longitude” and cut against the grain. If you do, you will get diced onion instead of slices (in fact, that’s how I dice an onion).

   

2. Slice the cabbage in half, and then quarters. Using an angled cut, cut out the thick white “stem” from each quarter.

   

3. Next, shred the cabbage into half-inch ribbons by slicing each quarter perpendicular to the stem-line.

   

4. Cut the Kielbasa into half-inch pieces. It’s already cooked, so you really just need to reheat it and brown it to the right texture.

   In a large cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the Kielbasa and cook for about 5 minutes, turning the pieces occasionally, until browned. Remove the pieces and put them aside in a bowl (or plate). Use tongs if possible to avoid taking any of the cooking juices with the sausage.

   

5. Add the onion to the still-hot skillet. Turn the heat down to medium and sauté for about 5 minutes until they are softened and slightly browned. Add the caraway seeds and cook for another minute, stirring.

   

6. Add the cabbage to the pan. Add back the Kielbasa, as well as any liquid that may have been removed with the Kielbasa pieces. Stir in the ale and the malt vinegar. Turn up the heat to medium high and bring the liquid to a rolling simmer (near-boil), then immediately turn the heat down to medium-low, cover, and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

   Even though it sounds like a high culinary skill, this is all there is to braising: “a cooking method using both moist and dry heat; typically the food is first seared at a high temperature and then finished in a covered pot with a variable amount of liquid.” No sweat!

   

7. Plate and serve. Winner! Or should I say “Winning! (Duh.)”

Pizza is a definite DIY situation. It’s cheaper, less likely to be delivered cold, and only covered in surplus commodity cheese if you like that kind of thing. The most time-consuming part is making the dough, which has to rise for an hour or so (although you could cut this to 30 minutes if you were in a big hurry). Because of this, we usually save pizza for weekends and plan to work out, . . . → Read More: How to Make Pizza]]>

Pizza is a definite DIY situation. It’s cheaper, less likely to be delivered cold, and only covered in surplus commodity cheese if you like that kind of thing. The most time-consuming part is making the dough, which has to rise for an hour or so (although you could cut this to 30 minutes if you were in a big hurry). Because of this, we usually save pizza for weekends and plan to work out, call our parents, or catch up on the DVR while the dough’s doing its thing.

The dough recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, which I got for making a donation to WNYC. Actually, I made the donation to WNYC to get the cookbook and it has totally paid off – good recipes and Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me…a seriously good deal. He uses a food processor, but we prefer to use the stand mixer, because our tiny food processor would probably burst into flames if we asked this of it. This NY Times article has the food processor instructions, if you’re so inclined.

Homemade Pizza
Makes 2 12-inch diameter pizzas (You can make larger pizzas with thinner crusts or smaller pizzas with thicker crusts, but this is fits nicely in our oven).

Ingredients for Crust

Amount	Ingredient	Preparation	Where we bought it (* Union Sq. Greenmarket)
11 3/4 ounces	1/2 white flour	a.k.a. “brown” flour (half all-purpose and half whole wheat bread flour), about 2 1/2 cups, volumetrically	Cayuga Pure Organics *
2 ounces	Cornmeal	About 1/2 cup, volumetrically	Cayuga Pure Organics *
2 tsp	Instant yeast	Not to be confused with active dry yeast	We use this brand.
2 TBsp	Sunflower oil		Stolor Organics *
2 tsp	Coarse kosher or sea salt

Topping Ideas (per pizza)

• 1/2 cup prepared pizza sauce
• About 5 ounces of cheese, such as fresh mozzarella or ricotta
• Veggies! Onions, mushrooms, sautéed greens, peppers, tomatoes. Really whatever’s in season.
• Your favorite precooked meat
• Any leftovers you find in the refrigerator

Directions

1. Weigh flour and cornmeal in stand mixer bowl using the tare (zero-out) function on your scale. That is, put the bowl on the scale, press tare, add 11 3/4 ounces of flour, press tare, and add 2 ounces of cornmeal. No dirty measuring cups!

   

2. Add the yeast and salt to the flour mixture. Because they’re such a small amounts, it’s best to measure them in teaspoons, rather than by weight.

   

3. In a measuring cup, combine 1 cup of water and the sunflower oil.

   

4. With the paddle attachment and the mixer on low, slowly add the liquids to the dry ingredients. Mix until there isn’t any dry flour on the bottom of the bowl, about a minute.

   

5. Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough on speed 2 or 4 for 3 or 4 minutes. I just let it knead until I’m done cleaning everything else up and it forms a nice ball around the hook.

   

6. Remove the dough from the bowl. Put a small puddle of oil (a teaspoon or so) in the bottom of the stand mixer bowl, drop the dough in, and roll it around so that it’s covered in oil. This will make sure it doesn’t stick to the bowl while rising. You could use a second bowl if you want, but I don’t like to do dishes. Actually, Erik usually does the dishes, so I don’t like feeling guilty about NOT doing the dishes. It’s easy to do as long as you remember to unscrew the cap of the oil before you get your hands all doughy.

   Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or the shower cap you took from the hotel you stayed in last week) and let the dough rise for an hour or 2. Ideally, you should wait for it to double in size, but you can cut this short if you’re in a hurry.

   

7. Once the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 500 degrees, or as hot as it will go. Set a baking stone or cookie sheet in the top third of the oven to preheat. Lay out two sheets of parchment paper that are about 16 inches long.
8. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Cut it in half and gently shape each into a ball. At this point, you could tightly wrap one of the dough balls in plastic and freeze it, but we like pizza leftovers, so we never do. Drape a towel over the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes. This will make it easier to shape.

   

9. While the dough is resting, prepare your toppings. We made two different pizzas. One had a sliced portobello mushroom (from Bulich Mushrooms), half a sliced red onion (Paffenroth Gardens), and about 5 ounces of sliced fresh mozzarella (from Eataly, since we forgot to get it at the greenmarket). The other had about 5 ounces of sliced fresh mozzarella and 5 ounces of ricotta (also from Eataly, but made in Brooklyn).

   

10. Lay one of the sheets of parchment paper on a pizza peel or (our preferred method) an upside-down cookie sheet. We flip the cookie sheet over, so that the pizza will slide off cleanly without bumping into the raised edges.
11. To shape the dough into pies, start by patting out one of the balls into a circle. After a while, the dough will start resisting, so use gravity. Hold the disc at the top with both hands and turn it like a steering wheel, using your thumbs to create a lip around the edge. It won’t get perfectly round, but you can fix that later. Once it’s as big as you want it, lay it down on the prepared parchment paper and pat or stretch it into a nicer shape. Fix any holes by pinching the dough together.

    



12. Spread the first crust with about 1/2 cup of prepared pizza sauce. We canned our own this summer following this recipe. Lay on your toppings. If you’re using anything delicate, like greens or herbs, tuck them under the cheese so they won’t burn.

    

    

13. Once your pizza is dressed up and ready to go, open the oven door and pull out the rack as far as it will go. Use an oven mitt! In a smooth motion, pull the pizza onto the stone or baking sheet using the corner of the parchment paper. Be careful!

    

14. Check the pizza after 8 minutes and then every 1 or 2 minutes thereafter until it’s done. Our oven usually takes about 12 minutes, but it depends on how long it preheated and what toppings we used. You want a dark brown crust and some brown spots on the cheese.

    

15. While the first pizza is baking, prepare the second following the same steps.

    

16. This is the hard part. Don’t eat it right away! If you cut it too soon, it will just be a big juicy mess. Wait 5 minutes (more if you can) for it to cool and firm up.

    

]]> http://eatlocal365.com/2011/03/01/how-to-make-pizza/feed/ 4 http://eatlocal365.com/2011/01/31/how-to-make-cassoulet-in-a-slow-cooker/ http://eatlocal365.com/2011/01/31/how-to-make-cassoulet-in-a-slow-cooker/#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 03:24:02 +0000 Lindsay http://eatlocal365.com/?p=2394 Local pinto beans from Cayuga Pure Organics

On Saturday night we threw a party for some friends and needed to find a solid anchor for the menu, something that would stand up to the punch (and help our friends stand up to the punch). With the lousy weather we wanted something warm and inviting that is filling and can be prepared well in advance. Enter cassoulet!

Cassoulet is a slow-cooked meat and bean stew. . . . → Read More: How to Make Cassoulet in a Slow Cooker]]>
Local pinto beans from Cayuga Pure Organics

On Saturday night we threw a party for some friends and needed to find a solid anchor for the menu, something that would stand up to the punch (and help our friends stand up to the punch). With the lousy weather we wanted something warm and inviting that is filling and can be prepared well in advance. Enter cassoulet!

Cassoulet is a slow-cooked meat and bean stew. It’s traditional French peasant food. It was perfect. After about 2 hours of prep (1 hour if you have someone else butcher the duck), we put the slow cooker on “set it and forget it” mode and lifted the lid off when our friends showed up at 6:00. Thanks to the slow cooker, it was still warm (and even tastier) at 11 pm. Another winner from Art of the Slow Cooker.

This post is further proof that “we are not vegetarians“. We have purchased and cooked more meat in the past ten days than in the prior three months, so we’ve probably brought our annual diet closer to omnivorous. Last week’s list included three types of sausage and a duck. A whole duck. But we also bought pinto beans that turned into the most delicious, creamy perfection in this dish, so it’s not all about the meat. Plus, thanks to the extensiveness of the Union Square greenmarket, the entire dish was made with high-quality, local ingredients, so we know the pig, duck, and lamb were treated well and fed appropriately.



Feel free to mess around with the ingredients, keeping the proportions roughly similar.

Slow Cooker Cassoulet
Adapted from Art of the Slow Cooker
Serves 12

Ingredients:

Amount	Ingredient	Preparation	Where we bought it (* Union Square Greenmarket)
1 pound	Pinto beans	Soaked overnight in at least twice as much water	Cayuga Pure Organics *
1 (~ 4 pound)	Duck	Bone-in but butchered into 2 breasts, 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, and 2 wings (We froze the rest of the misc. part b/c we’re going to try to make stock)	Hudson Valley Duck *
1 pound	Boneless lamb leg or shoulder	Cut into 1 inch cubes	Catskill Merino Sheep Farm *
To taste	Salt and pepper
8 ounces	Russian sausage (pork) (or other garlic sausage)	Cut into bite-sized rounds	Flying Pigs Farm *
8 ounces	Smoked pork kielbasa (or other smoked sausage)	Cut into bite-sized rounds	Flying Pigs Farm *
2 small	Yellow or white onions	Chopped	Paffenroth Gardens *
4 cloves	Garlic	Chopped finely	Keith’s Farm *
1/4 tsp	Ground nutmeg
1 tsp	Italian seasoning
3	Whole cloves
1/2 cup	Riesling wine (or other dry white wine)		Château Renaissance *
1 jar (28-32 oz)	Whole tomatoes	Drained, liquid reserved	Cherry Lane (canned in September) *
	Chicken broth	Enough to make 4 cups when added to the reserved tomato liquid	From our freezer (I don’t remember where the ingredients came from.) *

Directions:

1. Remove all visible fat and skin from the duck using a pair of sharp (and washable) scissors and put into a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Cook the fat and skin until they are almost crispy and most of the fat has rendered out. Discard any remaining pieces.
2. While the fat is cooking, season the duck liberally with salt and pepper on all sides.

   

3. Put the duck pieces in the hot pan, skin side down, and cook until nicely brown, about 4 minutes. Flip and brown the other side, again for about 4 minutes.

   

4. While the duck is browning, cut the lamb into cubes and season all over with salt and pepper.
5. After the duck has browned, set it aside in a baking pan to catch the drips. Add the lamb to the pan and brown, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes. Remove and add to the baking pan with with duck.

   

6. After the lamb has browned, add both types of sausages and brown, stirring occasionally, for about 6 minutes. Remove and add to the baking pan with the duck and lamb.

   

7. Use a spoon to remove all but about a tablespoon of the fat in the pan. You can also pour this out into a heat-safe container, but be very careful not to let it drip down the side of the pan, because it could start a fire.
8. Add the onion to the skillet and sauté until lightly browned, about 4 minutes.

   

9. Add the garlic, nutmeg, Italian seasoning, and cloves. Cook for a minute until it starts to smell good.
10. Add the wine and scrape the tasty bits off the bottom of the pan while it comes to a boil.
11. Crush the tomatoes with your hands and add them to the pan with the tomato liquid and broth. Bring to a boil.

    

12. While the liquid is coming to a boil, layer the meat and beans in your slow cooker. Beans, meat, beans, meat, beans.

    

    

13. Once the liquid has come to a boil, pour it over the beans and meat in the slow cooker, put on the lid, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

    

Sorry that there isn’t a picture of the final product. We were so busy with the party (and so excited to eat it) that we forgot to take a photo!

Of all of the pictures that we could find online of other bloggers’ cassoulet, Cathy Shambley’s looks the most like ours did. Our beans were brown instead of the traditional white because we used local Pinto beans, but otherwise they look remarkably similar. (If you Google “cassoulet” and go to “Images”, it is surprising how different the final dish can look.)

Cathy’s recipe is definitely a departure from ours. Hers is more traditional, and she made it using her own duck confit. We did not make a confit. We also swapped out some traditional ingredients with local ingredients, and we made it in a slow cooker. but, whatever path you want to take to get there, definitely make yourself some cassoulet!

]]> http://eatlocal365.com/2011/01/31/how-to-make-cassoulet-in-a-slow-cooker/feed/ 3 http://eatlocal365.com/2011/01/24/dark-days-brunch-how-to-make-a-scotch-egg/ http://eatlocal365.com/2011/01/24/dark-days-brunch-how-to-make-a-scotch-egg/#comments Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:30:30 +0000 Erik http://eatlocal365.com/?p=2304

How to make a Scotch egg (and see below for instructions for a Bloody Mary)

Based on our local, seasonal, and vegetable-heavy eating habits, many people assume that Lindsay and I are vegetarians (or vegans!). This post provides evidence to the contrary. Yesterday, we made brunch by frying up eggs, each wrapped in a quarter-pound of sausage. We also managed to do it all with local ingredients. Mmmm!

We based the recipe on a . . . → Read More: Dark Days Brunch: How to Make a Scotch Egg]]>

How to make a Scotch egg (and see below for instructions for a Bloody Mary)

Based on our local, seasonal, and vegetable-heavy eating habits, many people assume that Lindsay and I are vegetarians (or vegans!). This post provides evidence to the contrary. Yesterday, we made brunch by frying up eggs, each wrapped in a quarter-pound of sausage. We also managed to do it all with local ingredients. Mmmm!

We based the recipe on a recent post in the NY Times, but were really inspired by a nearby restaurant, The Breslin, which serves excellent Scotch eggs. If you want extremely delicious but extremely heavy fare, try out that restaurant! We made 4 Scotch eggs and 2 Bloody Marys, which would cost around $55 after tax and tip. We did it all for under $20.

$20 still sounds expensive, but most of that comes from the sausage. We eat a lot less meat than most people, but when we do we are sure to choose meat that is local, naturally fed, and full-pasture. It’s far more expensive (one of the reasons we eat less of it), but the health and nutrition profile is very different from industrial meat. Cows that eat nothing but corn cause humans cardiovascular problems. Cows raised completely on natural pasture have a profile similar to wild salmon (without the Mercury). For more information, read Michael Pollan.

We got the sausage from Grazin’ Angus Acres (sweet Italian sausage), which, as far as I’m concerned, sells the best beef money can buy.



Also notice how vibrant the yolks in the eggs are compared to the greenish-yellow hue that hard boiled eggs normally have. That’s the difference of naturally-raised and fully pastured chickens.

Ingredients:

Amount	Ingredient	Preparation	Where we bought it (* Union Square Greenmarket)
6	Large eggs		Northshire Farm *
2 cloves	Garlic	Minced	Keith’s Farm *
Pinch	Kosher salt
1 – 2	Whole pieces, horseradish	Grated	Gorzynski Ornery Farm *
Splash	White vinegar
1 lb	Italian sausage	Casing removed	Grazin’ Angus Acres *
1/4 cup	All-purpose flour		Cayuga Pure Organics *
1/4 cup	Panko bread crumbs		Whole Foods
~ 8 oz	Sunflower oil (or other frying oil)		Stolor Organics (sold by Cayuga Organics)*

Directions:

1. Place 4 of the eggs in a medium pot or saucepan and add cold water until they are submerged. Cover with a lid and bring the water to a boil over hight heat. Turn off the heat and leave covered for 3 minutes. Uncover the pot and let it sit for 10 minutes.
2. Peel each egg under running cold water and pat dry.

   

3. Mince the garlic. Use a mortar and pestle (or the back of a spoon, or a knife) to mash the garlic and the pinch of salt into a paste.

   

4. Peel the horseradish and cut it into manageable pieces. Use a microplane or grater to grate the horseradish as finely as possible. Add a splash of white vinegar to mix the horseradish into a paste similar to prepared horseradish that you can buy in a jar. You are aiming for about 2 tablespoons Alternately, you can skip this step and use 2 tablespoons of prepared horseradish from a jar. But grating it fresh will give you a head start on your Bloody Marys (see below).

   

5. Remove the casing from the sausages. If you can find ground sausage without casings, you can skip this step.

   Begin by cutting off the end of the casing with a meat scissor. Then work the scissor lengthwise into the casing.

   

   Cut the casing along the length of the sausage. Now, you should be able to peel of the casing in one piece.

   

6. Place all of the de-cased sausage into a bowl. Add the garlic paste and horseradish paste and mix thoroughly by hand. Divide the sausage into 4 equal portions.

   

7. Prepare an assembly line of four bowls. The first bowl should contain the flour. The second should be the bowl with the sausage in it. In the third bowl, lightly beat the 2 remaining eggs. The fourth bowl should contain the Panko bread crumbs.
8. Repeat the remaining steps for each egg.

   Roll the egg in the flour. Flatten a 1/4 portion of the sausage into a patty.

   

   Wrap the egg in it and form it into an even ball around the egg. Dredge the sausage-coated egg in the flour.

   

   Shake off the excess flour, then dip it in the beaten eggs. Let the excess drip off. Roll the ball in the Panko to cover it thoroughly.

   

9. Fill a medium pot with oil to 1/2 inch depth and turn the burner on to medium. Heat until it reaches 350 degrees, or if you don’t have a thermometer that you can use for frying (we don’t), until the oil starts to shimmer and bubbles form around the edges of the pot.

   The smaller the pot you use, the less oil you will need. We used a small saucepan, but it meant that we could only fry one egg at a time. The advantage to this, though, is that the first egg is almost guaranteed to come out worse than the rest. The first egg will both get the oil going, and allow you to adjust the temperature. If you fry two eggs at a time, you will have two “first eggs”.

10. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Use a wooden or metal spoon, preferably slotted, lower the first egg into the oil. Do it very slowly and carefully, so as not to splash the hot oil. Set a timer for two minutes. Give the oil a moment to react to the egg. It should sizzle but not go crazy. If it begins to sizzle and pop too energetically, turn the heat down further.

    

11. After the two minutes, use the spoon or tongs to roll the egg over 180 degrees to fry the exposed half.

    

12. After another two minutes, roll the egg to check for any under-fried spots and roll until those are face-down in the oil. After another two minutes, check to make sure that the entire egg is evenly fried. If it is, let it sit for another minute or two while rolling it to evenly re-fry the whole surface. This will also make sure that the sausage it thoroughly cooked through. In total, the frying should take 7 – 8 minutes.

    

13. Place a cooling rack inside of a sheet pan. Turn the oven on to 250 degrees. Use the spoon or tongs to remove the egg from the oil and place it on the rack. Sprinkle with Kosher salt. Put the rack into the oven to keep the egg warm while cooking the rest of the eggs.

    Alternately, to serve immediately after frying you can place the egg onto a plate lined with paper towels and give it a moment to wick away the excess oil.

    Notice the one burnt egg in the picture below. That was our first one, the “sacrifice”. It was still excellent.

    

14. To eat, cut the Scotch egg in half and enjoy. Just for the record, we only had one each for brunch and stored the other two for leftovers. It was a close call, though. I had really had to exercise will power!

    

The Bloody Marys

To supplement the Scotch eggs we made some Bloody Marys which were also prettylocal, thanks to Lindsay’s frantic canning of various tomato products in August / September. One of the things she canned from local tomatoes was Bloody Mary mix. We will be sure to post the recipe and the process next year when canning season rolls around again.

We used 10 oz of the mix per glass, and added:

• 1 oz of vodka
• 5-10 drops of Worcestershire sauce
• 5-10 drops of Tabasco
• A generous pinch of salt
• A healthy grind of fresh pepper
• 1 teaspoon of freshly grated horseradish, which I grated while making the Scotch eggs

Stir well and sip happily.



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