Scotch Eggs and Tea Sandwiches
Thirty-two years ago my husband Alan and I created our first Supper Club. We invited 3 other couples to join us in putting together theme dinner parties. Each of the couples takes turn hosting on a rotating basis. The host couples chooses the theme, prepares the entree and a specialty cocktail. The guests are assigned one of the courses to help complete the menu.
During a recent gathering, our hosts (Andy and Ceresa) selected a British Holiday Dinner theme. Andy had grown up in a British home and wanted to share some of his family’s culture.
In keeping with the theme, each lovely place setting held a traditional English Christmas Cracker. Each guest cracked open their party favor to discover a small toy, funny joke and a tissue paper crown. Experiencing this English tradition was a fun way to begin our holiday dinner.
This festive meal featured many traditional British dishes including: Shepard’s Pie, Toad in a Hole, Creamy Baked Cauliflower and a Banana Toffee Pie. My husband and I were asked to bring the appetizers. When Andy learned that Alan enjoyed making scotch eggs, he asked us to make sure and bring them. We learned that when Andy was a child his English grandmother would serve him scotch eggs as a special treat.
Since Scotch Eggs are a somewhat heavy dish, I decided to prepare some traditional tea sandwiches to lighten things up a bit. I had served these little sandwiches back in 2011 for an English Tea Party that I hosted at my home to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Duchess Catherine.
If you’re looking for a few recipes that are easy to make and might be something new to your guests, I hope you’ll give one or both of these a try. Cheerio!
Scotch Eggs
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs, hard boiled & peeled
- 1 pound breakfast pork sausage mild or spicy
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Creamy Mustard Sauce
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 tablespoons coarse brown mustard
- 1 tabelspoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Place flour in a shallow bowl
- Place beaten eggs in a separate bowl.
- Place seasoned bread crumbs in a shallow bowl
- Place plain panko bread crumbs in a shallow bowl
- Divide pork sausage into 6 equal amounts.
- Using your hands, flatten sausage into a round, large enough so when you place the hard boiled egg in the center you are able to wrap it around the egg.
- Work the sausage around the egg, pinching it together so that the egg is entirely covered.
- Roll the pork covered egg in the flour.
- Dip in the beaten eggs.
- Roll in seasoned bread crumbs.
- Carefully dip in beaten eggs again.
- Roll in plain panko bread crumbs.
- Place coated eggs on a parchment lined jelly roll pan/baking sheet with sides.
- Spray eggs with cooking spray.
- Bake eggs at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until their crust becomes lightly golden and pork is cooked through.
- Let eggs cool slightly. They can be served warm or at room temperature. Serve with mustard sauce.
Creamy Mustard Sauce
- In small bowl whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, brown mustard, yellow mustard and worcestershire sauce.
English Cucumber Sandwiches with Ham
Ingredients
- 1 package small loaf of pumpernickel bread pre-sliced
- 2 5 ounce packages garlic and fine herb boursin cheese
- 1/4 pound deli ham thin-sliced
- 1 english cucumber 1/4 inch slice
- fresh dill
- large flake sea salt
Instructions
- Spread 2 teaspoons of boursin cheese on sliced pumpernickel bread.
- Using a small biscuit cutter, cut ham into rounds small enough to fit on each slice of bread.
- Top cheese with a slice of ham, slice of cucumber and a sprig of dill.
- Lightly sprinkle each tea sandwich with some sea salt.
- Serve slightly cool or at room temperature.
