After-Easter Eggs

By Chef Judi Gallagher –

So, the purple polka dot Easter eggs were a hit. The orange racing stripes stood out during the hunt and everyone agreed the green flowery eggs were the perfect picture of Spring nestled between jelly beans and marshmallow chicks.

Now, what do you do with all those hard boiled eggs?

Well, since this is a cooking magazine and I’m the resident chef, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I couldn’t come up with several delicious options. I’d better hop to it! Happy After-Easter eating.

Chop a dozen hard boiled eggs and toss with fresh chopped flat leaf parsley and a teaspoon of drained capers. Use as a topping for breaded chicken or veal cutlets. The presentation is lovely and the flavors are sublime.

An authentic Cobb Salad is an ideal Spring meal to serve for lunch or dinner. Compose your salads by arranging the ingredients in rows atop romaine or bib lettuce. You’ll need blue cheese in little chunks, black olives, turkey or chicken pieces, and crumbled bacon and chopped eggs.

For a variation on the classic, buy fried boneless chicken fingers and lay them on a bed of shredded romaine lettuce. Make a row of grape tomatoes, sliced avocado, chopped eggs, minced scallions and slivered almonds for added crunch.

Most of you have made and eaten deviled eggs and, of course, egg salad, but why not combine the two.

Mash hard cooked eggs with a touch of mayonnaise and sweet relish. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper and serve on toasted English muffin halves with lettuce, sliced tomatoes and a strip of applewood-smoked bacon for a new twist to bacon and eggs for brunch.

In honor of Prince William’s upcoming wedding to Catherine Middleton on April 29, I thought a recipe for a British favorite, Scotch Eggs is something you and yours might want to enjoy while watching the royal Windsor ceremonies on television.

Scotch eggs are usually a picnic food and home-made. But, in the UK prepacked, plastic-wrapped Scotch eggs are commonly available in supermarkets, convenience and service stations that sell fast food.

Miniature versions of Scotch eggs are also widely available in British supermarkets and are sold under the name ‘savoury eggs’, ‘picnic eggs’, ‘party eggs’, ‘snack eggs.’ They are chopped egg or a quail’s egg, rather than a whole chicken egg, and sometimes contain mayonnaise or chopped bacon.

Several local variations exist, such as the Manchester egg which uses a pickled egg wrapped in a mixture of pork meat or the Worcester Egg, where the egg is first pickled in Worcestershire Sauce and then clad in a mixture of local sausage meat and white pudding.

In the United States many British-style pubs serve fresh-made Scotch eggs. They are usually served hot with dipping sauces such ranch dressing, hot sauce or hot mustard sauce. At the Minnesota Fair, true to fair tradition, Scotch eggs are served on a stick.

Scotch Eggs

(serves four)

1 ¼ pounds bulk country-style or herbed sausage

1 teaspoon crumbled dried sage

½ teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

4 hard-boiled large eggs

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 raw large eggs, beaten lightly

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

vegetable oil for deep-frying the eggs

In a large bowl combine the sausage, sage, thyme and cayenne. Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and flatten each portion into a thin found. Enclose each hard-boiled egg completely in each of the sausage rounds, patting the sausage into place. Dredge the sausage-coated eggs in the flour, shaking off excess. Dip into beaten raw eggs, letting excess drip. Roll each gently in bread crumbs, coating well. In a deep fryer heat 1 ½-inches oil to 350 degrees. Fry the Scotch eggs two at a time, turning them until the sausage is cooked and brown. Transfer the eggs to paper towels to drain.

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