Monday, February 20, 2012

That Egg

The eggs that willed itself into being. They are first pickled with beets to make them pink. The tops removed judiciously, the yolks excavated and devilled with a touch of mayo, green chili pepper and oregano. Then put together again. Then encased in freshly chopped pork shoulder, seasoned into sausage meat. Then, in lieu of proper caul fat, some bacon is carefully slashed intermittently and stretched into a netting that is wrapped around each. Then they are set to cook in the barbecoa, napped with a tart tomato and lime based sauce. And voila.


Sliced open, and amazingly everything stays intact. I think if I ever try this again, it should go on a stick. Definitely Fair Food. The other perversity was a small pickled quail egg wrapped in meat to cure into salami. I'm hoping the egg stays good in the month or so the little salami olives take to cure. We shall see!


4 comments:

Deana Sidney said...

Mad scientist at work... love it. A food history person in Brooklyn made eggs cooked for hours today, a friend is trying scotch quail eggs... must be something in the air!

Yours must taste amazing.

Jonny said...

So, this is, effectively a deviled Scotch egg? Freakin' genius! Now all you need do is stick it in the middle of a pork pie flecked with thumb-sized lumps of black truffle. I'll take a large slice, if you please.

Ken Albala said...

It sort of reminds me of the hard boiled eggs my mom put into meatloaf. The combination is definitely underexplored. And as much as I like Scotch eggs, they're usually soggy and old. That might work nicely with a meaty aspic. Oh, I have another idea...

Juana Isabella/Donna said...

Hi Ken, this sounds a bit similar to the 15th c Portuguese meatball recipe I've done a couple of times. The translation was done by a lady up in Canada.

Almôndegas
Tomem carne de porco ou de carneiro muito gordo, sem ossos, e piquem-na bem miudinha, temperando-a com sal, cravo, açafrão e gengibre. Façam as bolas de carne, recheiem-nas com uma gema cozida, passando-as em seguida pela farinha de trigo. Numa panela com manteiga bem quente ou, se preferirem, manteiga e caldo gordo de carneiro, lancem um amarrado de cheiro-verde, e coloquem ali as almôndegas. Tampem a panela e tenham o cuidado de mexer as almôndegas de vez em quando, evitando que se partam. Sirvam com bastante molho. Se este for pouco, ajuntem às almôndegas o caldo de outras panelas.

Hazelnuts (meat balls)
Take very fat pork or mutton, boneless, and mince it very finely, seasoning it with salt, cloves, saffron and ginger. Make it into meatballs, fill them with a cooked egg yolk, rolling them afterwards in wheat flour. In a pot with very hot butter or, if you prefer, butter and fat mutton broth, add a bunch of cheiro-verde (I'm not familiar with this herb, it literally translates as "green smell", and add the "hazelnuts" (meat balls). Close the lid and take care to stir the meatballs once in a while, avoiding breakage. Serve with lots of sauce. If the sauce isn't sufficient, add broth from other pans.