Hot smoked salmon scotch egg with creamed leeks

by Jilly McCord

This is a really tasty lunch or starter idea using seasonal leeks as a bed for this oozy smoked fish scotch egg. The mixture encasing the egg is also full of flavour with fresh herbs from my Cole & Mason Burwell Self-Watering Potted Herb Keeper - the herb keeper allows me to buy little pots of fresh herbs and preserve them over several weeks. I can’t tell you how many herb pots I have killed but this has been a total game changer, and with the current shortages of salad items, it is a real winner. I used Quail’s eggs in the recipe but would work equally well with hen’s eggs (I will mention how to adjust the timings for this).

If you get it right the dish really has the ‘wow’ factor when you cut open the crispy outer casing to reveal the soft egg inside.

Prep: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 1 leek
• 1 tbsp double cream
• 1 fillet of hot smoked salmon or trout
• 2 quail’s eggs
• 1 mashed potato
• Chives
• Parsley
• Lemon zest (½ lemon)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsps panko breadcrumbs
• 700ml sunflower oil

 Method:

1. Place a pan of water on the hob and bring to a rolling boil. Carefully drop in your quail’s eggs (sometimes I do a couple spare in case they burst when peeling). Cook them in the water for 2m15s. (If you are using hen’s eggs – cook for 5m30s) Remove from the pan and place in iced water until cool.
2. Put the hot smoked salmon fillet in a bowl and use a fork to mash into small pieces. Now add the cold mashed potato to the mix (the mixture should be more salmon than potato, but enough potato to bind it together)
3. Add chopped chives, lemon zest, chopped parsley and a good grind of salt and pepper to the mix.
4. Once the quail’s egg is cool, place it in some white wine vinegar for around 5 minutes (whilst still in its shell). This is a top tip to help you peel the fiddly egg. Once the colouring starts to come off the outside of the egg, peel it carefully and set aside.
5. Now take half of your salmon mixture and make a thinner layer on the palm of your hand. Place the quail’s egg in the middle and gently fold the mixture around the egg until completely covered. Roll in your hands to get a smooth outside.
6. In 3 separate bowls, put 1 whisked egg, the plain flour and panko breadcrumbs. Start by rolling your scotch eggs in flour, then egg, then finally a coating of panko. Set aside.
7. Heat your sunflower oil in a deep and smallish pan until it reaches 170C or a piece of bread brown in a few seconds. Carefully place the eggs in the hot oil and deep fry until golden brown on the outside (approximately 3-4 minutes). Drain on kitchen paper
8. In a frying pan, take your leeks (finely shopped in half circles) and fry gently in a knob of butter. When soft, add the double cream and mix. Season with salt and pepper.
9. To plate, take the creamed leeks and place in the middle of the plate. Cut the scotch eggs in half with a sharp knife and place on top of the leeks. Min has a little drizzle of chive oil around the outside but this is purely optional. Serve and enjoy!