Smoked venison Scotch egg with espresso brown sauce recipe

Phil Howard at Nespresso boutique

Ingredients:

For the brown sauce:

450g apples, finely chopped
120g pitted prunes
1 onion, finely chopped
400ml malt vinegar
250ml quality stout
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp salt
250g muscavado sugar
4 espresso servings of Nespresso Arpeggio

For the Scotch egg:

400g sausage meat
400g venison meat, finely minced and cold smoked (ask your butcher to smoke it for 5 minutes in a smoker)
10 medium eggs
100g breadcrumbs
2 additional eggs
100g flour
20g Nespresso Arpeggio grounds
2l vegetable oil
Maldon salt

Method:

To make the brown sauce

1. Place the apple, prunes and onion into a large pan and cover with 250mls of water. Bring to the boil and cook for 30 minutes, or until tender.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until chutney-like in consistency.
3. Transfer to a blender and puree. Pass through a sieve and set aside to cool.

To make the Scotch eggs

1. Combine the sausage meat and minced venison and season with a generous pinch of salt.
2. Lay a large piece of parchment paper over the work surface and place 1/4 of the mix onto it. Lay a second piece of parchment paper over the top and press it down gently.
3. Use a rolling pin to roll the mince mix to a thickness of a generous 1/2 cm. Slide the mix onto a tray and chill in the fridge.
4. Repeat this process for the remaining 3/4 of the mix. Leave to chill for one hour.
5. Place the 10 eggs into a pan of boiling water and cook for 6 minutes. Remove from the pan, refresh under cold running water for 5 minutes and peel.
6. Remove one sheet of venison mix and lay it on the work surface. Peel off the top layer of parchment paper.
7. Use a saucer to make circular indents into the mix.
8. Carefully peel off one round of mince at a time and very gently wrap it around the egg ensuring it is evenly and thoroughly coated.
9. Place the egg in the fridge and methodically repeat this process until all the eggs are done. Leave the eggs to chill for an hour.
10. Mix the Nespresso Arpeggio grounds and breadcrumbs and set aside in a flat dish and similarly place the flour into a flat dish. Crack the additional 2 eggs into another dish and whisk briefly to loosen them.
11. Carefully roll the eggs in flour, shaking off any excess as you go, then coat them in the egg and finally roll them in the bread crumbs mix. Set aside in the fridge.

To serve:

Deep fry the scotch eggs in a fryer set to 180ºC until golden and serve with the brown sauce on the side.

Find more recipes from Phil Howard in The Square: Savoury: 1 and The Square: Sweet: 2.