BROCK EGGS

These are everyone’s favourite – we get through thousands each month. Back when we were coming up with the idea of little nibbles to eat with a drink before dinner – which we now call Piggy Bits – we had a crack at making the ultimate Scotch egg. We wanted to make ours a bit porkier, so we used some of the pigs’ heads (see page 37), a very underused part of the animal and full of rich flavour. And as we have our own quails, we wanted to be able to showcase their wonderful little eggs. We do a punchy Colman’s Mustard dressing to go with it, as there’s nothing better than a Scotch egg with mustard. You will need a deep-fat fryer for this recipe.

Makes 12 Brock Eggs

• 1 ham hock
• 4 pigs’ cheeks
• ½ onion, ½ leek, ½ carrot and ½ stick celery, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig of thyme
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
• 12 quail eggs
• a good pinch of chopped parsley
• oil for deep frying
• a sprinkle of celery salt

For the mustard dressing

• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Colman’s Mustard
• 250ml (8½fl oz) rapeseed oil
• salt and pepper

For the breadcrumb coating

• 100g (3½oz) flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 100g (3½oz) breadcrumbs

Put the ham hock and pigs’ cheeks in a large pan with the veg, herbs and peppercorns, and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer on a medium heat for 2½ hours or until the meat falls off the bone. Remove from the heat and leave the ham to cool in the cooking liquor for about 30 minutes – until the meat has cooled enough to touch. Drain it and discard the veg. You can keep the ham stock for using in other dishes, for instance to enhance  a soup or sauce.

While the meat is cooking, place the quail eggs in a pan of boiling salted water and cook for 2½ minutes. Then place them in a bowl  of cold water to stop the cooking process. When they’ve cooled, peel off the shells, taking care not to split them open.

Once the ham has cooled enough to touch, pick off all the meat and shred by hand into a large bowl. (Don’t eat it all now!) Add the chopped parsley and season to taste.

Spread some of the meat out into a thin circular shape (about the size of a saucer) on your work surface. Now very gently wrap a quail egg in the meat, being careful not to squeeze it. Repeat with the remaining meat and eggs. Leave them to set on a tray in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

To make the dressing, put the vinegar and mustard in a food processor and, while mixing slowly, add the oil until the mixture starts to thicken. Season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a jug.

Preheat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 180°C (360°F). When the eggs are chilled, coat each ball in flour, then dunk it in the beaten egg and roll in the breadcrumbs. Lower them into the deep-fat fryer cook the eggs in batches for about 6 minutes until crisp.

When they’re crispy, season with celery salt and serve with the mustard dressing.

This recipe is from The Pig: Tales and Recipes from the Kitchen, Garden and Beyond

For more like this, check out this delicious gluten-free Arancini recipe.