Scotch Eggs

I have no idea what reminded me of these. I had one a dozen or so years ago when I was in England... But WOW-- how perfect for paleo? Well, minus the breadcrumb crust. So, in my experimentation I fried them without any coating, and then the last few I did roll in egg then some gluten-free crumbs. I liked the crumb coating, and considering a few tablespoons of gluten free crumbs was it for the day it was well within the 80/10 guideline I try to follow. I also tried deep frying only, versus a few minutes of deep frying followed by about 8-10 minutes in a medium oven. These could easily be baked in oven without any deep-frying, or made into a meat loaf... but having the meaty grenade shape is fun and makes them super easy to grab on the go or stuff in your lunch bag. They're good hot with a salad, or just as good -if not better- cold the net day.

Scotch Eggs

6 boiled eggs, peeled and set aside.

1 medium onion

2 cloves of garlic

S&P

(any and/or all of the following)

1 or more fresh chili pepper - with or without seeds, your choice.

1/2 red pepper... (I did this for the kids, then added the hot chili and spices after I made theirs.)

fresh or dried herbs... at least 2-3 Tablespoons total fresh, or at least 2-3 teaspoons total of dried. I used dried sage, mixed italian herb blend, red pepper flakes, and cayenne.

1 raw egg

1 pound ground meat--- beef or pork (or emu, lamb, deer...doesn't really matter.)

**even easier - do you have a paleo sausage you love? Use a pound of that - or any sausage recipe you like**

1. Peel the onion and garlic and toss in the food processor with the S&P, and herbs and spices. Whirl until the onion and garlic are pretty small chunks...

2. Add the ground meat and egg and process until pretty smooth - this makes it easier to form around the egg and it stays together in the deep fryer.

3. Divide the mixture into 6 portions. (approx 1/2 cup each.)

4. Flatten one portion of meat out in your hand, and place 1 hard boiled egg in the middle...carefully form the meat around the egg making sure to seal all seams. Set aside and repeat with the next 5 eggs.

If you like - at this point you can either dust them with some gluten free flour, or roll in a beaten egg followed by anything you've used for a paleo breading . (almond meal, ground pork rinds) Or not!

5. Heat oil in a deep fryer and deep fry one at a time approx 5-6 minutes. OR Fry them like meatballs in a shallow pan until browned completely all around and pop them in a medium oven for 10 minutes or so to finish... or really, any way you'd like to cook them works. You may have to experiment. The first one I deep fried with no coating for 8-9 minutes. Recipes I found on the web said to deep fry them for 10 minutes but that was too long, and the oil was about 325 - 350F. The best ones I made were deep fried for about 2 minutes @ 350F, then finished in a 350 oven for not quite 10 minutes...and they were even better for breakfast the next day.