Scotch Eggs with Maple Breakfast Sausage

Come visit us at our Canal Park Storefront in Duluth, MN to purchase the Maple Breakfast Sausage.

This recipe uses one whole bag of Maple Breakfast Sausage (weight varies per each bag but you will use about 8-10 sausages).

Ingredients

6 eggs

1 lb of Smokehaus Maple Breakfast Sausage

1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)*

*You can substitute cayenne for 1 tbsp of fine diced spicy fresh pepper of your choice.

4 green onions, fine minced

2 cups high-temperature oil, such as peanut or rapeseed, if frying

2 eggs, whisked

½ cup flour

½ cup Panko bread crumbs

½ cup water

Utensils

4 bowls Paper towels

Plastic wrap

Cutting board

Thermometer for oil temp

Large frying pan/cast iron skillet / or a baking sheet

DIRECTIONS

If you’re a visual learner: we recommend the following video for additional information and a visual guide on how-to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkPPn5ycsnc

Boil 6 eggs for 6 minutes (runny yolk), 6 ½ minutes (for partially runny yolk), or 7 minutes (not so runny). Cool down those eggs to stop them cooking  by placing them inlace iced water for 5 minutes.. Gently peel your eggs (the less you cook them, the trickier it will be to peel them) and dry them with a paper towel.

Take sausage out of their casings and add the green onions and cayenne pepper. Lightly mix until just combined and raw sausage is malleable (beware of over-mixing, this will lead to tough sausage!). 

Get the oil ready for frying, have it reach a 350F temperature.

Pre-heat your oven  to 400 F** if you’d rather bake the eggs.

Get your stations ready:

Plastic wrap your cutting board and tape one side of the plastic to the bottom of the cutting board (this will help keep it in place while you spread out the raw sausage).

Place remaining ingredients in separate bowls.

Make sure you dry your eggs before placing them on the flat raw sausage.

Scoop out a 2 inch ball of sausage, spread with wet fingers and then use the non-taped side of the saran wrap to finish spreading out the mixture. You’ll need enough of a diameter to cover the egg evenly.

Place your dry egg in the middle of the mixture, wet your fingers and slowly join all edges of the sausage to close up any gaps.

Coat the egg in flour then the whisked eggs and finally in panko bread crumbs.

Slowly place your egg in the fryer. Fry for 5 minutes. If you boiled the eggs the night before allow for an extra minute of boiling.

Allow the eggs to cool down and then slice, serve and enjoy!

BAKING**

For baking, place all coated eggs in a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes until golden.

Allow the eggs to cool down and then slice, serve and enjoy!

Eggs Three-Way (or this is not a pipe)

Smoked Lake Superior Lake Trout

Ingredients

⅓ lb Lake Superior Smoked Trout

½ Lemon juice (if not juicy, use the whole lemon)

2 tsp Minced chives*

3 tbsp Mayo

½ tbsp Dijon Mustard

Black pepper to taste

*leave a bit for decoration

Smoked Salmon with Black Pepper and Coriander

Ingredients

⅓ lb Smoked Salmon with Black Pepper and Coriander

2 tbsp Medium-minced red onion

2 tbsp Medium-minced parsley

¼ cup Sour Cream

Black pepper to taste

If you have some scallions around, slice a bit for decoration.

Spanish- Style Dry-Cured Chorizo

Ingredients

¼ cup or 3 tbsp pan-fried, thinly matchstick sliced chorizo*

¼ cup Mayo

2 tbsp Dijon Mustard

*Leave a little for decoration.

Directions:

Boiling the eggs -

Add the eggs in a single layer, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, then shut the heat off for 12 minutes, the eggs will be perfectly cooked. Add a splash of vinegar to stave off runaway egg whites if there is crackage. Once timer goes off, place your eggs in a bowl with water and ice to stop the eggs from further cooking. Peel your eggs once they are cold. When slicing your eggs, keep a wet kitchen towel by you and clean your knife in between each egg.

Making the filling -

A lot of this will be left to preference. Do you liked your deviled eggs with a little bit more texture? Then don’t use a food processor to mix your ingredients. Use a spatula and mix back and forth until you can’t find big chunks of yolks in your mixture. Mix ‘til preferred smoothness. If you’re using a food processor, combine the yolks, and the rest of your ingredients and process until the mixture is to your smooth preference. Scrape the bowl as necessary.

To pipe or not to pipe?

Depending on your mood or who you’re sharing the eggs with, you might just want to use two spoons to place the mixture in the white egg halves. If you wanna pipe, pipe away, baby! Make a sweet swirl and decorate your eggs with chives, scallions or fresh cracked pepper.

Smokehaus Recipe: Carne Adobada

We have been making carne adobada since the early days of Northern Waters Smokehaus: Eric "discovered" this spicy, satiating dish while visiting his wife's family in New Mexico. The New Mexican chile, or Hatch Chile, is integral to the recipe - feel free to simplify any or all of the other ingredients, but be firm on this one. This recipe is a large one, but you can cut it in half if you want to. However, be warned - you will want leftovers, as adobada is great with eggs, in tamales, in soups, as enchilada filling, etcetera. This recipe also requires at least 24 hours (ours takes 3 days), and is especially well worth the time if you make the full amount.

Carne Adobada

Ingredients:

10 lbs fat-marbled pork (we use Berkshire pork hams or cheeks, but collar-butts and shoulders work fine)

1/2 lb dried Hatch or New Mexican Chilies, available online, or if you're lucky, at a nearby grocery store

7 (or so) cloves of garlic

2 Tbsp of chicken base, or 1 cup chicken stock (in which case  lessen the water quantity accordingly)

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp cumin

2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp dried oregano

Healthy squirt of Sriracha or the like

1 quart of water (if using chicken stock instead of base, lessen the water quantity by 1 cup)

Directions:

On a large cutting board, cut the pork into 1 1/2 - 2 inch cubes. Don't worry too much about trimming away fat: most of it will be dissolved and enveloped into the sauce as it cooks. Throw the cubes in a large roaster/cast iron/enamel-coated Dutch oven. Use a sharp knife, and enjoy the zen that comes from spending so much time breaking up a large piece of meat.

In a large food processor or blender, pulse the garlic. Cut the woody stems off of the chilies and add to the food processor, seeds and all. Feel free to wear kitchen gloves - the chilies get rather tingly, especially in the eye region. A half pound of chilies should nearly fill a 14 cup processor. If you are using a smaller model, simply split the recipe and do a double batch.

When you have piled in all the trimmed chilies, add the chicken base or stock, sugar, cumin, salt, cinnamon, oregano, and Sriracha. Pulse a few times, then slowly begin to add the water through the feed tube. If you add it too fast, you may have a mini-chile explosion on your hands (and on your kitchen), so take your time, and don’t let the mixture level exceed the lid of the processor. When all the water has been added, let the mixture blend until it is slightly thick and relatively smooth, about 5 more minutes.

Taste the mixture, and specifically check for salt. It will be quite spicy, but this attribute will mellow over time, so don’t fret if it knocks your tastebuds back into your palette.

Dump the sauce over your meat cubes, and mix well. Cover the mixture and let marinate, refrigerated, for at least 24 hours, but up to 3 days.

Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Place the covered mixture in the oven and let roast for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 300ºF and let roast for at least 3 more hours (but preferably 4), stirring once in awhile. Uncover and let roast until browned and tender – approximately 30 minutes more. When it’s cool enough to taste, check for salt.

Serve with tortillas and not much else – a touch of yogurt or sour cream and a lightly-dressed pile of bitter greens on the side works out well, but through years of due diligence, we find adobada is best in its simplified form.

Smokehaus Recipe: Potatoes Au Gratin with Chorizo

Perfect for Easter (or any old time of the year), we spun a classic recipe, potatoes au gratin, with a Smokehaus twist: our own dry-cured chorizo. The subtle smokiness of the chorizo offsets but does not overpower the earthiness of the potatoes, and the flowery-buttery nature of Gruyere binds the casserole into a creamy, harmonious dish that is all at once bright, silky, and memorable. Oh - and incredibly rich. Speaking of Gruyere, we used a recent addition to our cheese case from Wisconsin: Roth Kase's Grand Cru.

potatoesaugratinchorizo

Gratin Potatoes with Crispy Chorizo

Ingredients:

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tsp (or so) butter

3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes

3 cups heavy cream, or a milk/cream mixture if you’re squeamish

1 tsp (or so) olive oil

1 link dry-cured chorizo

2-3 medium shallots

1/2 lb Gruyere

Scant teaspoon sea/kosher salt

Black pepper

1-2 bay leaves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Cut each clove of garlic in half and rub the raw ends evenly over a large casserole (or Gratin if you’re fancy) dish. Reserve the garlic for later. Next, butter the dish and set aside. I also like to shred the Gruyere about now, so I don’t have to worry about it later.

Peel and slice the potatoes, making sure they are uniform. We cut ours in approximately 1/8 inch rounds, and this really did the trick. In a large, heavy saucepan, combine cream, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and squished-up garlic from the above - then add the potatoes and stir the concoction as best you can. Bring this up to a medium simmer, and once at this temperature, cook for 7-10 minutes or until the “sauce” slightly thickens and the potatoes become slightly flexible (but not soft). 

While this is happening, skin the chorizo, then dice it into small chunks. Heat the olive oil in a medium pan on medium-high and saute the chorizo until it is crispy, 5-10 minutes. The goal is a crispy coating around a softer interior. When this is achieved, fish the chunks out with a slotted spoon but keep the oil in the skillet. Slice the shallots into rings and add them to the chorizo oil. Sauté for a few minutes, until soft but not crispy. Once again, remove the goodies with a slotted spoon. I suggest putting them in a white ramekin - the better to marvel over their jewel-toned transformation - but any old plate/dish/bowl will do. 

If you have completed the chorizo/shallot work, I bet your potatoes are ready at this point, I like to taste the cream sauce for salt. It should be flavorful but not quite salty enough; remember - the chorizo and Gruyere will amp this up.  Remove the pot from heat, and get ready to layer your casserole.  Round up all the ingredients and coral them around the buttered, garlic-ed casserole dish. Start with the potatoes; gently lay them (along with any tag-along sauce) evenly along the bottom of the dish. Next, sprinkle the shallots, then half the chorizo, then half the Gruyere. Next, spread the rest of the potatoes (gingerly) on top, then the rest of the chorizo. Remove the bay and any large hunks of garlic from the cream sauce, and then pour over the casserole. Coat with the remaining Gruyere, and bake, uncovered, in a preheated oven for 45 minutes to an hour.

We are now at the most unpleasant stage in this recipe: you must let it rest for at least 15 minutes after you take it out of the oven. During this process, the chorizo oil will reabsorb into the potatoes and the whole shebang will solidify, enabling a perfect slice. I recommend leaving the kitchen at this point to make the process a little less excruciating. 

Serve on its own, with steamed vegetables, or ... BERKSHIRE SMOKED HAM!