Wait, what kind of party theme is that?! A great one, actually. Most often I start with a food or drink and build my party theme up from there. This one started with Scotch eggs, which are one of Will’s favorite foods, but not something we come across often. For those unfamiliar with this delightful food, it is a hard boiled egg, completely encased in sausage, coated in bread crumbs, and deep fried. So not something to be consumed often, but that is nearly impossible in these parts anyways. In the last couple years we’ve only been able to find them from Myers of Keswick in NYC, and when we were in Ireland.

Scotch egg’s unfortunate rarity and Will’s love for them made for a perfect birthday centerpiece. I was already coordinating some of his friends to meet us for a camping trip, so a picnic theme was perfect for a party without a kitchen. Plus it was wildly different than the Mexican meal we had 2 years ago, and last year’s Southern rib party (it is way too soon for repeats). I pulled Jamie Oliver’s Great Britain off the shelf and got to planning.

The Menu

Appetizers

• Scotch eggs with Coleman’s mustard
• English cheddar and Stilton
• Dilly beans (canned last summer…almost time to make more!)

Drinks

• English beers: I grabbed a growler each of Truell’s Best (an English Bitter) and Novacaine (and DIPA) from Cold Harbor Brewing. (Yes, a double IPA is more American than English…but they did create the style which was adapted and it is a delicious beer.)

Dinner

• Worcestershire beef sarnies (from Jamie Oliver’s Great Britain, but I can’t find the recipe published online)
• Rainbow salad with carrots, beets, cabbage, apple, and parsley.

Dessert

• Chunky Lola cookies from Flour, which had oats, chocolate, pecans, and coconut

Notes

I couldn’t find any English style sausage like bangers for the Scotch eggs, so I bought some ground pork and improvised a bit. I referenced this banger recipe, subbing pork meat, leaving out the added fat and beer (because I didn’t have fat and wanted a firm sausage since it wouldn’t be in a casing), and then loosely followed the rest of the recipe based on what spices I had around. Not exactly traditional, but I think I ended up with a better outcome than if I had gone with a readily available but imperfect substitute.

The actual Scotch egg process was surprisingly easy….minus peeling the eggs. I should have listened to Kenji and put the cold eggs into the hot water. Once that frustrating bit was over, I proceeded with my sausage through Jamie’s recipe and coated the eggs with flour, then sausage, then flour again, eggs, and bread crumbs. I heated oil in a smaller Dutch oven so I could use less oil but still have a deep pan, and fried them in batches of 2-3. With the oil at 300F, they took exactly 4 minutes as specified.

With so much effort invested in a single appetizer, the accompaniments had to be easy. Classic cheeses, and pickles to cut the richness from everything else rounded it out.

The sandwiches were all about the brisket cooked low and slow in a Worcestershire broth the night before. It was literally as easy as throwing everything in the same pot and then not forgetting to take it off the stove before bed.  I reheated the brisket in the broth over the fire, then shredded the meat. Then to serve you just throw together a simple cucumber salad with red onion and white wine vinegar, heat the bread, and put out with butter and mustard.

The salad was a perfect showcase for summer vegetables. I prepped everything but the apples (which I subbed for the pears) beforehand, and made the dressing in a jar to go. My one regret was that I made exactly the amount of dressing called for, and thought the salad could have used a little more.

The cookies may not have been English…but I wanted something easy to transport and they were delicious.

Schedule of Events:

This is assuming you have a party on a Saturday night (or have time to prep a day before). It could all be done in the same day if needed. If you’re truly having a picnic, you could put the salads together before leaving, and only assemble the sandwiches on site.

Day before:

• Cook beef
• Make cookie dough
• Hard boil eggs (I didn’t do this the day before, and I regretted it)

Morning of:

• Bake cookies
• Prep veg for salad and make dressing
• Make and fry Scotch eggs

Before dinner:

• Make cucumber salad and let marinate for 30 minutes
• Toss salad with dressing
• Warm beef and bread