S3PP: Let's talk about appetizers, baby!

S3PP - Season 3 Premiere Party
Appetizers

Nothin says loving like FOOD - especially when your guests are greeted with it the moment they walk in the door.  Our party is not going to be any different than any other gathering at Castle Burnorrest - come and eat til you can't walk anymore!   Surely some think I won't be satisfied til their skinny rears start looking more like mine, but I digress...

In Westeros the tradition lies (spoiler!) that if you give your guests bread and salt they will come to no harm while in your house.  I have taken the liberty of assuring all of my guests that they will be safe in our home as long as a 747 doesn't crash into our party.  Some things are out of our control, ya know?  So we're going to start with that - simple bread and salt.  The best recipe I found, of course, was at the Inn where they have a blooming variety of breads but this one I found to be the most fitting for our event - plus its different and I tend to gravitate towards things that are different... it explains a lot, trust me...

http://www.innatthecrossroads.com/2012/03/30/bread-and-salt/

I'll make 2 of those loaves to go on our appetizer tray on either Friday or Saturday.   I will also have my Oldtown Mustard - you can find my adventure with that here:

http://gameofthronesparty.blogspot.com/2013/03/s3pp-oldtown-mustard.html

I will place them with a bundle of green grapes, some kalamata olives, a variety of cheeses and...

SCOTCH EGGS.

Until the wonderful women at the Inn introduced me to their version of this amazing treat, I had no flippin idea what they were.  If you've never heard of them, let me tell you what they are:  Hard boiled egg wrapped in meat and then deep fried.  Mmmm... Hunimah.  Sorry vegetarians!  Yet another dish that isn't for you. 

You can find the Inn's version here:

http://www.innatthecrossroads.com/2011/07/24/scotch-eggs/

Now, if you have been reading most of the way through this adventure, you know that I don't just follow a recipe and I'm good.  OH NO.  I gotta make it my own and with these beauties, it's no different.  In their version, they use quail eggs but since Safeway doesn’t carry quail eggs, regular old chicken eggs will have to do.  I have a trick up my sleeve....

PROTIP:  Ever go to the store, buy eggs, boil them, then have a hard-ass time trying to peel them without the egg going with the shell?  It's because you're using FRESH EGGS.  Buy your eggs a week ahead of time and you won't have that problem.  :)

I gave these a test run a few weeks back with my boyfriend and my son.  The squishy was very intrigued by this - he may only be 4 but I will turn him into a master cook if it kills me.  He was very helpful to peel the eggs and even got to wrap a few of them though he needed a bit of help.  Small hands, ya know...

This recipe calls for sausage meat.  No mention on the variation of sausage meat although I've heard in Scotland they use breakfast sausage.. I'm sure that's good in all but I like a little kick so I am busting out the hot Italian sausage for this recipe.  Not a fan of spicy food?  Weenie!  (Just kidding!)  I'll be making a batch of mild Italian sausage ones too for a few of my non-spicy food eaters.

So you wrap the eggs, you bread em, you fry em... then what?  Well one of these ends up being huge and really too much for one person to eat so we cut them in half and gazed upon it's sheer wonder for a minute before giving them a whirl...

Such a  beautiful thing...

Then I got to thinking... You know what I love?  Deviled eggs.  You know what would make them even more awesome?  To wrap them in meat and deep fry em!  OH YES. 

I took the yolks out of the eggs I had left and whipped them into a filling with some green onions, cream cheese, and a smidge of Italian Seasoning.  If you're going to use this method, make sure that your cream cheese is just below room temp so that your filling turns out really smooth and delicious.

My squishy is only 4 and despite the fact that these were a bit on the spicy side of life, he still had 3 of them before I had to stop him and chase him around outside for a little bit.    They are amazing and the perfect thing to go on our appetizer plate.

Another thing I love about these is that you can make them the day before and serve them cold - like they do in Scotland.  I'll probably end up making them the day before and making the filling the day of.

So we'll have bread and salt, olives, grapes, cheese, Scotch eggs, mustard and lastly, mulled wine that our buddies from House Brown will be bringing. 

Hmm... maybe that's not enough food?

Ok, I know it is but seriously, I'm adding one more thing.  Just. One. More. Thing... PROMISE!

http://www.innatthecrossroads.com/2012/03/15/mock-dormice/

Since the squishy will be at his dad's for the weekend, it sort of foiled my plans a bit to sit down and make these with him - it's the perfect recipe for little ones to get their hands on, think pigs in a blanket only with ears and a tail.  They look super cute and who doesn't love little smokies? 

Ugh... Really Jess - gotta draw the line somewhere, sheesh. 

On the plus side, they fill up with appetizers and they'll have more food to take home with them... win/win!