Scotch Eggs with Mustard Sauce

Main Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds country-style sausage, casings removed and crumbled (or regular ground pork breakfast sausage)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (lemon rind)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 hard-boiled eggs, shells removed
1 cup bread crumbs (plus 2 T. Panko, if desired)
Creole seasoning
1/2 cup flour
1 beaten egg
Vegetable oil
Baby pickles (for garnish, if desired)

For Dipping Sauce:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 tablespoons white sugar

In a large bowl combine the sausage, cayenne,salt, parsley, nutmeg and lemon rind.

Lemon "Zest" is just lemon rind/skin.
Grate with a fine/microplane grater.

Divide into 4 portions and on a sheet of waxed paper, shape each portion into a thin round.

Try to get your meat "round" very thin, to ensure meat cooks
all the way through during the frying process. Also, make sure
the meat "patty" is wide enough to accomodate wrapping your egg in.
I believe mine was a good 6" in diameter, patted really thin, as shown above.

Dip hard-boiled egg in a bit of flour first.  This will help the meat to stick onto it.

 Then, place the egg on the sausage round and wrap to enclose the egg, patting gently to smooth the surface. (This step is much easier with wet hands.)

Originally, I tried using the wax paper to start the encasing process,
by tilting the paper up around the side and then peeling the meat off
of the wax paper onto the egg. You'll have to experiment with what works best for you.   :-)

Season the bread crumbs with Creole seasoning. [Cook's Note: I also added a few tablespoons of Panko bread crumbs for extra crispiness when frying.]

Dredge the sausage-wrapped egg in the flour (oops, not shown in pics!), then dip in the egg and roll in the bread crumbs until well coated.

Be sure to dip your sausage egg in FLOUR first, BEFORE putting
 it in the beaten egg. (Sorry, forgot to show that!)

Cover all sides with the bread crumb mix.

Chill in the refrigerator until ready to cook.

In a deep fryer or large heavy skilled, heat 2 to 3 inches of vegetable oil to 350 degrees F.

Remember, our magic frying temp is also 350. ;-)

Fry the eggs, 2 at a time until golden brown and crisp, about 6 to 8 minutes.  You may want to use a utensil to carefully put the eggs in the oil.  Don't drop drop them in the pot, or you could get burned or the oil may splash on the burner, causing a flame!

I opted to fry on the longer side of 8 minutes, just to be sure my meat would be cooked inside.

Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels before serving.

Give them a few minutes to cool off before trying to cut.
IF the meat is still pink, place in the oven for additional time, maybe 4-5 minutes on 350.

Serve with mustard sauce and baby pickles, if desired.

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To make the mustard sauce: Stir in mayonnaise, mustard and sugar. When it just starts to boil, it's done. Remove and let sit until cool, then chill for at least 10 minutes.