Michigan: Resident Heirloom Chef of Huron County Medical Care Facility

HCMCF dining services celebrates our own Heirloom residents each month. A resident is selected to share some of their special family recipes and the stories that go with them.

For the month of February our “Resident Heirloom Chef” was Pauline Burdett. She is a native of England, born and raised in Liverpool. Although she lived in Liverpool, she never saw any of the Beatles group but her mother was a huge fan. She shared stories with the residents about what it was like coming here and the changes she experienced.

Before coming to the U.S., she worked as a personal assistant to the president of a large family owned candy (she called it “sweet”) factory. Pauline shared stories of growing up in war-torn England after World War 2. Many of the buildings in her city were turned to rubble and as a child she remembers seeing bombed buildings that had been turned to rubble. She met and married a man from the Rochester Hills, MI area. Her wedding was actually held in an English castle! She moved to the Detroit, MI area in 1985 when she was 34 years old.

 She worked in Troy, MI for the auto industry in human resources. She said that even though she is English she had to learn how to actually MIS-spell words because the American spelling of words was totally different in the states! Pauline hasn’t been able to go back for a visit to England in many years but she plans to someday.

Some of her favorite foods from England were Scotch Eggs and Sausage Rolls. She has prepared them for every special occasion. She even served them for a special “Charles and Dianna wedding watching party” with a few American friends. Another popular food item from England that has made become famous in Michigan is the Cornish Pasty. She shared how these hand-held pies were made for the miners in Cornwall so they could eat their meals down in the mines. The Cornish Pasty has a specific “pinch” to the crust and that thick crust is what the miners held with dirty hands to eat the pies and then toss the crusts. Each pie was large enough for a miners hearty meal and dessert all wrapped in one pie. One side of the pasty would have the meat and potatoes and the other side held the fruit.

Dining Services made a healthier version of both the scotch eggs and sausage rolls by baking them instead of frying. An apple pasty was also shared with the residents. Later in the month, in honor of “Chef Pauline” a traditional English Trifle was served on the menu. Pauline never uses a formal recipe for her scotch eggs or sausage rolls as they are easily assembled. Dining Services developed a recipe for Scotch Eggs based on her directions:

Baked Scotch Eggs

Yield: 6 Scotch Eggs

Ingredients

• 6 hard boiled eggs
• 1 lb ground pork sausage, preferably sage seasoned
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• ¼ c flour
• 1 egg raw
• ½ c breadcrumbs

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
2. Peel the hard-boiled eggs and set them aside.
3. Place the ground pork into a large bowl add salt and pepper; mix well with your hands until combined. Divide meat into 6 equal portions.
4. Place the flour in a shallow bowl. Set aside.
5. Crack the raw egg into a second shallow bowl. Beat it slightly and set aside.
6. Place the breadcrumbs into a third bowl. Set aside.

To Assemble the Eggs

1. Flour your hands to roll sausage into balls then flatten it into a patty. Wrap the pork around one egg, pinching it together to seal any seams.
2. Roll the pork covered egg first in flour. Then, dip it in the beaten egg. Finally, coat it in bread crumbs.
3. Set the coated eggs on a well-greased parchment lined baking sheet.
4. Once all the eggs have been coated, spray them generously with cooking spray and place them into the preheated oven.
5. Bake the eggs for 20 minutes, until they are golden and the pork is cooked.
6. To serve the Scotch eggs, slice and then serve while warm, cold, or at room temperature.

Andra Shier| Assistant Director of Dining Services | Huron County Medical Care Facility