Your game day party is about to get exotic.

Chef Javier Melendez is reinventing Puerto Rican and Scottish noshes for your viewing -- and chomping -- pleasure.

One of the munchies is his Scotch Egg featured on Byte Bistro's menu.

"I like doing a different version of it because I do it with a coddled egg," he said, revealing a beautifully-textured, ooey, gooey cross-section.

A Scotch Egg is basically an egg wrapped in crunchy, meaty goodness. But Chef 'brings it home' with a maple glaze drizzlin' that practically turns this into breakfast.

Chef also demoed his beef short rib empanada. He stews it down with special flavor-enhancers, like cinnamon.

"It plays with your mouth," he smiled.

And, naturally -- sofrito.

"It's basically the base for everything in Puerto Rican food," he said.

Let's cook!

Byte Bistro's Beef Short Rib Empanadas:

  • 10 empanada discs
  • 2 lbs. beef short ribs
  • Half cup red onion chopped
  • Qtr. Cup red pepper chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • Qtr. Cup cilantro
  • Qtr. Cup green pepper chopped
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 2 tables. tomato paste or ketchup
  • 2 Qts. Chicken stock
  • 1 c white wine
  • 1 sweet plantain fried and cut into strips
  • Egg wash
  • 2 oz. Veg oil
  • Salt to taste
    Pepper to taste
    Cinnamon half teasp.
    Coriander half teasp.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl toss ribs with salt pepper cinnamon and coriander place in hot oven and cook for 15 min. till nice and brown. In a food processor puree the rest of ingredients.

In a pot at medium high heat drop oil and cook puree mixture cook for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, cook another minute.

Add ribs, stir well, add wine and stock, bring to boil, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 2 hours till fork tender. Shred beef by hand.

Place empanada disc on table, egg wash edges. Fill middle with 2 oz. beef and 2 strips of plantain. Fold and close edges with a fork.

Byte Bistro's Scotch Egg:

  • 6 hard boiled eggs or coddled
  • Half cup Flour
  • Half cup bread crumbs
  • Egg wash

For sausage:

  • 1 pound ground pork
  • Qtr. pound bacon chopped small
  • Half teasp. Sage dry
  • Half teasp. Garlic powder
  • Qtr. Teasp. Dry fennel
  • Half Tables. Salt
  • Half teasp. Black pepper
  • 1 tables. Honey

Directions:

In a food processor combine all sausage ingredients and bacon process till well combined.

Set up flour, egg wash and breadcrumbs to bread eggs.

In one hand place 3 oz. of sausage, flatten into a disc, flour, egg and place in middle of sausage. Roll corner till they meet. Work around the egg.

Place in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs and fry at medium high heat for 4 minutes.

Garnish w chives and maple syrup.