Tuesday 11 September 2007

Monday 10 September 2007

Traditional Scottish Recipes to Try - Yummy!


Welcome to my Scottish Foodie Blog
Sharing Traditional Scottish Recipes

I will be putting together some yummy recipes to try out which, are all traditional Scottish dishes, (not my own), just recipes tried and tested over the centuries and used by our Mums & Grannies and their Mums. We should be proud of our heritage of fine Scottish produce, whether it is our Aberdeen Angus beef, our fine malt whiskeys or Scottish Salmon.

I hope you enjoy some of the recipes I will be adding and will try them yourself.

Lets revive some of the traditional Scottish cooking and forget about the fast foods, we can be a lot healthier too!


Recipe 1

Cullen Skink Soup

Cullen is a wee town in the North east of Scotland .
Cullen Skink is traditionally made with Finnan haddock, potatoes and onions.
Sometimes the dish is known as Smoked Haddock Chowder

Ingredients For Cullen Skink:

Smoked Haddock
Water
1 Onion
1 pint of milk
Mashed Potato (4 -5 large potatoes)
Salt and pepper
25g butter


Cooking Directions For Cullen Skink:


1. Skin the smoked haddock and cover with just enough boiled water to cover it.


2. Bring to the boil and then add the chopped onion.


3. Remove the haddock once it's cooked and remove the bones. Remove the head and tail.

4. Break up the fish into a dish and replace the bones into the pot and boil for one hour.


5. Strain the stock and put back to the boil. Boil the milk in a separate pot and then add to the stock along with the fish.

6. Add the salt and boil for several minutes then add the mashed potatoes (tatties) until you get a nice consistency.

7. Add the butter and pepper and serve.

This dish is delicious and as you can see is so easy to make and very healthy too!
Recipe 2

Forfar Bridies

Use Shortcrust pastry:

4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound salted butter (2 sticks), cut into small pieces
Cold water

Filling:

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, peeled, ends removed, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup water
Nonstick cooking spray or 1/2 teaspoon shortening
1 beaten egg

To prepare pastry: In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Add the butter and cut into flour until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Mix in enough cold water to hold mixture together. Form into a ball. Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.

To prepare the filling: In a large bowl, mix together the uncooked ground beef, onion, salt, pepper and water. Set aside.

Assembly: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet, with nonstick cooking spray or grease with shortening.

Remove pastry from refrigerator. Lightly sprinkle work surface with flour. Roll out pastry to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into 6-7 circles approximately 5 to 6 inches in diameter. Evenly divide the filling among the 6 circles, placing the meat mixture on one half of the circle. Brush the edge lightly with the beaten egg. Fold the pastry over the filling and seal by lightly crimping the edge. Brush the top with beaten egg. Repeat with remaining filling and dough circles.

Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown on top. Makes 7 Forfar Bridies.


Recipe 3

Cranachan Recipe

Cranachan is a traditional Scottish sweet dessert recipe served with raspberries. It is traditionally served in Scotland at the New Year (hogmanay) and at some Burns Night Suppers.
This Cranachan recipe will serve four people:


How To Make Cranachan

Scatter the oatmeal onto a baking tray and toast in a low oven or under the grill until they become golden brown. Do stand and watch this because they can easily and quickly burn.

Blend 50g of the raspberries in the liquidiser until they become smooth.

Whip the double cream until a stiff mixture forms.
Stir in the honey and the whisky and mix well. Do use a good quality malt whisky to enhance the flavour. Try Glenlivet, Macallan, Glenmorangie, Glenfiddich, Isle of Jura and Glen Garioch all work excellently. Try different malt each time you make Cranachan with raspberries, to enjoy a new taste.

Fold in 50g of the toasted oatmeal then fold in 50g of the raspberry puree. A rippled effect should be achieved.

Spoon the mixture into tall glasses or individual serving dishes. Gently scatter the remaining oatmeal and raspberries on the top of each dish.

Serve and enjoy as a pudding. This is simply delicious!


Recipe 4

Scottish Salmon resting on savoy cabbage with a mushroom vinaigrette
recipe by Jeff Bland, executive head chef of the Balmoral Hotel Edinburgh

50g oyster or button mushrooms
150ml olive oil
1 glass white wine
50ml white wine vinegar
350g fillet of salmon, skin on and cut into 4 pieces
0.5 celtic (savoy) cabbage, shredded
Quarter onion, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 plum tomato, skinned and diced
4 sprigs dill
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

Method

For the mushroom vinaigrette
Warm half the olive oil with the white wine and vinegar, season and remove from heat. Place the mushrooms in the mixture. Allow to cool.

For the salmon
Brush the fillets with olive oil, season and place skin side up under a hot grill for about 3 minutes.

To finish the dish
Fry the onion and pepper until soft, season and increase the heat. Add the cabbage until cooked - but still crispy. Place the cabbage mixture in the centre of the dish. Top with the salmon, surround with diced tomato and mushroom vinaigrette. Use the dill to garnish.


Recipe 5

Skirlie

100g dripping

2 onions

200g oatmeal

125ml stock or water


Method

Melt dripping. Fry diced onion in dripping, slowly.Add oatmeal and continue cooking slowly. Add the water/stock during cooking to improve the skirlie. Skirlie can be served as a supper dish or to accompany creamed potatoes.

Recipe 6

Stovies

Method

Melt some dripping(or cooked fat cut small) in a strong stewpan and allow it to become smoking hot. Slice an onion or a few shallots and fry. Peel and slice potatoes thinly and add to pan with salt & pepper. Cover closely and cook very slowly for 1 -2 hours depending on the number of potatoes used. When ready, stir up from the bottom with a strong basting spoon.

Cooked meat, cut up small, may be added to the potatoes. The secret of good stovies is to cook the potatoes without burning, at the correct temperature, and without lifting the lid during cooking.


Recipe 7

Highland Flummery

225g double cream

75g by weight heather honey

3 x 15mll spoon whisky

1/2 x 5ml spoon lemon juice

a sprinkle of toasted medium oatmeal


Method

Whip cream, add slightly heated honey, fold in whisky and lemon juice. Sprinkle oatmeal on top. Serve in sherry glasses with a little finger biscuit.


Recipe 8

Fairlop Tart

Pastry

100g flour

pinch salt

50g margarine

Filling

100g breadcrumbs

1 1/2 x 5ml spoon baking powder

1 egg

50g margarine

4 x 15ml spoon golden syrup

275 currants

Method

Make pastry and line an 18cm pie dish. Mix breadcrumbs and baking powder. Beat the egg. Melt syrup and margarine. Remove from the heat and stir in fruit and breadcrumbs, then add the egg. Put inthe prepared pie dish and bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 160 degrees C /325 degrees F or Gas mark 3. Serve with custard.


Recipe 9
Grannies Clootie Dumpling

(when my Mum was growing up her Mum my Granny, used to put
silver sixpences inside the dumpling, at Christmas time)

Ingredients

400g plain floue
400g beef suet
1 standard loaf made into fine breadcrumbs (675g)
400g sugar
400g sultanas
2 x 5ml spoon spice
2 x 5ml spoon ginger
2 x 5ml spoon ginger
2 x 5ml spoon cinnamon
2 x 5ml spoon baking soda
1 x 15ml spoon cream tartar
1 x 15ml spoon syrup or treacle
2 eggs pinch of salt
milk to mix

Method
Mix all the ingrdients well. Flour a cvloth which has been rinsed in boiling water, put mixture into the centre of the cloth, catch up all the ends and tie firmly, leaving enough room for the dumpling to expand. Put into a large pot of boiling water and boil for 5 - 6 hours. Top up with boiling water if required. when ready lift out and leave pudding in cloth for 10 -1 5 minutes, then untie string and fold cloth back, place a large plate on top and turn the dumpling over - the cloth may now be removed, taking care to keep the skin of the dupling intact.

Place in an oven for 5 - 10minutes to dry off. This quantity makes a very large dumpling, but half the mixture could be in a cloth and half steamed in a bowl and put in the freezer.



MORE RECIPES COMING SOON - WATCH THIS SPACE

Best Wishes

Lorraine G Huber ( Scottish Abstract Artist)

Please visit my other blogs and my own art website

www.abstractloft.com
www.artiscot.blogspot.com
www.scottishscenes.blogspot.com
www.dogsforlife.blogspot.com
www.algardendesignscotland.blogspot.com