Haggis

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,

Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm. 

Address to a Haggis by Robert Burns. Scotland's favourite son. The Bard. We are expected to revere this eighteenth century poet but trust me when it is a compulsory subject to study in Scottish schools by the time you finish you could see him in hell. Please don't get me started on Tam O'Shanter. While having no love of the poet I am a huge fan of the subject matter, Haggis. Up there with whisky it is one of Scotland's finest exports. I was reared on it and love it..  I can of course buy it in this part of the world, but, for some unknown reason they make it with pork. Mutton /lamb is what should be  used. Well would you like a beef burger made of pork?.When I am in Scotland I always buy two or three large sausages from a butchers then slice it and freeze it.

This is a much more convenient way of using haggis. I can just lift a few slices from the freezer as required and turn them in the pan. They take on the crumbly texture just the same as the traditional haggis packed in a sheep's stomach. Lovely an spicy it is a taste experience you should not miss. It also makes a wonderful stuffing for steak or chicken

If you are a very brave and adventurous cook you can of course make it from scratch

Haggis Ingredients:


1 sheep's stomach bag
1 sheep's pluck - liver, lungs and heart
3 onions
250g beef Suet
150g oatmeal
salt and lots of black pepper
a pinch of cayenne
150mls of stock/gravy

Haggis Cooking Directions:


1. Clean the stomach bag thoroughly and soak overnight. In the morning turn it inside out.

2. Wash the pluck and boil for 1.5 hours, ensuring the windpipe hangs over the pot allowing drainage of the impurities.

3. Mince the heart and lungs and grate half the liver.

4. Chop up the onions and suet.

5. Warm the oatmeal in the oven.

6. Mix all the above together and season with the salt and pepper. Then add the cayenne.

7. Pour over enough of the pluck boiled water to make the mixture watery.

8. Fill the bag with the mixture until it's half full.

9. Press out the air and sew the bag up.

10. Boil for 3 hours (you may need to prick the bag with a wee needle if it looks like blowing up!) without the lid on.

11. Serve with neeps and tatties.

Me? I prefer the easy route to my favourite dish. I'll leave the hard part to the butcher. Perhaps someday I will have a go.
As a post script I don't usually serve the haggis as shown in the photo. The idea is just to pile it on a plate with creamy mashed potatoes (tatties)and puréed turnips (neeps) but in that form it is not very photogenic so I poshed it up a little.

Flying Scotsmen

I love 'Come Dine With Me' My net book is beside me on the work top when I am cooking so I can watch away. It sometimes makes me cringe and also makes me laugh. Some of the recipes are very good and it's helpful seeing someone throw it together. This recipe came from a Scots contender. No surprise there. I love chicken and haggis and I thought what a great way to combine the two. It is very pretty when cooked and slices nicely if you want more delicate servings. I know it's not easy for people to get haggis. I imagine it would work nicely with sausage meat infused with some spice. I also wonder what it would be like with pate. All these are on my must try list. When I am in Scotland I buy the haggis in large sausage form and slice it for the freezer. Very convenient to use. My supply is nearly out though and as I have no visits planned to go across the water in the near future I really have to see if I can buy on line. Can't do without my haggis fix. The Flying Scotsmen are served with a whisky cream sauce. Couldn't be simpler to make and can be prepared well in advance ready to pop in the oven. It's yet again a really tasty way to use chicken breasts.


Ingredients

1 chicken fillet per person battened out flat between two sheets of cling film.

2 slices of streaky bacon per chicken fillet spread out flat with a knife (or you can use pancetta)
A little oil or butter
1 tablespoon of whisky (optional)
Approximately 1 tablespoon of haggis per chicken fillet

Whisky Sauce

100 mls chicken stock
100 mls of double cream
2 tablespoons of whisky
cornflour to thicken if needed

Method

Pre heat oven to 180.c/160.c Fan/Gas 4/355.F

Mix the whisky if using with the haggis in a bowl to marinate for a few minutes

Spread the haggis on each flattened out chicken breast and roll up tightly. Don't make the layer too thick or it will just squish out.

Wrap the two bacon slices round each parcel

Place on a baking sheet, drizzle with a little oil/butter and bak for approx 45 minutes.

Whisky Cream Sauce

In a small saucepan boil the stock. Add the whisky and let it bubble for a few minutes.
Add the cream and heat through
You can use a little cornflour to thicken but I found it wasn't necessary


.

Liver and Bacon

Liver seems to be making a come back. I was amused to see my son order it in a restaurant in London. If I had offered that to him when he was a youngster he'd have strung garlic round his neck and made the sign of the cross. When I was a child it was cooked in the pan until it was so tough it would have done soles on your shoes. It had to be eaten though. Remember the starving children in Africa? No great hardship. I was always hungry and they certainly weren't getting my dinner. I recall at school being taught to make Venetian liver. It was chopped up, rolled in seasoned flour fried lightly and then stock added. This was a huge innovation and went down very well at home. I have to say I learned long ago to cook it lightly. Much nicer a little pink in the middle. I love this version by Jamie Oliver. Lots of lovely oozy sauce to soak into buttery mashed potatoes. I have to serve it with cabbage. My hubby would think it heresy to eat liver without it. Do try it. It is so easy and like most of Jamie's recipes it works a treat. The crispy sage leaves are wonderful. I have taken to doing these with other dishes. They retain their colour when fried , add texture and a wonderful flavour.

Liver And Bacon With A Twist

Serves 4

12 rashers streaky bacon
olive oil
a small handful of fresh sage leaves
600gms/1lb 6oz calfs or lambs liver cut into strips
flour to dust
2 medium onions peeled and finely sliced
sea salt and ground black pepper
4 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
4 heaped tablespoons butter


Get a big frying pan nice and hot
Add bacon cook until nice and crispy then remove to a plate.
Add some oil to the bacon fat sprinkle in the sage leaves and cook for thirty seconds until crispy Put with the bacon
Dust the liver with a little flour and shake off the excess
Add onions to the pan with a good pinch of salt
Cook until soft then remove from the pan
Add a little more oil then add the liver.
Cook in batches over a high heat. don't overcook
Put everything back into the pan with the butter and vinegar it will sizzle and spit becoming creamy and saucy
Season to taste Serve with buttery mashed potatoes