TASTY SCOTTISH FOOD RECIPES

Tasty Scottish Food Recipes

If you are a bit fed up with the same old choice of daily dishes and would like to try something different and tasty, here are a few alternatives anyone from a novice to experienced cook can make easily.

Some of recipes are ‘waist builders’ so may not be for the feint hearted. Even so, you can eat smaller portions without piling on the calories and still enjoy these tasty Scottish origin dishes.

Haggis tatties and nips

The best way to enjoy this dish is to buy a haggis ready made and cook according to the instructions on the packet. To cook this from scratch at home is a complicated business, and buying a ready made one (Glasgow is reputed to have the best traditional haggis makers, and they do sell them all over the World in good food shops) and cook the swede (see recipe explanation of this vegetable below for using with Mince and tatties) yourself, along with new (mint and buttered) potatoes or mashed potatoes.

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Kedgeree Rice (‘Tartan Curry’)

 

Most people think this is an Indian dish, but it is rumoured to be a recipe concocted up by Scottish soldiers returning from duties in the Indian Continent in the time of the British Raj. No matter where it comes from –it makes a nutritious and healthy meal. Yum!

 

(Makes three to four servings )

Ingredients you will need;

 

 

1.250g of flaked (crumbled) cooked smoked fish like haddock or cod, though any poached smoked white fish can be used.

2.50g of butter or ghee (but select only one ingredient)

3.350g rice - basmati or other good quality that has been cooked

4.2 teaspoons of tomato ketchup plus salt and black pepper to taste

5. Hard boiled free range chicken eggs cut into quarters

6. Pinch of cayenne or 1 teaspoon of curry powder (but select only one ingredient)

7.1 small chopped onion

8.750mls chicken stock

9.1 Bay leaf

10. 300ml milk

11. Chopped fresh parsley or pinch of coriander for garnish

How to cook

 

1. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onion.
2. Stir in the cooked rice to coat it.
3. Add the chicken stock and bay leaf and bring to the boil.
4. Simmer gently for 20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed the chicken stock.
5. Poach the smoked fish in the milk for 5 minutes whilst the rice is cooking.
6. Break up the fish and add to the cooked rice along with the other ingredients
7. Add the cayenne/curry powder, tomato ketchup and twist of black pepper from your mill and if needed, a tiny pinch of good quality sea salt.
8. Serve with pre boiled free range eggs chopped into quarters and garnish with chopped fresh parsley or coriander leaves.
   
   (Note; smoked fish is usually salty already from part of the curing process, so you may not need to add a pinch of salt. If in doubt just leave it out)

You might like to complement this meal with your favourite chutneys such as lime and chilli, or/and popadoms and/or Nan breads.

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Scottish oat cakes

 

Ingredients you will need;

1. 5 cups of rolled oatmeal

2. 1 cup of plain flour

3. 1/2-1 cup brown sugar (depending on your sweet tooth)

4. 1 tsp. salt

5. 1/2 tsp. baking soda

6. ¼ block butter or margarine

7. 1/2-1 cup water

How to cook

1. Stir first 6 ingredients in a large cooking bowl until crumbly.

2. Gradually sprinkle the water over and work mixture with hands until you get a ball that is not sticky, but firm and pliable.

3. Press down into a greased cake pan until mixture is about 1/2-1" thick.

4. Bake in a 325 degree oven (about gas mark 4-5) until golden brown.

5. Slice into generous-sized pieces and arrange on plates.

Best served warm with hot tea, or try a little Dundee style marmalade/jam or clotted cream, or maybe you would like to try the Canadian version with lashings of hot syrup as a topping.

How to make the hot Syrup: (Optional)

2 small teacups of brown sugar

1 teacup of water

1/4 teaspoonful of maple syrup flavouring

Heat the above ingredients for 5 minutes then add 2 tablespoons of butter and 1/2-1 cap full vanilla.

Serve your Scottish oat cakes warm, with either of the toppings given above. If you are diabetic, simply leave out the sugar when making the cakes (or use an alternative sweetener such as honey, but do check with your doctor if this is alright for you to use instead of sugar) - and of course the syrup topping.

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Scottish cheesy potato cakes

It is said this recipe was originally from Ireland –as were the first settlers to Scotland –and it is still as popular today as a snack or light lunch in both Countries. It is a variation of the Scottish Potato Cake or ‘tattie scone’ with a cheesy twist!

If you like to experiment you could make it a sort of ‘Highland Pizza’ by adding curry powder or paprika…but why not just cook it the way thousands of Scots have enjoyed it for generations?

Ingredients you will need;

1. Half pound (225g) boiled and mashed ‘Maris Piper’ variety potatoes
2. 5oz (65g) flour
3. 3 tablespoons melted butter
4. Half teaspoon salt
5. 4oz grated strong cheddar cheese
6. 2 well beaten eggs

How to cook

1. Mash the potatoes while they are still warm and add the butter and salt. Add in enough flour to make it flexible dough but without making it too dry.

2. Add four ounces of strong cheddar grated cheese and two well beaten eggs to the potato and flour. Make into small oblong cakes, dip in breadcrumbs or flour and fry until golden brown on each side.

3. Serve on their own as a snack with hot baked beans or with bacon and eggs for breakfast.

(Yes this dish is calorie loaded – naughty but nice!)

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Cock - a - Leekie Soup

This is a traditional Scottish soup or broth, and is still a favourite for Scottish families to keep out the cold in winter months. There are many versions, but this is one is how my Granny and my Mum made it.

Ingredients you will need;

1. One whole (straight-from-the-farm) cockerel or plump chicken
2. Two Bay leaves
3. Two medium sized leeks chopped. Discard green parts if you don’t like them.
4. Water to cover
5. Quarter (small) cup of washed but uncooked rice
6. Salt and black pepper to taste
7. One small carrot cleaned and diced
8. One small onion cleaned and diced
9. One small stick of celery cleaned and diced

10. Two small potatoes cleaned, peeled and diced.

How to cook

1. Cut the chicken or cockerel up into pieces and place in a large cooking pot. Include the bones, as these will enhance the flavour. Bring to the boil and reduce heat until just simmering and cover with a fitting lid with steam escape hole, or just leave lid slightly off the top to allow steam to escape. (You could cook in a pressure cooker pot but we have found the best results are in a large soup pot on the gas hob) If you are using a cockerel it usually takes much longer to cook because the flesh is tougher than a hen or chicken, so allow for extra cooking time.

2. Allow the soup to simmer slowly for about 30 minutes until you see the frothy scum on the surface then remove it along with the bones, from the pot. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot but leave the potatoes out until twenty minutes before end of cooking time to avoid them going mushy. If there is a need to add a little water at this point –don’t overdo it or it will affect both the results and the taste.

3. Let the soup simmer for up to two hours, checking every so often for froth and remove. Taste is the best way to assess cooking time, and remove the pot from the stove and serve piping hot with buttered freshly made bread.

(You can make the Welsh version of this dish by using spring lamb or mutton instead of chicken.)

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‘Tatties, Mince and Nips’ (Mashed potato and minced beef served with mashed Swede)

In Scotland a turnip is actually a Swede; it turns brownish red when cooked. Everywhere else a Turnip is a turnip, and is white when cooked and mashed. You can use that if you can’t find a Swede. (No, you don’t have to go to Sweden to find a Swede….)

Ingredients you will need;

1. Five or six potatoes peeled and cut into pieces

2. One good sized carrot chopped or sliced

3. One medium size onion diced

4. Two chopped mushrooms (but you can leave out if you wish)

5. 500g of prime minced beef

6. 1 good quality beef cube

7. Salt & Pepper to taste

8. Half clove of garlic mashed but optional.

9. One pint of good beef stock (or water with beef stock cube works as well)

10. One good sized Swede or Turnip cut into chunks.

11. A little olive (or vegetable) oil

12. Fresh garden peas

How to cook

Boil the potatoes and Swede/turnip in a large pot and just cover with cold water (rinse under running water first to remove some of the starch)

1. Pour a few drops of oil into a large pot (use a pot belly soup cauldron if you have one)

1. Add carrot, onion and garlic (optional) and gently cook for about two or three minutes stirring frequently to avoid contents changing colour. Remove from heat and put to one side.

1. In a wide pan, trickle in a few drops of oil and brown your beef mince to seal in the flavours, making sure it is completely browned all over. Add a pinch of salt and a couple turns of your black pepper mill and gently cook for another two or three minutes –but don’t over cook it. Takes about seven minutes tops.

1. Now add the beef to the soup pot that contains the onions and carrots, plus one pint of beef stock. Stir the contents and partly cover the pot with a lid and allow simmering for 35 to 45 minutes. Check occasionally and give it a stir to ensure all the ingredients are spread evenly in the mixture. The ‘gravy’ should not be runny or thick, but just complement the beef nicely.

1. Heat the garden peas in a small cooking pot and when ready, add a small knob of butter and placing a lid on the pot –shake it to distribute the butter. Optional extra is a adding a sprig of fresh mint.

1. When the potatoes and Swede/turnip are cooked drain the water and mash together adding a small knob of butter and a little fresh cream or milk. Or you may wish to cook the potatoes and Swede in separate pots, creaming them in the same manner.

Serve the dish piping hot on a cold day to your family and watch them gobble it up! Another extra vegetable could be cooked green cabbage and/or kale.

If you don’t eat meat then you can use Vegetarian meat substitute with the same delicious results.

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