Yellow Pea Soup Day!

Yellow pea soup has been a tradition since medieval times in Sweden, originally served as a nutritious Thursday supper prior to non-meat Fridays in line with their religious beliefs. The custom of Thursday pea soup is still popular in many households, at school lunches and in the army mess… always with pancakes, whipped cream and jam for afters that day!

Traditionally the soup is served with Skånsk mustard that is fairly strong and semi-smooth however we also enjoy it with Galloway Wholegrain Mustard when in Scotland. As pulses have a habit of making their presence known a few hours later, a wee dram of sweet liqueur is recommended to aid digestion and inhibit gas! This is presumably not served at school lunches and I couldn’t possibly comment on the army!

As it is based on cured pork and yellow peas it makes sense to cook a large batch when I have just boiled a Ramsay ham as I then have 2L of ham stock, a perfect base for the soup, with some ham trimmings added. If not, you can improvise by frying a few chopped rashers of bacon with the onions at the start also works, then add only water, never commercial stock, and season more generously. Some like it thick and solid whilst others prefer their soup a thinner consistency…the choice is yours to thin down with a little extra water if wished.

Brochettes of Highland Beef with Caramelized Onions & Benromach

Pasture-fed ruminants, whether grazing grass or hefted on moors, bring many benefits and the marbling present is a healthy nourishing fat giving marvellous flavours to the meat. Such animals could not be more different from grain fed beasts on densely populated feedlots. Industrialised farming methods are linked with lower welfare standards, felling of rain forests for grain production and GM soy feed. Scottish pasture-fed cattle could not be more different.

Thrifty Tomato Soup

Here’s an opportunity to clear out that larder and experiment. The perfect time to use up that morsel left in a bottle or jar: sweet flavours become tart fillings, savouries for pizza toppings, with chutneys, vinegars and chillies ideal for spicy soups. This thrifty tomato soup is highly adaptable to what you have at hand.

Rosti with Ramsay Bacon

Rosti is a supper favourite chez nous, with homegrown potatoes from Andrew Skea topped with Ramsays rashers!

French Toast

Such a tasty breakfast treat – can be veggy with a buttered mushroom or grilled tomato topping rather than bacon.

Breakfast Finnan Haddie with poached egg

A true Finnan Haddie is a split, whole gutted fish, not the mass-produced dyed boneless fillets. The delicate smoke gives it a wonderful flavour. It has a long association with the famous Scottish soup Cullen Skink, and is also poached in milk for breakfast and the main ingredient in kedgeree

Traditionally cold smoked over peat, from Aberdeenshire, where the name originates and popular across Scotland since at least 1640’s. It is salted and left to dry overnight prior to smoking. Due to the light smoke it has a relatively short shelf life
There are still few small independent smokers who follow the traditional method so ask when ordering. e.g. H S Murray, Inverkeithing – see link below
Finnan Haddie is on SF Ark of Taste

Berlin Brunch with Trout Topping

With family in Kreuzberg we have great fun together checking out trends and markets in this foodie hotspot. A favourite pastime is finding one of the many hipster cafés offering brunch so I call this dish my Berlin Brunch. Simply a pancake batter, oven baked until golden, topped with hot smoked trout, a drizzle of runny local honey and a local free range poached egg.

Cold Smoked Trout with Clerkland Crowdie

A heritage dish loved here and now: classic cold smoked sea trout with crowdie, one of our oldest Scottish styles of cheese, served with a drizzle of home made dressing. Perfect for sharing with sourdough or bannocks.