Recipes
Pepparkakor – Gingerbread biscuits
In olden days these were always cut into shapes of the farmer, his wife and his piglets. Heart-shaped ones make beautiful window decorations and the same recipe can be used to make gingerbread houses, beautifully decorated with royal icing.
Pesto Swirls
Wild garlic or ransoms as also known can be found in woodland from April, its green leaves scented of garlic. Take care to select leaves that are undamaged and with no bird droppings! Always rinse and shake dry before preparing.
Brodies Tealoaf
Perfect on its own, as part of a nutritious packed lunch or with a wedge of creamy blue cheese. Like most baking it freezes well so I double this recipe, make slabs in large Swiss roll tins and cut in fingers. You can bake in a loaf tin if you prefer but cook for longer.
Rosti with Ramsay Bacon
Rosti is a supper favourite chez nous, with homegrown potatoes from Andrew Skea topped with Ramsays rashers!
Tomme Raclette
Having experienced Swiss raclette in situ it is a favourite breakfast in our home…where a lot of artisan cheese is consumed! If you don’t have a little raclette kit like ours then grill your cheese.
After considerable, wonderful, edible research I can say we have established Ethical Dairy Tomme melts beautifully for this and is the ideal local cheese. See link below
Serve with your own or your favourite sourdough.
Porridge – as you like it!
Porridge has so many variations: in our house, I like mine with salt and Bosse likes his with muscovado sugar! Others like to add berries or honey…anything goes! Whatever the topping, for us, cream is essential and if you’re on holiday on Islay, a wee dram is mandatory too! Here we are at Glenegedale.
There is also a choice of oats: rolled oats for a quick result; medium oatmeal flour for a smooth result, and, our favourite, pinhead oatmeal for a slightly nutty textured result. Every family has their own method so here’s ours!
Whatever your preference porridge makes a very healthy start to the day.
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 Blueberries
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 blueberries and whipped cream.
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.
Ost Bröd
A delicious Swedish bread using Slow Food Ark of Taste ingredients
Classic Fish Pie
Time for another go-to freezer favourite – a classic fish pie. We are fortunate to have HS Murray in Inverkeithing delivering and I make sure it’s worth his while with a decent sized order as fish freezes so beautifully. We have bundles labelled smoked haddock, hot smoked mackerel, fish pie mix and other delicacies all ready to pull out when peckish. A wee bit forward thinking is gold dust in menu planning.
Sautéed Seafood with Peasemeal
Peasemeal is a versatile healthy flour used in cooking and baking since Roman times. Peasemeal production was a dying art until it was revived by Michael Shaw at Golspie Mill . It is on Slow Food’s Ark of Taste as a high quality heritage ingredient and increasingly used by chefs for its flavour and warm hue, making it both delicious and attractive.
This recipe is incredibly easy and very tasty. I can highly recommend peasemeal with seafood.
Seafood Gratin
We are blessed with fabulous seafood, so whether haddock, fresh or smoked, fishmonger’s fish pie mix or luxury scallops for a special occasion – all are equally delicious. Vegetable gratins also work beautifully with courgettes, cauliflower or even Brussels sprouts! If using vegetables, steam before placing in the ovenware dish instead of poaching in milk.
I know of no commercial crumbs that get our vote! Breadcrumbs are easy to make in a mortar and pestle and you can simultaneously rid yourself of the frustrations in life! It takes a matter of moments and the difference in flavour is outstanding. Store in an airtight jar for months and use as required.
Cullen Skink
A traditional Scottish soup made from Finnan Haddie, bone-in cold smoked haddock.
Shetland Air Dried Salt Cod Bake
Salted fish has been part of our food heritage for over a thousand years and this recipe reflects the traditions of the northern isles. Thule Ventus produce their own salt-cured cod from individually line-caught sustainable stock off Sumburgh Head, Shetland. The Shetland Black potatoes can be sourced, along with a range of heritage varieties, from Andrew Skea at The Potato House, Auchterhouse.
There is a video of this dish on my Instagram
Stekt Sill – Fried Herring – Småland style
I recall years ago there was an entertaining article in the press about an Orkney doctor. He was fair scunnered with his continuous stream of patients with snuffles and sneezes, wabbit and whining, expecting a magic potion from him for their ills. Frustrated and reluctant to prescribe medication he considered unnecessary, he famously wrote on prescriptions ‘eat more herring!’ and caused quite a stir! So with this in mind here is a tasty treat with delicious fried herring.
Roasted Trout with Broccoli
A quick supper dish with whatever pasta you happen to have in the store cupboard
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.
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.
Haggis & Rumbledethumps with Whisky Sauce
by Celia Pickup, Craigadam.
We always have a little bit of fun with guests when they ask what is a Haggis and where do they live? The story of the Haggis running around the hill anti-clockwise because one leg is shorter than the other sounds plausible as it is greeted with exclamations of wonder! Can they go and see and can they take a photograph? We have to explain they are very shy timid little creatures. The myth of the “Haggis” lives on…
Rosti with Ramsay Bacon
Rosti is a supper favourite chez nous, with homegrown potatoes from Andrew Skea topped with Ramsays rashers!
Flower Power with Elderflower Fritters
By May, nature is flourishing, and time for feasts of flowers including elderflower – sweet, delicious and beautiful; easy to spot and fun to make into perfect fritters. Cut flower clusters, leaving a short stalk and spread out on a tray lined with a paper towel. Set aside whilst making the batter – this allows any wee beasties to escape! Shake the towel in the garden where they can find a new home.
Make batter with 1 egg, 100g flour, 1tsp baking powder and whisk together with sufficient birchwater from Birken Tree to make a smooth quite runny batter – you should be able to shake excess batter off the flowers.
Carefully heat Summer Harvest oil in a frying pan – about 1 cm deep. The temperature is correct when you add a drop of batter and it rises, sizzling. When ready, hold each flower head by the stalk and dip in the batter, shaking off excess. Shallow fry sprays of flowers for a couple of minutes or so until flowers are golden brown and batter is all set. Drain on kitchen paper. When serving, leave the stalks as handles, drizzle with a little blossom honey and eat immediately, leaving the stalks behind. Mmm…that’s flower power!
My Granny’s Cloutie Dumpling
A wonderful fruity pudding traditional to Scotland, boiled in a ‘clout’ or cloth. Delicious with whipped cream or home made custard. This is my grandmother’s recipe, over 100 years old.
Spicy Pumpkin Soup
You can even watch me making this online https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbDeTL-Dy4
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.
Sautéed Seafood with Peasemeal
Peasemeal is a versatile healthy flour used in cooking and baking since Roman times. Peasemeal production was a dying art until it was revived by Michael Shaw at Golspie Mill . It is on Slow Food’s Ark of Taste as a high quality heritage ingredient and increasingly used by chefs for its flavour and warm hue, making it both delicious and attractive.
This recipe is incredibly easy and very tasty. I can highly recommend peasemeal with seafood.
Cullen Skink
A traditional Scottish soup made from Finnan Haddie, bone-in cold smoked haddock.
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.
Foraged Salad with Summer Harvest Raspberry Dressing – vegan
I’m careful where I forage – away from dogs, traffic or any potential pollutants, and do make sure you know exactly what you are picking – incorrect identification can have disastrous consequences.
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.
Scottish organic split pea curry by Catherine Le May @ Greencity
Greencity recently started sourcing Scottish split peas from the fully Organic Medlock family farm in Aberdeenshire. Freshly harvested in autumn, they’re rich in fibre and protein and full of vitamins and minerals, making a fantastic low-food-miles base for all sorts of dishes.
Spicy Pumpkin Soup
You can even watch me making this online https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbDeTL-Dy4
Pesto Swirls
Wild garlic or ransoms as also known can be found in woodland from April, its green leaves scented of garlic. Take care to select leaves that are undamaged and with no bird droppings! Always rinse and shake dry before preparing.
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Scottish organic split pea curry by Catherine Le May @ Greencity
Greencity recently started sourcing Scottish split peas from the fully Organic Medlock family farm in Aberdeenshire. Freshly harvested in autumn, they’re rich in fibre and protein and full of vitamins and minerals, making a fantastic low-food-miles base for all sorts of dishes.
Classic Fish Pie
Time for another go-to freezer favourite – a classic fish pie. We are fortunate to have HS Murray in Inverkeithing delivering and I make sure it’s worth his while with a decent sized order as fish freezes so beautifully. We have bundles labelled smoked haddock, hot smoked mackerel, fish pie mix and other delicacies all ready to pull out when peckish. A wee bit forward thinking is gold dust in menu planning.