Month: January 2016

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Happy Burns Day

Do you call it Burns Day or Burns Night?  I’m not sure it makes a difference.

A huge thank you to Macsween Haggis for our little gift and Burns Night Supper Guide.

Macsween Haggis 3

Haggis doesn’t always have to be the full haggis, neeps and tatties.   There are other things we can do with it, and there’s even a vegetarian option, as well as a gourmet Venison Haggis, which is new to me.

For today, I was running out of time, so I grabbed a couple of bags of baby potatoes and some butternut squash and sweet potato prepared vegetables and plonked them into the steamer.  With our haggis in the microwave, our Burns Night supper has been quick, easy and no hassle whatsoever.

Haggis

I think I’m going to try the Macsween Haggis Venison Haggis Croquettes later this week, as they look fabulous in their recipe section.  For someone like me, who is from Scotland, it’s hard to think of anyone who hasn’t ever actually tried eating it, but I’m sure there are a fair few of my readers who are all new to it.

Haggis isn’t just for Burns night.  The 25th Jan is traditionally when we celebrate the life and work of the bard, Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, but haggis is nutritious and easy to use as an ingredient to fabulous dishes.

If you’ve never tried haggis, then perhaps it’s about time you gave it a wee try.  Other dishes I’ve made with haggis are below, and the soup was absolutely heavenly.

We recite the Selkirk Grace as a part of the celebration.

Selkirk Grace

Some hae meat and canna eat

And some wad eat that want it:

But we hae meat and we can eat,

And sae the Lord be thankit.

Robert Burns 1759-1796

Vegetarian Haggis Soup

Vegetarian Haggis Soup 3 700

Haggis in a Baked Potato

Haggis with Baked Potato

Also on my blog, find out more.

What is Burns Night?

10 Tips for burns night, any night, on a budget.

Burns Night Doric Poem

 

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Courgette Jam (with some cucumber)

Courgette and Cucumber Jam 3

I didn’t have quite enough courgette to use up the 1kg of sugar in my cupboard, so there was an added 150g cucumber to make up the numbers.  We were quite surprised by the result of this, as it’s a very marmalade style texture and taste, but without the tartness.

I will definitely make this again.

I didn’t do any of this picking out of the pips.  They all went into the jam.

Courgette Jam (with some cucumber)

Lesley Smith
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Preserves
Cuisine Scotland
Servings 3 x 1lb Jars

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kg Peeled and Chopped Courgette and Cucumber. Chop into small squares or slices.
  • 1 kg Granulated Sugar
  • 1 Sachet Tate and Lyle Pectin

Instructions
 

  • Remember to prepare your jars for use. Sterilising them while your jam cooks.

  • Either steam the vegetables, or add a little water and bubble the courgette and cucumber on the stove, until the vegetables break down, and boil off any excess water. I think I overdid this, but it hasn't made any difference to the jam. Mine is lovely, but a little thick.

  • Add the sugar and pectin to your jam, folding it into the courgette and cucumber.

  • I use a hand stick blender at this point to mulch down most of the seeds. In the end, I only had a few left, which wasn't a problem.

  • Then let the sugar dissolve over a low heat, then rapid boil for up to twenty minutes, or until your jam reaches setting point.

  • To find out if my jam is ready, I keep a couple of teaplates in the fridge for a few minutes, then let a few drops land. When the surface creases if you push it with the back of a spoon, your jam is ready.

  • Serve as usual, like any other sweet jam.

 

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Airfryer – Actifry Recipe – Scrambled Eggs with Cheese & Tomato

Actifry Scrambled Eggs 2 (1 of 1)

Actifry Scrambled Eggs with Cheese 1 (1 of 1)

Actifry Recipe - Scrambled Eggs with Cheese & Tomato

Lesley Smith
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 minutes
Total Time 2 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine British

Ingredients
  

  • 4 Large Eggs.
  • 200 m Milk.
  • 50 g Grated Cheese.
  • 8 Cherry Tomatoes cut in half.
  • Salt and Pepper to Taste.
  • Oil Spray – I used the one cal buttery version.

Instructions
 

  • Ensure the air fryer, and especially the paddle, has a light covering of oil spray. Add a very small amount of Rapeseed oil to the bottom of the pan if you wish, for cooking the eggs.

  • Ensure the paddle is correctly placed in the machine.

  • Ensure the lid is firmly closed during all cooking times.

  • Mix 4 eggs with 200ml milk in a jug, and lightly season with salt and pepper.

  • Pop your mixture into the air fryer and set the timer for 6 minutes.

  • When the timer is finished, open the lid and use a wooden scraper to take any egg mix from the sides of the bowl and put it back to the bottom. Add the tomatoes.

  • Set the timer for a further 3 minutes, then check your eggs. Your machine might need a little longer. When the eggs are fully cooked, your meal is ready.

  • Serve in a pre-warmed bowl, and sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Wait 30 seconds, then eat.

 

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Soup Maker Recipes Kindle E-Book – 60 Soupmaker Recipes by Moi, on Amazon now…

Apologies for those of you who also follow me over on the Soupmaker Club blog, as you’ll have received this twice.

I started putting an e-book together after being asked for a soup maker recipe book for ones I’ve published online.  It’s live now on Amazon, and some of you might have seen it already, while you were checking out soups elsewhere, but it also includes recipes that have not been published to date.

It’s quite simple, Book 1, is just named Soup Maker Recipes, by Lesley Smith.

In it, there are 60 recipes in total, with some from here, and some from the Soupmaker Club, and lots that haven’t gone online. I’ve had it uploaded to Amazon for a few days, and although up until yesterday, I hadn’t told anyone – at all, people have bought it, for which I am highly delighted.  If you are one of those who’ve bought, I thank you very much.

This evening it became an Amazon Best-Selling Kindle e-book, in the Food, Special Appliances section, which was a lovely surprise.   That also makes me an Amazon Kindle Best-Selling Author 🙂  I know it won’t stay there for too long, but it’s nice to see it moving along.  A review or two would be nice, but hey ho, that’s showbiz.

Screen Shot 2016-01-13 at 21.31.02

Screen Shot 2016-01-13 at 21.32.30

The best bit for those of you who are Kindle Unlimited members, is that you can download it and read for FREE…….

Click on the image or the Amazon box to go to the UK page.  If you’re looking for the US one, it will prompt you to go to the US store.

Ok, so what’s in the book?

Soup Maker Recipes

60 No Fuss Tasty Soups For Your Soup Maker Gadget

by Lesley Smith

Just click the image to take you there.  Be sensible with soup maker recipes, as mine won’t fit all kettle soup makers, nor blender ones, without a little tweaking, based on the instructions for your machines.  

On Sale now:  £1.99 for 60 soup maker recipes.  OR:  You can read it free if you are a Kindle Unlimited customer.

The soups are:

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Beef Hotpot Soup

Beetroot Soup

Bonfire Night Soup (5th November)

Broccoli Soup

Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrot Soup

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Cabbage Soup

Cabbage and Tomato Soup

Cream of Carrot Soup

Carrot and Ginger Soup

Carrot and Coriander Soup

Carrot and Orange Soup

(Eggy) Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

Cauliflower and Cheese Soup

Chicken Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

Chicken Stew Soup

Christmas Soup (Turkey)

Cock-a-Leekie Soup

Coconut and Lime Soup

Courgette and Coriander Soup

Courgette and Tomato Soup

(Spicy) Courgette and Orange Soup

Cucumber and Ginger Soup

Cucumber and Apple Soup

Cullen Skink (Scottish Fish Soup)

Curried Potato Soup

French Onion Soup

Italian Autumn Veg Soup

(Cream of) Leek and Potato Soup

Mediterranean Vegetable Soup

Minestrone Soup

Mulled Wine Soup

Mulligatawny Soup

Partan Bree Soup (Crab)

Pea and Mint Soup

Pea and Ham Soup

Peppered Mushroom Soup

Potato Soup

Potato and Mango Soup

Potato and Onion Soup

Pumpkin Soup

(Cream of) Pumpkin Soup

Red Lentil Soup

Red Pepper Soup

Root Vegetable Soup

Scotch Broth with Vegetable Stock (Chunky)

Spicy Parsnip Soup

Split Pea Soup

Sweet Pepper and Leek Soup

Tomato Soup (Easy Soup)

Tomato and Apple Soup

Tomato and Aubergine Soup

Tomato, Fig and Fennel Soup

Creamy Tomato Soup (Passata Recipe)

Cold/Chilled Soups

Avocado and Cucumber Soup

Gazpacho Soup

Green Soup

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Giveaway: Win one of the toughest cables on earth, worth £25. Ends 10 Feb 16

I wrote about how tough the Titan Steel charging cable is, a few days ago.  I’ve now got one to give away to a lucky reader of mine.  The winner can choose between a MicroUSB cable or one that works with Apple products.

Titan Cable 1The Titan (from the Fuse Chicken range) is very strong and comes in both USB and Apple Lightning connectors.  It’s so strong, that even their testing team could’t break it with a chainsaw, but I’ve written about that already.

Ours is used daily, and does the job fabulously.

Nobody wants frayed cables, ones that end up in knots, and can’t be untangled, and eyes roll to the ceiling if our dogs get hold of them…..

The cables are backed by a Limited Lifetime Warranty, so get entering now, and you could win your very own cable, to power your latest gadgets. Fuse Titan Dog

Apple gadgets the Titan work with, are iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, 6, 6 Plus, 5s, 5c, 5.

The MicroUSB cable works with any For Android and Microsoft Phone MicroUSB.


The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Rules

The Rules

– Open to UK Mainland Entrants only.

– 1 Winner will receive 1 Titan cable from Fuse Chicken. There is no cash alternative.

– The prize will be sent direct from Fuse Chicken.

– The Scottish Mum Blog is not responsible for your prize and cannot be held liable in any way for non delivery or non receipt at your end.

– Winners will be notified by DM on Twitter, or e-mail. If the giveaway is not claimed within 14 days, a new winner may be drawn.

– The winners will be chosen by Rafflecopter random generator.

– Scottish Mum Blog and Fuse Chicken, reserve the right to amend, add or withdraw this giveaway at any time.

– Each entry method entitles you to one entry into the draw.

– The giveaway is not associated with any social media channels.

– The winner decision by Scottish Mum Blog is final.

– Closes 10th February 2016 at midnight.

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Luxurious Date Butter / Date Caramel

As well as eating a ton of dates these days, I’m using them in cooking now, as a way to get the sweet portion of my sweet tooth satisfied.  I make a sort of ice-cream with whipped quark and crème fraîche, but needed something sweet to go with it, instead of simply adding sweeteners.  My grandmother used to make this, and although I’ve made mine in the way she did (but much simpler with a Nutribullet) I suspect there are other ways to get it done.  At first, it wasn’t as straight forward as I thought, but I’ve got it sorted now.  I’m even putting it on my mothers toast instead of butter and jam for her evening snack.  Much better than the added sugar and fat late in the evening for her.

This is fabulous spread on toast, ice-cream, waffles, or anything you want to put in place of butter and margarine spreads.  It’s sweet and sticky and delish, and good for us, as it’s simply a one ingredient butter / spread / caramel, that just has a little water added to it.

You’d need sticky Medjool dates to get this to work properly, as I suspect drier dates wouldn’t pulverise so easily, or might need much more in the way of soaking.

date-butter-date-caramel-square2

 

Luxurious Date Butter / Date Caramel Sauce

Lesley Smith
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time 2 minutes
Total Time 2 minutes
Course Spreads
Cuisine Dessert

Ingredients
  

  • 12 Medjool Dates
  • Water

Instructions
 

  • Destone the Medjool dates and chop them up into reasonably small segments.
  • Add them to your blending jug, with a little water, and leave them to soak for up to half an hour.
  • Pour the water into a separate cup and add back two or three teaspoons of water to the dates.
  • Blend. When the blender stops turning, add a spoon more of water, and mix with your dates, until it is slightly thinner again. Reblend.
  • Repeat the last step until you have the consistency you want. Runnier or thicker, it's all up to you.