Category: Food

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Traditional Scottish Oakcakes

Oat cakes, normally known as oatcakes in Scotland, are a traditional Scottish food.  I’ve heard there is a version in England that is more like thick pancakes, and I’ll have to look for those to try in the future.   The Scottish oatcakes recipe is simple and quick.

Oatcakes are a great accompaniment to stovies, corned beef hash, or any slow cooked meal, stew or stroganoff.

A Scottish breakfast could also be found using the humble oatcake with butter, cheese, or jam added to the top.

Most Scottish food is relatively easy to make, and to smash the assumption that it is all deep fried mars bars up the Aberdeenshire neck of the woods, I suspect that adding more traditional Scottish recipes to my blog could be a good idea.  Sorry to disappoint the deep fried mars bar brigade, but I’ve yet to meet a Scot whose eaten one.

To make oatcakes, make sure you buy proper oatmeal, preferrably pinhead as more rough versions can be harder to work with.

Please don’t be tempted to try porridge oats, buy oatmeal – every time.

Oatcake Recipe

  • 8 – 10 large oatcakes.
  • Preparation, 15 minutes
  • Nutritional, oatmeal is a good source of dietary fibre.

Ingredients

  •  200g pinhead oatmeal
  • 35g butter
  • half teaspoon of baking powder
  • half teaspoon of salt
  • 6 – 8 tablespoons of water

Method

  • Heat the butter and water in a saucepan or the microwave.  I blast mine in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until the butter is melted. Mix the oatmeal, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
  • Add the melted butter and water to the oatmeal mix in your bowl.  Mix together until it forms a stiff dough.  You may need to add a little extra water to make the dough form.  If you need more water, add half a teaspoon at a time,  and don’t be afraid to get your fingers in the bowl to make the dough work.

  • Dust a clean surface with some oatmeal to roll out the dough.
  • Use a cutter to cut oatcakes into circles, or whatever shape you have available.  If you don’t have a cutter, just cut them into triangle or square shapes.  I used a sandwich cutter for larger sized oatcakes.
  • Grease a heavy bottomed frying pan or griddle.  I have a cast iron pan that I use for things like this.  The oatcakes should be cooked on a low heat for approximately 5-6 minutes each side until they begin to go brown.
Being new to the foodie community, I’m making my oatcakes my first entry into best of british – Scottish Challenge
Rules:
 The full rules are posted on The Face of New World Appliances. However, here is a summary of what you have to do to enter:
  • Post your recipe on your blog with a link back to The Face of New World Appliances AND to the hosting post.  Visit the host post to find out how to enter fully.
  • The round-up of entries will be posted on or before the 20th July.

 

 

 

 

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Cauliflower & Cheese Soup

I often have pots of soup on the go, and this one was an experiment as the kids all love cauliflower cheese.  I wanted to make it into a meal in a bowl, so with some extra mature cheddar from Andrew Gordon, our local butcher and fine food store, we were ready to go.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Little Black Bomber Cheese from Snowdonia UK.  It was quite soft and crumbly and was perfect for making soup.  I even tried some on charcoal biscuits and it was quite a mild taste with a lovely creamy texture.  It’s a new find that will now be regularly on our shopping list as the kids really loved it.

Ingredients

  • 1 extra large cauliflower, or 2 small cauliflowers
  • 200g smooth and creamy extra mature cheddar, I used the little black bomber.
  • 2 small onions, or 1 large onion
  • 4 large potatoes
  • 1 fennel
  • 1 litre of stock.  I used chicken as it’s what I had in the fridge.  You could use beef or vegetable.
  • 2 litres of water & half litre of milk.
  • salt and pepper to taste.
  • ciabatta to serve.

 

Method

  1. Set your stock on to cook.  For this recipe, I used ready made stock from my fridge.
  2. Add stock to 2 litres of water and 0.5 litre of milk and bring to the boil.  Turn down to a simmer and add a few pinches of salt.
  3. Chop vegetables into reasonably small sized chunks and just add them all to the pan.  You’ll need enough liquid to cover your chopped vegetables to start off with, so just add a little more water if you need to.
  4. Simmer for 25 minutes, or until all vegetables are soft. You may have to add a little extra water depending on how long you simmer for.
  5. Liquidise, or blend in the pot.
  6. Take the soup off the heat and add the cheese cut into small pieces.
  7. Stir the soup until all the cheese is melted and blend again if needed.
  8. Add salt and pepper to taste, and you’re done.

 

 

 

 

 

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Cheesecake Flan (Cheats Cheesecake)

This is a complete and utter cop out for cheesecake but is fabulously easy, quick to make and the kids and visitors are always impressed.

Ingredients

    •  1 x Large sponge flan case.
    • 500g Tub of mascapone cheese.
    • 4 Tablespoons icing sugar.
    • 1 Teaspoon vanilla essence (optional).
    • Peaches and pears.

Method

      • Take cover off pre-bought flan case (hard work I know).
      • Mix mascapone cheese with the icing sugar.
      • Add vanilla essence if you want a slightly creamier taste.
      • Spread mix onto flan case.
      • Slice (or drain) peaches and pears.  I dry mine with kitchen roll, then just plop on the top.
      • Pop into fridge for half an hour if you’ve time.

Hey presto.

 

 

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Spaghetti Bolognese Scotty Brand Carrots

My two favourite produce providers are the reason for the fabulously speedy wolfing down of Spaghetti Bolognese for our evening meal.  It’s amazing how much difference the taste of good meat and vegetables makes to the enjoyment of what we eat.

The same Scotty Brand carrots used to make the Carrot and Orange Soup, added a lovely sweetness.  Combined with the gorgeously tasting steak mince from Andrew Gordon Butchery and Fine Foods in Aberdeen, the two ingredients made for a fantastic meal.

Feel free to use half portions.  I had three adults and four children to feed with these proportions.

Ingredients

  • 1kg Steak Mince
  • 1 Large Onion
  • 5 Large Carrots
  • Teaspoon Turmeric
  • Teaspoon Cinnamon or Nutmeg
  • 500g Carton of Passata
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Rapeseed Oil
  • 500g Spaghetti
  • 50g Butter (Optional)

Method

  1. Brown mince in a thick bottomed pan, or a good frying pan on a low heat.  I added a couple of tablespoons of Rapeseed Oil to help it along.
  2. Chop onions finely and add to the browning mince.
  3. Slice carrots and add to the  pan.
  4. Boil the kettle and add a pint of water to the mix.  Leave to simmer for 25 minutes, and top up the water if necessary.
  5. Salt and Pepper to taste.
  6. Put the pasta on to cook.
  7. Once the mince has simmered, add the tub of passata, turmeric and either cinnamon or nutmeg.
  8. Simmer the passata and mince mix for 5 minutes.
  9. Drain the pasta and use boiled water to rinse the spaghetti until it runs clear.
  10. Add the butter to the pasta if you like the taste, and mix it through.
  11. Serve immediately.
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Guest Recipe : Meatball and Okra Casserole

This guest recipe comes to you from Leila of @persianliving on Twitter.  Her blog is worth a visit as it grows with lovely Iranian style cooking.  You can find her recipes at: persianliving.co.uk

Meatball and Okra Casserole

My favourite vegetable of late is the flavourful and aromatic Okra, otherwise known in the West as Ladies Fingers or Gumbo.

In Iran, we call it Bamiyeh and in Pakistan/India it is known as Bhindi.

You can fry them up with garlic and tomato and eat with flat breads soaking up the juice, or cook in a casserole with chunks of lamb or beef ,flavour up with ginger and cinnamon and just for good measure add a few pieces of apple or simply stir fry. The easiest way and as I have found, the best way to get them eaten by my children, is to add them to a saucy meatball casserole because you can mash it up a little and they would never know the difference!

Okra, which is rich in calcium, can be found in most supermarkets usually somewhere obscure where all the fresh herbs and exotic vegetables are in little packets or already potted. I get mine from my favourite Asian store in Manchester where fruits, vegetables and herbs such as okra, baby aubergines, quince, coconuts, methi (fenugreek) and much more can be found in abundance. Here is my recipe for a deliciously spicy meal. Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 400g lean minced beef or minced lamb shoulder
  • medium onion, grated
  • 175g okra
  • 1 tin chopped tomato
  • 2 heaped tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 heaped tbsp fine white breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

  • Add the grated onion, breadcrumbs,, turmeric, salt and pepper to the minced meat and mix thoroughly.
  • Roll the meat into little balls about the size of a gobstopper or smaller.
  • Heat oil in a medium sized lidded pan and fry the meatballs until they have firmed up and have turned a brown colour.
  • To avoid *sticking*, whilst the meatballs are still soft, instead of using a spoon, pick up the pan and shake occasionally to make sure all the meatballs have been allowed to fry.
  • Once the meatballs are thoroughly browned all over, add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, curry powder, salt and pepper to taste and cover with water.
  • Bring the casserole to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • After 30 minutes, add the okra. Mix into the casserole as gently as possible using your spoon to bring up sauce from the bottom and pouring it over the okra.
  • Leave to cook for a further 20 minutes repeating the same method with the sauce in order to soak the okra.
  • Serve with fluffy white rice and a crisp crunchy salad!

*Tip: Okra can be slightly *sticky* if split open. This is due to the seeds being gelatinous. To avoid this, don’t cut them or split open whilst stirring the casserole.

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Strawberry, Peach & Pear Smoothie

We can  make this all fresh, or all tinned, or a mixture of both.  The boys wanted some fruity smoothie and I didn’t have enough of any one thing to made a dedicated smoothie, so we experimented with the left over strawberries that we had, and a tub of peaches and pears in juice from the cupboard.

Smoothies are really easy peasy and gets some fruit into our bodies.

Ingredients

  • Just under half the blender of crushed ice.
  • Strawberries – I used a 400g tub
  • Tub or tins of peaches and pears – 400g, including the juice.
Method
  1. Add all ingredients to blender.
  2. Stir to mix ice and fruit
  3. Switch on blender and let run for a few minutes.  Stir a little if the ice stops crunching up.
  4. Serve immediately.

 

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Coco Mango Chicken Recipe

 

For my lovely meal, six of us ate from the recipe, and I have three strapping lads to feed, as well as a man who likes a good bit of animal protein.

Ingredients

  • 800 – 900g chicken breast / fillet.
  • 6 heaped tablespoons mango chutney (I buy Premium Mango Chutney in huge jars from Costco).
  • Rapeseed oil.
  • 1 clove of garlic crushed or chopped, or a teaspoon of garlic from a jar.
  • 1/2 tin of coconut milk (mix well in the tin before adding).
  • Salad, vegetables and fruit to serve.
  • Pitta bread or wraps.

Method

  1. Cut chicken into pieces.
  2. Shallow fry the chicken in the minimum of rapeseed oil.  Use a large frying pan, wok, or even a thick bottomed saucepan on low – medium heat.  Turn the chicken often to make sure it doesn’t burn.
  3. Add the 6 tablespoons of mango chutney and the garlic.
  4. Stir often to make sure the chicken and mango chutney don’t burn.  Turn down the heat, and let the mixture bubble away for a few minutes.
  5. Mix in the coconut milk a little bit at a time on a low heat at the end or it will separate.

To serve, simply warm pitta bread or wraps, choose vegetables, salad or fruit, and serve in large dishes for sharing.

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Carrot and Orange Soup Challenge by Scotty Brand

As a Scotty Brand Blogger, I am loving the boxes of goodies arriving with instructions on how to make something that I haven’t made before.  This week, the challenge was to make Carrot and Orange soup, which I managed quite easily.  I had a couple of packs of carrots torn open and being chopped within about 10 minutes of them arriving at my door.

I didn’t read the recipe properly and thought that it only needed 600ml stock and so quadrupled the contents as my boys eat huge portions of food.  Don’t make the same mistake as I did, as I then had to up the milk quantity by four times as well – AND transfer my soup into a much bigger pot.  I’ll give you the Scotty Brand quantities and not mine, as we ended up with an obscene amount of soup which is now stored in the freezer for other cold days to come.

I also made the cardinal mistake of doing kids homework while I put the soup ingredients together, and I had put the butter in the microwave to melt.  It was after the soup was eaten that I discovered I hadn’t put it in the pot.  I have to say, the soup without the butter was delicious, so I’d say it was an optional ingredient and all in all, the recipe is fabulous and can cope well with some modifications.

Scotty Brand blogger badge

Ingredients

  • 450g Scotty Brand carrots sliced
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 65g butter
  • 65g plain flour
  • 600ml chicken or vegetable stock
  • 600ml milk
  • 1 orange (juice and rind)
  • Salt and finely ground pepper
  • 5ml nutmeg
  • 5ml parsley

Method

  1. Melt butter and add onions and carrots  (I just added the onions and carrots to the pot with the stock and flour).
  2. Cook gently, and stir in the flour and cook for a further 1/2 mins (oops, I missed this step).
  3. Add milk.
  4. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
  5. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, then simmer for 20/30 minutes  (you really have to stir frequently because of the milk).
  6. Liquidise before adding orange juice and shredded rind (I left out the rind as one of my boys doesn’t do bits in soup).
  7. Serve sprinkled with parsley and, if you like, a dollop of fresh cream or plain yogurt.

Enjoy
Scottish Mum Blog

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Guest Recipe: Sloppy Joes Burger by Claire T

This Guest Recipe from Claire, aka ninjakillercat.blogspot.com/ and @needaphone on Twitter sounds amazing.

Sadly Claire didn’t manage to take a photograph, so that means that I will just have to go and make it so that I can get one.  I’m sure my boys will love giving it a try.

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The trick to this recipe is to brown the meat well, on high heat. Don’t crowd the pan , work in batches and don’t stir the meat until it is well browned on one side. It helps to use a large cast iron pan, or an anodised pan, as these pans can handle the heat and are relatively stick-free.

Ingredients

  • 1Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup minced carrots or sweet pepper
  • 1 cup chopped onion ( about 1 medium onion)
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 2 gloves garlic,minced
  • Salt
  • 1 1/4lb ground beef
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce ( or 1 15 once can whole tomatoes, pureed)
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • Pinch ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • Pinch cayenne pepper
  • 2 turns of freshly ground pepper
  • 4 hamburger buns

Method

  •  Heat love oil in a large saute pan on medium high heat. Add the carrots and saute for 5 minutes. ( If you are using peppers instead of carrots, add those at the same time as the onions).
  • Add the chopped onion and celery.
  • Cook. stirring occasionally until onions are translucent, about 5 more minutes.
  • Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 more seconds. remove from heat. remove vegetables from the pan to a medium-sized bowl, set aside.
  • Using the same pan ( or you can cook the meat at the same time as the vegetables in a separate pan to save time), generously salt the bottom of the pan ( about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon).
  • Heat the pan on high. Crumble the ground beef into the pan. You likely need to do this in two batches, otherwise you will crowd the pan and the beef won’t easily brown. Do not stir the ground beef, just let it cook until it is well browned on one side. Then flip the pieces over and brown the second side.
  • Use a slotted spoon to remove the ground beef from the pan ( can add to the set- aside vegetables), salt the pan again and repeat with the rest of the ground beef.
  • If you are using extra lean beef you will likely not have any excess fat in the pan, if you are using 16% or higher, you may have excess fat. Strain of all but 1 tablespoon of the fat.
  • Return the cooked ground beef and vegetables to the pan.
  • Add the ketchup, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and brown sugar to the pan. Stir to mix well.
  • Add ground cloves. thyme, and cayenne pepper. Lower the heat to medium low and let simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Adjust seasoning to taste.
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Guest Recipe: Seafood Broth from Graeme Taylor

Guest Recipe from Graeme Taylor of Scots Larder, and also found on Twitter as @scotslarder

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I love seafood, you can’t beat it for freshness, flavour and for sheer enjoyment of experimentation and it goes so well with so many ingredients, it complements chorizo, and the fresh herbs and white wine make it zing. It’s also great to watch everyone get messy as they wrestle with heads, tails, claws and shells!

I threw this soup together with what I found available in the fishmonger and supermarket but really it’s all about experimenting with what’s available and in season.

I made my own stock using the bones from the gurnard with stock vegetables but you could use a cube if heads and bones offend you or even a shop bought pot of stock, many fishmongers do excellent ones. I just don’t like to see flavour going in the bin so made my own.

This will serve 4

Ingredients

1 Gurnard filleted and chopped into bitesize chunks
100g clams
100g squid chopped into rings
Dozen mussels
150g king prawns
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin cannellini beans
50g chorizo piccante finely chopped
2 shallots finely chopped
Splash white wine (just a splash, not a sploosh, there’s a big difference!)
Tiny splash sherry vinegar (maybe 1tsp)
Dessertspoon finely chopped dill
2 small ladels fish stock

Method

  1. In a medium pot sweat the chorizo in a little olive oil until it begins to give up it’s colour then add the shallots and cook slowly until soft.
  2. Add the gurnard and coat in the orangey oil to brown a little and then add the tomatoes.
  3. Add the sherry vinegar and beans and bring to a slow simmer.
  4. Meanwhile clean and de-beard the mussels and clams making sure you discard any dead ones. The end of this recipe is all about timing, nobody wants cold or overcooked seafood.
  5. When you’re happy with the flavour and consistency of the soup, probably around 15 minutes, put a little olive oil in the bottom of a hot pan and then add the mussels, clams and white wine, cover and set timer for 4 minutes.
  6. Add the prawns to the soup and give the shellfish pot a shake but don’t take off the lid or the cooking steam will all be lost.
  7. When the buzzer goes drain the shellfish pot into the soup to get all the flavour the clams and mussels have given up along with the white wine.
  8. At this point put the squid into the soup as any more than two minutes will render it elastic band like!
  9. Take the mussels and clams from their shells except a couple for decoration (not essential unless you’d like to impress somebody!) and add to the soup.
  10. Take off the heat, stir through the dill, correct for seasoning and serve in warmed bowls with a huge chunk of Guinness soda bread.
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Guest Recipe : The Best Carrot Cake in the World from Lindsey Cave

A lovely Guest Recipe from Lindsey, who you can find on Twitter as @MrsVanderCave, with her blog at backofbeyondbaking.blogspot.com.  That topping is perfection by the look of it.

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carrotcake

This recipe is actually for a carrot cake but it makes a big cake which can sometimes be a bit OTT, particularly if you like to watch your weight! So I came up with the idea of making individual cakes using half the recipe. This recipe has been named as the best carrot cake in the world ever after I used it in the school cookery book that I collated for my son’s school PTA fundraiser

The recipe below is gluten-free and for a full-sized cake but it is easily transformed back into a regular recipe by swapping the gluten-free flour for ordinary plain flour and excluding the Xantham gum. For 8 muffins just half the recipe and bake for around 18minutes.

The best Carrot cake in the world ever!

Pre heat the oven to 180c. Grease and line two 20cm cake tins. I use my cake tin liners from Lakeland.

Ingredients

250ml corn oil
175g caster sugar
3 eggs
175g gluten-free plain flour (I use Doves gluten-free flour mix)
2tsp Xantham gum (Doves Farm make this, you can get it in Tesco and Sainsburys)
1.5 tsp gluten free baking powder (check the label on your baking powder)
1.5tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/5tsp salt
1.5tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
115g chopped walnuts
225g carrots finely grated
5tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp soured cream
For the frosting
175g full fat cream cheese chilled
25g unsalted butter at room temperature
225g icing sugar sifted

Method

  • Place the corn oil and sugar in a bowl and beat well with an electric mixer until thickened.
  • Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. The mixture should now be pale and fluffy.
  • Sift the flour, Xantham gum, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt into the egg mixture and beat well.
  • Fold in the carrots, walnuts, vanilla extract, and soured cream.
  • Divide the mixture between the tins and bake in the oven for 1hr 5minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the tin comes out clean.
  • Once cooked, turn cakes out of the tins onto a wire rack to cool.
  • For the frosting place all the ingredients in a bowl and whip until light and fluffy.
  • Sandwich the two cakes together with a little of the frosting then cover the whole cake with the remains of the frosting. Swirl the frosting as you go to give the classic carrot cake look.

 

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More delicious foodiness. Turkey and Potato Soup made with Scotty Brand Potatoes

Making potato soup is a big Scottish thing I think.  It’s often so cold here that soups are ideal for little snacks and to warm us up when we’re cold.

 

One of Scottish Mum and no measuring recipes again, and I just judge how much goes in by the size of my pot.  I used a big pot for this, so I used a whole 2kg bag of gorgeous Scotty Brand Kestrel potatoes which I was sent to make meals with.

This served 6 people about 3 times, so if you have a smaller family, make half the recipe, or freeze for future meals.

Ingredients

  • 2 kg potatoes diced
  • 0.5 kg carrots chopped
  • half a small turnip – chopped
  • two small or one big onion
  • turkey leg
  • salt
  • pepper
  • stock cube x 3

Method

  1. Make stock from the Turkey leg.  I used it straight in the pot, and let it simmer for two hours with the stock cubes and enough water to cover the Turkey leg completely.
  2. Remove the Turkey leg.
  3. Make sure there are no Turkey bits in your stock by straining the liquid.
  4. Add potatoes, carrot and turnip and onions.
  5. Add water to cover.  I just fill with water from the kettle till all vegetables are covered by a good couple of inches, often  more.
  6. Simmer for 40 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked.
  7. Salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Serve with warm bread.

The one thing no foodie will say is that the soup should be spoiled by the addition of anything else, but one of my boys won’t eat home made soup unless it is a tin of Heinz Tomato Soup.  We compromised and he has his own little pot which is mixed with Heinz.  He still gets the goodness of the Turkey and Potato Soup so I’m  happy not to fight this battle.