Celebrate... Burns Night

Well tonight is Burns Night, a night that celebrates the life and works of Scottish poet Robert Burns. I grew up not that far from the Scottish borders, and my family has Scottish heritage, so I guess that's why we often celebrated the night when I was younger - my sister and I even kept up the tradition ourselves after leaving home. There are a few variations on what is eaten for Burns Supper, but it almost always includes a Haggis, served with tatties and neeps. Here however, I'm sharing a traditional boarder region side dish that was a favourite of mine when I was younger. It has a great name and is also a great way of using up left overs. The below instructions are non portion specific, just a rough guide to preparation - you can play about with it to suit you.


Rumbledethumps: Mix cooked shredded onion and cabbage with mashed potato, and plenty of salt, pepper and butter. Place in an oven proof dish with a quality hard cheese (Mull of Kintyre Cheddar is excellent) on top and heat in the oven on 200C until cheese is golden and bubbly.

And that's it. Serve as a side, along with the best Scotch you can get your hands on (my tipple of choice, Glen Morangie). Failing that, go all Glasgow and hoof a bottle of Buckfast into you.

And for an added blend of Scottish Culture, here's a wee video from You Tube of the classic Still Game




Image: Darren Robertson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Mushroom and Kale Grain combo.

This vegan recipe is very similar to risotto, but uses Soya milk instead of cows milk, cream or cheese. The key in bringing out the flavours is in the limited selection of ingredients and this needs very little seasoning other than salt and black pepper - so no onion, lemon or vinegar (soy milk tends to have a sharpness that doesn't need these additions). You can use rice, barley or almost any grain cooked to instruction, but for this quick version I've used bulgar wheat, which is generally lower in calories and relatively inexpensive too. You could also serve this as a side dish

Serves 4 as a starter or light lunch

150g of Bulgar Wheat
200g of woodland or chestnut mushrooms, whole or halved.
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed/chopped
300ml unsweetened soya milk
Half a courgette (medium) grated.
Aubergine pesto, two heaped tablespoons (if buying store bought pest, check that it is egg free)

Two large handfuls of kale, chopped
Toasted Sesame Seed or Ground Nut Oil
A sprinkling of mixed sesame and linseed to finish each plate.

In a large pan heat up your oil on moderate heat, add your mushrooms and garlic and stir gently until the mushrooms are soft and browning. At this point you may want to add a little more oil as most of it will have been soaked up.

Rinse your bulgar wheat in a sieve until the water runs clear then add it or partially cooked rice/grain to the pan and stir rapidly for a few minutes, making sure it is fully coated with oil and not sticking to the pan. Add your pesto, courgette and milk, gradually. At this point it will probably look a little greyish, but don't worry, it'll brighten up as the excess oil is combined.

Turn down the heat to a gentle simmer, but continue to stir and add the Kale, making sure first that any tough stalks have been trimmed. Keep stirring until the kale is well mixed, shrunken and the mixture is soft and lighter, porridge-like colour. If it seems dry, you can add a little more water or soy milk. Cooking time will vary depending on grain used, but in this case it takes around 7-10 minutes.

Serve in bowls, drizzled with a little oil and sprinkled with the sesame and linseed. Season to taste.

Image: Graham Maddrell / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Festive Veg

So whether you're a veggie looking for something special for Christmas lunch, or simply want your side dishes to be as interesting as your meat, chances are you'll be looking beyond the bog standard boiled method when it comes to seasonal veg. So I've been having a think about some of the best vegetable dishes in my recipe collection and hopefully some of these will come in handy. Obviously you'll need to measure serving portions to accommodate how many guests you have, but most of these guidelines will suit dishes for 6-10 people. Oven temperatures may also vary depending on what else you have cooking on the day.

Butter steamed carrots with cardamom: Because carrots contain a lot of water, you can easily slow cook them on the hob with a little butter and not much else. If you are slicing your carrots, I'd give them around 45mins on the lowest heat, but if you're using them whole it will take a little longer.

Peel your carrots and chop if preferred. Place them in a non stick pan with a generous knob of butter (or oil if you want), with around 3 cardamom pods per carrot, on the lowest setting. Secure the lid and leave to cook. Every so often stir to ensure that the carrots are well coated and if you are noticing any burning or sticking, add a touch of cold water or more butter. After 40-45 minutes, prick with a knife to ensure they are tender (leave to cook a little longer if not), remove the pods and serve drizzled with the remaining butter.

Braised Red Cabbage with Medjool Dates: The addition of sweet dates to this oven cooked cabbage means that there is no need for any additional sugars. This normally requires slower cooking on a lower heat, but if you have your oven on for other things, you can cook this on the bottom for around 1hour/90 mins.

Thinly slice your red cabbage (around one small cabbage will do, or 3/4 of a large one), stone and slice around 12 dates. Add to a oven proof dish with the rind of one orange, a large cinnamon stick (or one heaped teaspoon of ground cinnamon) and one teaspoon of allspice. Finally add around 50ml of apple juice, or if you prefer apple brandy and one or two knobs or unsalted butter. Mix with your hands to ensure everything is combined, cover and place in the oven. Check after 1 hour that cabbage is soft and fragrant, remove cinnamon stick and serve if done.

Four Cheese Macaroni and Cauliflower Bake: My sister often uses Macaroni to pad out her cauliflower cheese dish when there are a lot of people to cater for, so this can do as a side, or a main. You don't have to use four different cheeses though, so long as you have one soft and one hard cheese you'll be fine. You can also cook this on the hob if you don't have space in the oven.

Cook your cauliflower (one head's worth) and around 150g of macaroni, for ten minutes in salted boiling water. Remove from the heat and drain. Melt around 50g of butter or oil in a pan on medium heat and add 100g or ricotta cheese, 100g of cream cheese and beat quickly with a spoon for a couple of minutes until blended. You may have some lumps but this doesn't matter to much. Add a tablespoon of  cornflower until mixture stiffens, then slowly add some milk (500ml, gradually) to form a roux. Continue to stir until sauce starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and add 100g of crumbly cheese such as Caerphilly or Wensleydale and still. If you find your sauce too thick at this stage add a little more milk or even single cream. Place cauliflower and macaroni in an oven proof dish, poor over sauce, then top with grated cheddar. Cook for 20 mins to half an hour until thick, gooey and bubbling on top. Additional chopped leek added at the oven stage also tastes great.


In a couple of days I'll be posting my tips for some of the best potato dishes

<p><a href="http://www.freedigitalphotos.net">Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

Quick Sausage Stew

It may be raining today, but there's been plenty of BBQs recently, and as such I've come up with a quick dish that uses left over sausages as well as a whole load of store cupboard ingredients that seem to be lying around. In this sample I've used Bulgar Wheat, but Barley, Buckwheat, even risotto rice could be used instead. This served two adults and one child for a fairly substantial lunch.

Allow 2-3 pre-cooked sausages (pork, beef, veggie or other) per person, cut up into small bite sized pieces
3 young small turnips, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic glove, crushed
1 small red apple, diced
1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes
50g Bulgar Wheat
Glug of red wine vinegar
2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
1 tsp of whole grain mustard
Pinch of dried sage
Pinch of dried basil
300ml of boiled water.
Olive Oil for frying

Gently fry the onion, garlic and turnip in some olive oil until soft and browning. Add the sausages, Bulgar Wheat and red wine vinegar, mustard, bouillon powder and herbs, stirring quickly to ensuring that all the wheat is coated, before adding the chopped tomatoes and around 100ml of water.  Bring to the boil, then reduce heat, cover and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a little more water as and when required. After 10 minutes add the apple and remaining water, turn up the heat and allow to bubble for 5-7 minutes uncovered.