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Recipes
From thick and grainy to thin and custardy, the texture of porridge is entirely a matter of taste. Its flavour is also up for individual choice: from a homely, classic mix of hot mealy oats and cold rich cream to a more modern puree with raspberries finished with crème fraiche or a zany black and white number swirled through with Greek yoghurt and drizzled with black treacle.
Yield: serves 1
2 tablespoons medium oatmeal and/or a mix with coarse and pinhead
300ml (1/2 pt) water or milk
SOAKING OVERNIGHT: This allows the grains to swell and makes for a creamier porridge. Essential if coarse or pinhead is being used.
COOKING: Put the water on to boil and sprinkle in the oatmeal (if not soaked overnight), stirring all the time with a wooden spurtle (porridge stick) or wooden spoon. Bring to the boil, and continue to stir. Simmer for about five minutes. Or longer if coarse or pinhead is used. It will reduce as it thickens, so it is very much a question of how you like your porridge: creamy and runny or thick and stodgy. Remembering also that it will thicken as it cools. Accidental lumps are known as ‘knots’ and some porridge lovers rather like them, while others regard ‘knotty’ porridge as totally inedible.
SERVING and EATING TRADITIONAL: Add salt to taste. Pour into bowl. Serve with a small bowl of cream. Eat by dipping spoonfuls of hot porridge into cold cream.
EATING MODERN: Sweeten with golden syrup, black treacle, brown sugar or honey. Stir in some butter. Add chopped fruit such as bananas, soft fruit such as raspberries, or nuts and raisins. For a coarse textured porridge, add a spoonful of museli. For a winter warmer make a well in the centre and fill with whisky, dribble over honey… the permutations are endless.
Cook’s Tip: Mix the neeps and tatties together and make clapshot and burnt onionis (see below). As with tripe and onions, mustard also makes a good accompaniment to haggis.
Yield: 6-8
1 sheep’s stomach bag
1 sheep’s pluck (including heart, lungs attached to windpipe and liver)
Water to cover
4 medium onions, finely chopped
25g (1oz) butter
250g (9oz) coarse or pinhead oatmeal, lightly toasted
200g (7oz) prepared suet
Sea salt and ground pepper
Ground allspice
Large needle and strong thread for sewing up
Serve with creamed potatoes and mashed turnipPREPARING BAG AND PLUCK: Wash the bag in cold water, clean well and leave overnight in the water. Wash the pluck and put in a large pot. Cover with water. Add 2-3 teaspoons salt. Hang the windpipe over the side of the pot and place a jar or bowl beneath it to catch the drips.
BOILING PLUCK: Bring to the boil and simmer gently till all the meat is tender, skimming occasionally. It should take about 2 hours.
MAKING HAGGIS (the next day): Toast the oatmeal and put in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the onions till soft and translucent but not browned. Add the suet. Remove the pluck meats from the liquid. Cut off the windpipe and any other fibrous tubes and discard. Mince all the meat coarsely, or chop very finely, and add to the oatmeal and onions. Add the salt, pepper and allspice and mix thoroughly. Taste for seasoning and adjust. Add enough cooking liquid to make a moist consistency . Fill the stomach bag about three-quarters full, leaving room for expansion. Press out air and sew up with needle and strong thread. Wrap, allowing room for expansion, in foil (this protects it from bursting) and place in a pot of boiling water and simmer for 3 hours.
SERVING: Remove from the pot. Take off foil. Slice open and serve with creamed potatoes, mashed turnips and Dijon mustard.
Cook’s Tip: Yellow, swede turnips are much hardier than the cultivated white turnip, and are at their best from August through to April. Late winter turnips will have a much less water and more flavour. Smaller ones have less woody outer layer, they also have a milder flavour.
Yield: 4
500g (1lb 2oz) swede turnip, peeled and sliced roughly
Sea salt
500g (1lb 2oz) floury potatoes, washed ( Golden Wonder, King Edward, Kerr’s Pinks)
25g (1oz) butter
Ground black pepper
Burnt onions:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon granulated sugarMAKING THE CLAPSHOT: Put the turnip into a pot of boiling water add salt and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the washed potatoes and bring back to the boil. Simmer until the potatoes are just cooked, checking frequently since floury potatoes burst and ‘go to soup’ very quickly once cooked. Drain. Remove potatoes and peel. Return to the pan. Add butter and black pepper and mash. Place in heated serving dish.
BURNT ONIONS: While potatoes and turnip are cooking, heat oil in a frying pan and add the onions. Stir and fry onions till they are brown and crisp for about 10 minutes, driving off as much moisture as possible. Sprinkle over sugar and stir for another few minutes until the sugar caramelises and the onions darken.
SERVING: Serve onions on top of clapshot. May be served with meat, poultry or game as a vegetable or on its own, as it is in Orkney, with beremeal bannocks and cheese.
Lighter and less rich than a Christmas pudding, this is made in a cloth (cloot) for first foots throughout Hogmanay night. It’s also fried up for a sustaining breakfast with bacon and eggs. For other festive occasions such as birthdays it’s made with “surprises”. The traditional cloth method makes the “skin”: a vital part of the eating experience. Alternatively it can be made in a pudding bowl.
450g (1lb ) plain flour
175g (6oz) fine white breadcrumbs
225g (8oz) beef suet from the butcher or Atora brand
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoon mixed spice
225g (8oz) sultanas
225g (8oz) California raisins
125g (4 1/2 oz) currants
225g (8oz) soft brown sugar
225g (8oz) black treacle
2 eggs
2 large cooking apples, grated
2 large carrots, grated
1 orange or lemon, zest and juice
Dusting:
plain flourPREPARING CLOOT AND SURPRISES: Prepare cloth (cloot) 55cm (22inch) square white cotton or linen. Fill a pan with boiling water and add the cloth. Boil cloth for a few minutes. Lift out with tongs, spread out on work surface. While still hot, sprinkle evenly with a thick dusting of flour. Shake to disperse evenly over all the cloth, then shake off excess.
Prepare ‘surprises’ or ‘charms’. The most commonly used are: the coin, foretelling wealth; the button, bachelordom; the thimble, spinsterhood; the horseshoe, good luck. It’s also common to use just a few silver coins. They are all wrapped in greaseproof paper before adding.
TO MAKE THE DUMPLING: Place a grid or upturned saucer in the base of a very large pot to prevent the dumpling sticking. Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix to a soft dropping consistency using more orange juice to mix if necessary. The mixture should be neither too soft (when it will crack on turning out) or too stiff (when it will be too heavy a texture).
Add the ‘surprises’ and mix through. Pour into the centre of the cloth. Bring up sides making sure all the edges of the cloth are caught up. Tie with a string leaving space for expansion. Hold up the tied ends and pat the dumpling into a good round shape. Lower into pot of boiling water. It should come about halfway up the dumpling. Tie ends of string to the pot handle which will prevent the dumpling rolling over and water getting in at the top. This also helps to keep it a good round shape. Cover tightly with a lid and simmer gently for 4 hours, checking the water level regularly.
TO TURN OUT AND SERVE: Fill the sink, or a large basin, with cold water and lift out the dumpling, holding it by the string. Submerge in the water and leave for 60
seconds. This releases the cloth from the dumpling skin. Move to a bowl about the same size as the dumpling. Cut string, open out cloth, hanging edges over the bowl edge. Invert serving plate on to the dumpling and turn over. Remove cloth carefully. It should come away cleanly. Put into a warm oven to dry off when the skin will turn a dark, shiny brown. Serve with a bowl of soft brown sugar and/or whipped cream or custard.
Slightly harder than fudge, but not chewy like toffee, tablet should have a slight ‘bite’ to it.
Basic Recipe
175ml (6fl oz) milk
175g (6oz) unsalted butter
800g (1lb 12oz) caster sugar
1 tin condensed milk
Use a large 3L (5–6pt) thick-based aluminium pot to make tablet. Line tray 18 x 27cm (7 x 10 1/2 inch) with layer of tinfoil covered with layer of cling film. Place prepared baking tray in the freezer overnight.TO MAKE: Put milk and butter cut into cubes into the pan and melt. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. When dissolved and beginning to simmer, add the condensed milk. Stirring all the time to prevent burning, simmer for about 9–10 minutes or until the mixture turns light amber in colour. To test for readiness: put a little in a cup of cold water and it should form a softball (116ºC on sugar thermometer).Take off the heat, place on a wet cloth and beat until the mixture lightens a little in colour and begins to thicken and ‘grain’. Do not allow it to become too thick or it will not pour well and will develop a fudge texture with no ‘bite’ to it.
FINISHING Pour into the chilled tray. Leave for 30 minutes to set. Cover with clingfilm and put in the freezer for 1 1/2 hours. Take out. Remove from the tin and turn onto a cutting board. Leave for 10 minutes. Score the tablet into four squares with the heel of sharp knife. Break into four. Then score each square into three lengths. Break off each length. Score into cubes. Finally break into small cubes.
VARIATIONS
Orange—Add 175ml (6fl oz) fresh orange juice instead of milk and before pouring mix in the orange zest.
Vanilla and Walnut—mix in 2-3 drops of vanilla essence and 50g (2 oz) finely chopped walnuts when the sugar is removed from the heat.
Coffee and Walnut—Add 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder and 50g (2 oz) finely chopped walnuts before pouring.
Cinnamon—Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon oil
Ginger—Add 50g (2 oz) chopped preserved ginger before pouring.
Peppermint—Add 2-3 drops of peppermint oil before pouring.
Fruit and Nut—Add 50g (2 oz) finely chopped nuts and 50g (2 oz) seedless raisins before pouring.
