Scottish Clootie

I celebrated Burns' Night with a group of friends, with vegan haggis, neeps & tatties and a fine clootie with custard for afters.
We read poetry and talked for hours. It was a perfect way to spend a winter's evening, even though we were lamentably far from Scotland.
As promised, I'm sharing my clootie recipe here:

Clootie Dumpling

Serves 8

175g/6oz Self Raising Flour

175g/6oz Breadcrumbs

175g/6oz Vegetarian Suet

1 teasp Bicarbonate of Soda

2 teasp Ground Cinnamon

1 teasp Ground Ginger

100g/4oz Currants

175g/6oz Sultanas

100g/4oz Soft Brown Sugar

2 tbsp Golden Syrup

360ml/12fl.oz. Soya Milk

Place a clean tea towel or cloth (cloot) in boiling water to soften.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl to form a soft mixture.

Wring out the cloot and lay flat on a surface. sprinkle a good handful of flour in the centre and spread it out. Place the mixture in the centre and gather up the sides evenly and tie with string. Make sure you leave enough air in the parcel so the pudding can expand.

Place a heatproof plate in the bottom of a large saucepan and add enough boiling water to cover the pudding. Bring to the boil and carefully lower the pudding onto the plate. 

Reduce the heat and simmer for about 3 hours.

Remove the clootie from the water and drain well. You can place the whole thing in the oven on a low hear to warm it up for 10 minutes before serving if you wish.

To serve - carefully untie the cloth, gently easing it away before inverting it onto a plate an peeling the cloth away. 

Serve in wedges with custard. Watch it all disappear before your eyes!

Vegan Haggis

With Burns' Night coming up next week, I'm listing some of my favourite vegan-friendly Scottish dishes.

Today I turn my attention to haggis. Traditionally, haggis contains the heart, liver and lungs of a sheep, (along with oatmeal and some other ingredients) and is cooked in the animal's stomach for 3 hours! Now, you'd need a pretty strong stomach yourself to eat that, but some people like it. Nowadays, a lot of folk (including non-veggies) prefer a vegetarian option.

This is the best veggie Haggis recipe I've found. A lot of commercial vegetarian haggis contains peanuts, which I prefer not to use, so I crack open some walnuts to make this.

If you want to leave the nuts out altogether, you can substitute sunflower seeds or cooked (& drained) rice.

Ingredients
2 oz (50g) margarine
2oz (50g) rolled oats
2oz (50g) pinhead oatmeal
2oz (50g) mixed chopped walnuts (or any other nuts of choice)
1 large carrot
4oz (100g)mushrooms
1 large onion
small can kidney beans (drained)
2 oz vegetarian suet
1/2 teaspoon yeast extract
1 tablespoon (or more!) whisky
1 teaspoon (at least) freshly ground black pepper
juice of 1 lime
3 teaspoons of dried herbs

Method

Melt 1oz margarine in an ovenproof saucepan / casserole.

Add oats, oatmeal and nuts and cook for 3 minutes. Put aside.

Chop the carrot, mushrooms and onion finely and fry in 1oz margarine, along with the kidney beans for approx 2-3 minutes

Stir in the rest of the ingredients and the oats and nuts.

Mix it all up and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Transfer the mixture into a loaf tin or shape into a fat sausage shape on a baking tray.

Cook in the oven at 390ºF (200ºC) for 40 minutes.

Serve with Neeps and Tatties and a generous dram!

"Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,

Great chieftain o' the puddin'-race!"

Polly's Kitchen: Lightest Lemon Cakes

Polly's Kitchen: Lightest Lemon Cakes:

How to make cakes without eggs.

Lightest Lemon Cakes

Sorry for the delay in posting this recipe.

If you saved the lemon peel & flesh from the last recipe, I hope you put it in the fridge or freezer, because you'll need it now:

The Lightest Lemon Cakes

Cakes can be made two ways. One uses eggs, the other magic (well, not magic exactly, but science, which is really the same thing.)

These cakes are made using the magical (erm... I mean, scientific!) method. Welcome to the chemistry of cooking:

In a food processor or blender, mix the following ingredients:

the rind and flesh of 1 lemon (juice removed)

200ml soya milk

In a bowl, mix the following dry ingredients:

6oz self-raising flour

3-4oz sugar (adjust this according to the size of your lemon – more for a big lemon, less for a small one.)

I tsp baking powder

2 tsp powdered egg replacement*

Pre-heat your oven to 200°C and grease a patty/cupcake tin (you'll be making about 18 cakes so make sure you grease enough compartments)

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet mixture, stirring all the time until you have a uniform mixture.

Drop spoonfuls of your cake mixture in the greased tin (don't overfill them!) and bake for 15-20 minutes, until they start to go golden.

They will slide easily out of the tin, but let them cool a little before eating!

*Powdered egg replacement is made with potato flour, tapioca flour and a few other things. It helps cakes etc rise, but if you don't have any, you can leave it out. Your lemon cakes will be fine.

Options: Lemon Fairies: when the cakes are cool, cut the tops off and cut lids in half. Put a dollop of whipped soya cream in the top and place the two halves in the top like wings.

Sweeter cakes: Add a bit more sugar or dust with icing sugar if you want sweeter cakes. Personally, I like my lemon cakes with jam and sweet soya cream, but I'm slutty like that!

Now, pay attention, this is the Science Bit:

I'm no scientist, but this is how I understand this works: the lemon juice (acid) and baking powder (alkaline) react with each other to form tiny Carbon Dioxide bubbles (these are harmless – they're the same substance you find in carbonated drinks to make it fizz.)

These bubble start pushing at the mixture as you are stirring (you can see the mixture move a little if you stop stirring.)

Add heat and the bubbles expand, pushing the mixture up and forming a light texture.

Et voila! Light fluffy cakes sans eggs!

 

Super Soups!

Soup is always great for using up vegetables before they go off!

Here are two types: one is chunky and orange, the other creamy and green. They both taste lovely.

Proper Carrot Soup

Take 6 to 8 medium carrots (more or fewer to taste)

Cut their heads off and roughly chop them

Simmer in a couple of pints of stock until they start to go soft

Add 1 chopped courgette and a red or green pepper

To season, use a teaspoon of dried herbs and a teaspoon of mild curry powder

When everything is quite soft, mash it all up a bit (carefully!) with a potato masher (or a hand-held blender, if you're really brave!)

Add a chunk of creamed coconut (how much you use will be down to your own taste – I use loads (about 4oz) because we love it!) and the juice of half a lemon (save the peel for tomorrow's recipe!)

Cook it all a while longer, until the coconut has melted into the soup and everything is nice and soft.

Serve with a nice big hunk of crusty bread!

Creamy Spinach and Mushroom Soup.

Take three or four handfuls of mushrooms. Peel/wash them and chop them roughly

Saute them in plenty of olive oil until they are just going soft

Add about 3-4 oz creamed coconut (it comes in a solid block) and continue to cook until the coconut has melted

Add the juice of half a lemon and four blocks of frozen spinach

Cook until everything has melted, defrosted and softened

Take the pan off the heat and blend everything with a hand-held blender, or liquidiser, if you prefer

Return the pan to the stove and add one pint of stock

Bring to the boil and lower the temperature to simmer

When the soup is simmering gently, slowly add half a pint of soya milk while stirring

Continue to simmer (gently – you don't want the soya milk to curdle) until it is simmering again. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with bread and butter.

Multimash - a new take on 'Neeps and Tatties!

For the next couple of weeks I will be blogging some recipes inspired by classic Scottish dishes - in honour of Burn's Night. Today, I'm re-inventing the traditional "Neeps and Tatties"
This is the easiest recipe ever, and I challenge anyone not to manage it!
You can use any root vegetables. Good combinations are: Potatoes, Carrots & Sweet Potatoes,  but you can add: Turnips, Parsnips, Swede, Jerusalem Artichokes, Celeriac, etc...
Wash and boil your vegetables all together in one pan. You may need to add them some at a time so that they are all finished cooking at the same time.
When cooked, drain and mash, mixing them up well.
I like to leave skins on, because I use Organic Vegetables, but you should remove the skins if they are not organic because the skins absorb pesticides.
Add some butter or margarine if you wish.
You may want to add a drop of milk.
I like to add a teaspoon of Wholegrain Mustard or a dollop of Marmite for added flavour, but you can experiment!
I've also added Coconut Cream (the stuff that comes in a solid block - it quickly melts) and a spoon of Green Thai Curry Paste to this recipe. It sounds weird, but it tastes delicious!
This is great for using up leftover vegetables, especially if you don't have enough of one thing for a meal.

Double Dutch Apple Cake

Here's another use for juicer pulp - this time apple and carrot!

Double Dutch Apple Cake

1 ½ cups of apple and carrot pulp (from juicing)

1 cup of self-raising flour

1 cup of dried fruit (sultanas work very well in this.)

1 cup of strong black tea (you can substitute other liquids if you prefer: milk/juice, etc.)

½ cup of sugar (I like to use soft brown.)

½ teaspoon of baking powder

Keep to these proportions for a successful cake. I usually make double this quantity since making juice for a couple of glassfuls produces roughly twice as much pulp as this recipe requires.

Double up for a good ½ lb loaf-sized cake.

If you want a lighter cake, try adding a bit of lemon juice.

You can use any fruit pulp with this recipe. Citrus fruits will rise more as they will react with the baking powder, but make sure you remove as much pith as possible otherwise the cake will be a bit chewy.

Mix everything together with a wooden spoon (mixture will be a bit sloppy.)

Transfer to a cake tin (I use a ½ lb loaf tin) and cook for about an hour at 175°C.

I always use silicone baking 'tins' as it means I don't need to add any fat to grease them. I place the silicone inside a metal tin, or on a baking tray, to make it easier to lift in and out of the oven. A silicone loaf tin holds its shape better inside a metal loaf tin too.

Limony Lemony Biscuits

Remember I asked you to keep the pulp from your lemon yesterday?
Here's why:

Limony-Lemony Biscuits (these are LOVELY with Miss Beauregarde's Blueberry Lavender Jam!)

This is great for using up the pulp from one lemon, having de-rinded it and juiced it to make yesterday's recipe -

“Miss Beauregarde's Blueberry Lavender Jam”

Pulp from one lemon (juiced) Remove and pips or large bits of pith/rind

4oz self-raising flour

2oz butter or baking margarine

2 oz sugar

Mix everything together in a large bowl, with a wooden spoon.

Add a drop of milk if required to make a doughy lump.

Roll out on a well-floured board (remember to four the rolling pin as well!)

Cut into biscuit shapes – any shapes you like. Try out those cutters you never use!

Cook on 175°C for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

Try to wait until they are cool before eating. Failing that, try not to burn your mouth on them!

Serve on a large plate with a jar of Miss Beauregarde's Blueberry Lavender Jam and a nice teaspoon.

Watch them disappear.

Violet Beauregarde's Blueberry Lavender Jam

There was a glut of cheap Blueberries in the supermarket just after Christmas so I bought up a number of boxes and hastily froze them for future Jam-making.
I really wanted to try using Lavender in a recipe, after someone gave me a couple of large bunches in the summer. It fragranced the Kitchen-Witch's area of la cuisine all summer and has been in a jar ever since.
Then, we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory again and ,seeing Miss Beauregarde turn into a blueberry, I just had to make jam. Here it is:

Miss Beauregarde' s Blueberry Lavender Jam

2 ½ lbs of blueberries

½ lb raspberries

1 lb of sugar

3 tbsp dried lavender

Juice and zest of one large lemon, preferably organic [Keep the pulp of the lemon for tomorrow's recipe!]

1/4 teaspoon of butter or soft margarine (this prevents foaming)

On The Night Before Jamming: Measure out the sugar and place in a large bowl. Measure the dried lavender and place in the centre of a square of cheesecloth and tie up tightly in a sachet. Bury this sachet in the sugar and cover well, letting it sit overnight. This helps infuse the lavender essence into the sugar, which lends to a beautiful, full flavour in the jam.

On The Day Of Jamming: Wash the blueberries and raspberries and place them into a large saucepan or stockpot, Don't use an aluminium pan. Mash the berries with a potato masher. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the lavender sachet, and stir. Let the mixture macerate for about 10 minutes. Place a small plate in the freezer, as this will be used for testing later.

Turn heat to medium-high. The mixture will bubble and froth vigorously. Skim the foam off the top with a slotted spoon, if necessary (the butter should help prevent foaming; stirring regularly will keep it from foaming too much.) The boil will subside to larger bubbles, but still bubble vigorously. Be sure to stir frequently, to keep the jam from sticking to the bottom.

After about 20 minutes, begin testing the jam by placing a small amount on the cold plate. Allow 30 seconds to pass and then run your finger through it to see what the cooled consistency will be. Boil for a few minutes longer if desired for a thicker jam. (Because of the high amount of pectin, the jam sets up pretty well, so turn off the heat when it still seems just a little too liquid)

Remove the lavender sachet and discard, then ladle the jam into hot, sterilized jam- jars* and seal leaving 1/4 inch of head space. Wipe the rims of the jars clean before applying the lids. Screw on the lids to finger-tight. Work quickly.

Store in a cool, dry place.

Makes about 6 half-pint jars.

*To sterilize the jars, place then jars on a baking tray and put them in the oven for 10 minutes on 100ºC.

Put the lids on a draining board and fill with boiling water. Tip it out before placing lids on jars. The buttons on top lids usually pop down as the mixture cools, providing a nice seal.

Tart's Marmalade

I have never made 'proper' marmalade and wouldn't know where to start, so I am not claiming this as your average thin-cut, but it is sweet and easy and tastes like the real deal.

It is just the sort of marmalade a tart like me would make. And marmalade is supposed to taste a bit tart, so there's your pun.

 I juiced 8 average oranges and used the leftover pulp and peel to make this marmalade.

Cut the peel into thin strips.

Add one pound of jam sugar (it has a bit of pectin in it, but this is a thick confection, so you could just use ordinary granulated if you prefer.)

Also add all the pulp from the juicer.

Place in a large pan and stir to allow the sugar to absorb all the residual juices.

Add about a pint of water and bring the mixture to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer.

Simmer for about half an hour, stirring regularly and add more water if it looks too thick and sticky.

You need to cook the peel until it is quite soft, so keep the mixture fairly moist, but not too runny.

After half an hour, mash up the peel a bit with a hand-held blender.

Simmer for another half an hour until you have a thick, sticky, jam-like consistency.

Wash out about 5 or 6 jam jars and place in the oven on a tray.

Turn the oven on to 100°C for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile place the lids on a draining board and fill with boiling water.

Take out the jars and fill with the mixture. Empty the lids and secure firmly on top of the jars.

Cool and label.

If the jars have buttons on the top, they should pop down as the marmalade cools, but don't worry if they do not.

Store the Tart's Marmalade in a cool cupboard or pantry and serve as you would any other marmalade – when the vicar comes to tea, for example.

This is not one of those posh, clear marmalades you'd buy in the shops or at the WI fundraiser stall, but it is fruity and sweet – just like a tart – and tastes deliciousl, so who's complaining?