Fried mackerel in bread crumbs

Thinking about breakfast has brought back fond memories of summer holidays on the West Coast of Scotland, in an area called the Kyles of Bute.  We used to drive down to a village called Tighnabruaich.  My dad went with my brother and my sister and I went with my mum and our two dogs, Simon and Walter...

We used to spend most of our holidays down at the beach, at Suzy's tea room stuffing our faces with ice cream and scones.  Apparently it's up for sale.

or with my dad fishing off the pier.  He used to spin for mackerel and I tried to bring in cod and saith with my handline.

When the mackerel were running we would have mackerel fried in home-made bread crumbs for breakfast of for tea.  Delcious...More about summer holidays on the West Coast of Scotland tomorrow..

Grilled Spiced Grapefruit

Time to look at healthy breakfasts.  This was a favourite of mine when I was a teenager when I went off porridge.  Grapefruit is always a welcome starter as it stimulates the appetite but it can be rather boring if it is served plain.  This method of serving grapefruit is more unusual, and definitely more tasty.

Ingredients
2 large grapefruit
4 + 15ml. spoons soft brown sugar
2 + 15ml. spoons butter, softened
2 + 15 ml. spoons sweet sherry, vermouth or rum
1/2 teaspoon ground cinammon

Cut the grapefruit in half, loosen the segments with a grapefruit knife and remove any pips.  Mix the remaining ingredients together in a bowl and spread over the top of each grapefruit half.  Place under a preheated hot grill and cook for 5 minutes or until the tops are bubbling and browned.  Transfer to individual serving bowls and serve immediately.

Obviously, if this is for breakfast you might want to miss out the sherry, vermouth or rum.  It's a great starter too for lunch or dinner.  Fairly freshens the palate.

Just been to the Kabylia...

which is, of course, in Almansa and the first course was "quiche lorraine" which although it may sound a bit French is a very popular dish in Scotland, for lunch, for tea, for picnics.  So here you have the recipe, care of M&S (my recipe book from over 30 years ago...)

Ingredients
100-175 unsmoked streaky bacon, rinds removed and chopped
shortcrust pastry flan case
2 whole eggs
2 egg yokes
150 ml. fresh single cream
approx. 150 ml. milk
salt and freshly ground black pepper
50 g. Gruyère cheese, grated

Fry the bacon over gentle heat in a small frying pan until the fat runs and the bacon becomes golden-brown.  Put the bacon in the flan case.  Beat the whole eggs, egg yolks and cream together lightly in a bowl and pour over the bacon.  Stir in enough milk almost to fill the case.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the grated Gruyère.

Bake in a fairly hot oven (190ºC) for 25 to 30 minutes or until the filling is set and the pastry is golden.  Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes. 

Serve with salad, baked beans, corn....

And if you don't feel like making a quiche, just go to Tesco's, Morrison's or M&S and buy one there.  You can eat them hot or cold...

So far we haven't looked at puddings very much.  Today we are going to learn how to make rice pudding which used to be one of my favourites when I was small.

Ingredients
3 +15ml spoons pudding rice
50 g. sugar
600 ml. milk
1 cinammon stick or 1 + 2.5 ml spoon grated nutmeg
knob of butter

Method
Put the rice and the sugar in a shallow ovenproof dish.  Pour on the milk and add the cinammon or nutmeg with the butter.  Bake in a very hot oven 230ºC for 10 to 15 minutes or until the pudding is bubbling and a skin has formed.  Lower the heat to very cool 140ºC and bake for another hour or until the pudding is soft and creamy and the skin is golden in colour.  Remove the cinammon stick, if used.  Serve straight from the baking dish.  And there you go...

Actually when we made this at home we didn't use cinammon sticks, instead we added a handful of currants and it was simply delicious.  Another dish that I fought to scrape the bottom of the dish for.

French onion soup

I know that this blog is supposed to do with Scottish food but Scottish people don't only eat Scottish food.  Today we are going to learn how to make French onion soup, a favourite of mine on cold winter days.  It's easy and cheap to make.  I have lifted the recipe from my Marks and Spencer's cook book from when I was a student at the uni - many, many years ago.

Ingredients
Butter for frying
1/2 kilo Spanish onions, peeled and sliced into rings
2 15ml spoons flour
1 1/4 litres of homemade beef stock (or add some stock cubes)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To finish
4 slices of French bread, buttered
4 large slices of Gruyére or Cheddar cheese


Method
Melt a knob of butter in a saucepan.  Add the onions and fry gently until soft and golden.  Stir in the flour and cook gradually for a further 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Gradually stir in the stock and bring to the boil.  Season with salt and plenty of black pepper, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until the onions are soft.  Adjust the seasoning.
Pour the soup into individually warmed soup bowls.  Float a slice of bread on each and top with a slice of cheese.  Sprinkle with black pepper and put under a pre-heated hot grill for 5 minutes or until the cheese melts and is bubbling.  Serve immediately.

And this is what it looks like...

Instead of floating slices of bread and cheese on top of your soup bowls, you can also add croutons which are bite sized bits of bread fried gently in butter, like below...

You can also spice your soup up a bit more by adding some herbs, perhaps some oregano...

Coz I'm Scottish

Well as I've said before, Scottish people actually have a sense of humour, so have a look at this...
http://sn141w.snt141.mail.live.com/default.aspx#!/mail/InboxLight.aspx?n=1920409876!n=2119872880&fid=1&mid=536dadbf-58ca-11e1-ad3c-00215ad7bb68&fv=1
and by the way, Pancake Tuesday is next Tuesday..so refer to previous blog entry...

Food for February

After having a quick look through the net for food to eat in February I came across cauliflower cheese.http://britishfood.about.com/od/recipeindex/r/caulicheese.htm
Give it a try.  It was one of my favourites when I was small in Dundee.  I used to scrape the oven dish clean.  The trick is to add a spot of mustard to the white sauce and to make sure that you drain your cauliflower properly.  There's nothing worse than leaky cauliflower cheese...Perfect comfort food with a stew or a casserole on a cold winter's day.

The Guid Cheese Shop

This is something I haven't really mentioned up to now, cheese.  Apart from cheddar cheese, I cannot claim to be an expert.  However, last year when we were over in Scotland we chanced on a fantastic cheese shop called "The Guid Cheese Shop" where you can buy cheese, obviously, and go to cheese tastings.  They had a wide selection of cheese from Scotland and all over the world.  Fantastic.

Cheese is very popular in Scotland as a dessert after a meal and  with Scottish oatcakes..And you can always have toast and cheese as a quick and inexpensive tea.

Lorne sausage

or sliced, flat or square sausage is a food product eaten in Scotland.  It's a favourite in Scottish cooked breakfasts, like the one above.  But don't get me wrong we don't have this every day for breakfast but only on special occasions, like when you are on holiday in a hotel.  Looks delicious with fried eggs, tomatoes, bacon, black pudding, mushrooms and is that fried bread?  It can also be eaten in a roll.  I used to have mine with brown sauce...

or in a sandwich with a Scottish plain loaf.....which is absolutely delicious toasted.  By the way, the name of this sausage comes from an area in Scotland called Lorne.

Puff pastry galore

Today we are going to talk about sausage rolls.  A type of savoury pastry commonly served at parties and available from bakeries and cafés as a takeaway food.  Basic composition is generally a sheet or sheets of puff pastry

which you defrost, roll out and fill with sausage meat giving this a tube shape.

Then you glaze the pastry with egg or milk before being baked.  They can be served hot or cold.  Great for your elevenses with a coffee or for a quick lunch.  And here is what they look like.

Steak pie

Talking of pub grub and comfort food.  Today we are going to make steak pie.  The BBC has a great little recipe.  Here you go.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/steakpie_85721

and this is what it looks like, delicious on a cold winter's day and also the traditional Hogmany lunch.

My dad used to make this with puff pastry instead of shortcrust pastry.  And you can also roll out the pastry and do it in the oven separately from the pie like below.

The Prince of Wales

Yes, today we are going to start talking about bars in Scotland.  The Prince of Wales has been a pub since 1850 and is known for its beer not its décor.  Although I loved it when I went there when I studied in Aberdeen.  It was always packed with a very mixed crowd of people.  It is one of the longest bars in Aberdeen and serves its own brew.  It also does plain bar food, macaroni cheese or steak pie for under a fiver.  Give it a try the next time you are in Aberdeen.

Perfect stew and dumplings

The first snows have come and it's time to make some comfort food and today we're going to try to make some perfect stew and dumplings to heat ourselves up.  Have attached a really great video here from the Guardian to show you how to make it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg_-6bpLtoM

And here is the final result

Fake a Scottish accent

Well exactly that and to show you that Scottish people do have a sense of humour and that we, really, don't speak differently.  Enjoy!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrCMB7N5V1s

And back to more serious things.  Today we shall go on a trip to Loch Leven to the best place ever for afternoon tea.  It's called Loch Leven's Larder and here is a link to its web http://www.lochlevenslarder.com/eat.
We went at the end of August.  If you have to wait for a table take a look at the shop or the scenery outside.  The afternoon teas are spectacular as are the sandwiches....You can't get much better than this.

So next time you are in the area, pop in and enjoy....