Cranachan creme brulee with honey oatcakes

I wanted something for Burns night that was a little different and which would let me use my new blowtorch! Next time I think I'll try the whisky in the cream and cook it to see how that works as this obviously is not for guests who are driving. If anybody tries this let me know!!

Makes 4 creme brulee with 2 oatcakes each

Oatcakes

50g plain flour
50g oatmeal
1/2tsp baking powder
15g butter
2tbsp honey
Handful dried blackcurrants (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200C. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Melt the butter with the honey and stir into the dry ingredients with 2-3 tbsp boiling water. Mix to form a dough. Dust the worktop with oatmeal and roll out the dough to 3mm thickness. Using a round cake cutter cut out circles and place on a warmed baking sheet. Cook for 10 minutes until golden brown and leave to cool.

Cranachan creme brulee
75g caster sugar, plus extra for topping

350ml double cream

4 egg yolks
2tbsp heather honey
3tbsp whisky (Glenmorangie very good!)

24 raspberries

Reduce the heat of the oven to 150C. Put the cream in a saucepan and bring to boiling point, then lower the heat and simmer for five minutes. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together in a bowl until pale and creamy then add the whisky and honey. Return the cream to boiling point and remove from the heat. Pour over the egg mixture and whisk until it is thickened.

Place six raspberries in the bottom of each ramekin.Pour the custard into a jug and pour over the raspberries until the ramekins are about two-thirds full. Put the ramekins in a roasting tray big enough to accommodate all comfortably and fill with hot water until halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Cook in the warm oven for around 45 minutes until set then take out and allow to cool. Sprinkle caster sugar over the top to give a thin layer and then place under a hot grill until the sugar caramelises to golden brown unless of course you have a funky new blowtorch gadget like me!!! Serve when the sugar is cooled with the oatcakes.

Mrs P's Fish Pie

I got this recipe from my good friend Anna who's the owner of The Tight Line on Loch Awe (www.tightlinebar.co.uk). Although I did amend it a little bit because I think parsnip is the Devil's vegetable and I didn't feel like boiling eggs so decided to amend white sauce to a custard with addition of the egg's yolks. But essentially this is Anna's feelgood wonderful hearty Sunday meal and I am delighted to share it and if you get the chance to visit Dalmally pop in and sample the homecooked food, a pint or one of the 36 malts!

I got the fish, peat smoked haddock, from the Southside institution that is Alan Beveridge Fishmonger and it was truly superb. The sweet smoky flavour that you get from peat with the delicious flavour of the haddock alongside.

This would serve four at a push but did 2 with leftovers

2 smoked Haddock fillets
350ml milk to cover the fish
2 egg yolks
1tbsp butter
1 tbsp plain flour
Handful of grated mature cheese
6 medium sized potatoes
1 onion finely chopped
1/2 leek finely chopped
1 carrot finely chopped
1 stick celeryfinely chopped
5 large chestnut mushrooms (optional)
1 clove garlic finely sliced
Bay leaf

Boil the potatoes and mash with some butter and season with pepper. Place your skinned and boned smoked haddock fillets in a large frying pan and cover with the milk and add the bay leaf. Bring to a gentle simmer and cover with a lid. Simmer for around 10 minutes, shaking the pan gently a couple of times to make sure the milk doesn’t scorch and the fish doesn’t stick. Drain the poached fish saving the milk. While it’s still hot, flake the fish into chunks and place into the bottom of a deep baking dish. 

Gently sauté the vegetables for about 8-10 minutes in another pan until slightly coloured and softened. Make a thin white sauce using the butter, flour and milk from the poached fish and then pour over the whisked agg yolks. Add about half a handful of cheese AFTER the sauce has been off the heat for about 5 mins otherwise it will split.Tip the sauted veg into the baking tray on top of the haddock and carefully pour over the sauce. Give the tray a shake so the sauce gets into all the gaps. Finally, make your thick mash layer over the top, making sure you cover over all the other layers right to the edge. This will prevent the sauce from bubbling over when in the oven. Finally, sprinkle over the last half handful of the cheese. Place in a 190 degree oven and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes until the top is golden. Serve with fresh steamed kale or other seasonal green veg.

The Shandon Belles, Glasgow

A walk through a housing scheme from a disappearing street to a downstairs restaurant that is eclectically ecclesiastical. It doesn’t necessarily sound like the precursor to a delightful early evening meal. Those of you acquainted with this little gem’s much vaunted upstairs sibling The Buttery may well be used to the journey, but to the uninitiated it can seem a little unsettling. Then you arrive at the top of the steep steps with the gold organ pipes and are transformed into another little world. A world that is as much effortlessly stylish as it is like going to Gran’s for tea in childhood days. With brass door handles, stained glass panels and church chairs sitting alongside flowery china plates, vintage cutlery and the odd Charles & Di teaspoon. Maybe it’s just because I loved going to my Gran’s for tea but to me the whole ambiance was just wonderfully welcoming and you just knew that the food would be simple but special.

There is no fuss in Shandon Belles, there’s no hidden extras or cheeky add-ons and the service is stunning and well informed without being over the top. Sardines came with their heads and tails on and skeleton intact but with a delightful flavour and a stunning salsa verde that was so fresh and vibrant it could have brought the fish back to life, while seafood and clam chowder was rich in flavour and texture and a true chunky chowder.

Chicken richly stuffed with olive and lemon was roasted to perfection in every way with delectable crispy skin and wonderfully moist. The cumin dusted Shetland salmon had cumin visible if not perceptible to the palate but the pairing of rich meaty slightly oily fish with creamy red cabbage was what I was really curious about. Who’d have thought this would have released the flavour of the sea from this wonderful fish quite so well? Not me! But what a wonderful flavour combination.

However the highlight of everything was dessert, these are the kind of desserts you want to tell everybody about just so they can share your joy. Cheesecake with chocolate and honeycomb, rich yet delicate and every so often a delightful little nugget of golden childhood memories. All atop a rich buttery biscuit base. Or apple and bramble crumble which actually crumbles and with such a heady fresh baked aroma that you don't want to eat it but just carry on breathing in. Served with a creme anglaise which is a perfect balance of contrasting temperatures and sweetness. Mmmmm. Even Jim's tablet and the espresso with it was perfect and I can't believe I was polite enough to refuse the offer of more tablet. Schoolboy error there.

This was my first visit to any of the Two Fat Ladies group of restaurants and I have to say I was impressed, as for an 'entry level' this was just about perfect. Simple yet stylish homecooked style menu with a bit of flair, fresh bread that keeps coming and a wine list that complements the menu in style and price. Just don't try to find it by following the disappearing Argyle Street.

The Shandon Belles

652 Argyle Street 

Glasgow

Stovies with skirlie

Stovies (left) and skirlie

This is a serious Friday night it's snowing outside get the fire on and whisky out meal. A real throwback to the peasant food of the past when nothing went to waste and cereals and potatoes were a staple. There are a million different versions of stovies, everyone has a personal preference. I like simply onions, fat, leftover meat (tonight I used the trim from the beef bones of last night's stock) and potatoes but feel free to use gravy instead of stock and turnip as well. Skirlie is very simple and a great tasty accompaniment and also really good as a stuffing for Christmas turkey.

Stovies
500g potatoes
500g leftover meat (beef, lamb, mutton) chopped coarsely
2 onions sliced
1tbsp dripping (or oil if being healthier!)
Strong beef stock

Preheat the oven to 190C. Slice and part boil the potatoes. Heat the fat in an oven proof pan and strew on the onions and cook until soft. Place the meat on top and season with salt and pepper. Add the potatoes on top, pour over the stock to cover. Place in the oven for an hour until the potatoes are cooked, making sure the liquid doesn't dry out.

Skirlie
4tbsp dripping or oil
2 onions sliced
250g medium oatmeal toasted

Heat the oil in a pan and strew on the onions, cooking until softened. Add in the oatmeal and cook for 10 minutes until tender stirring frequently. Season and serve.

A Scottish breakfast

I use the word 'A' deliberately, as this is A breakfast....which I actually had for dinner!!! This can be a combination of things as easy to predict as the winning lottery numbers. Sausages can be lorne or links, bacon, eggs fried, poached or scrambled, puddings black, white or fruit, tattie scones are a given, some like beans, mushrooms, soda scone, even french toast or haggis. Serve with red sauce, brown sauce, pot of tea, cup of coffee, bottle of Bru. The list is endless.

Sausage, egg, potato scones, black pudding and beans!

Now I don't make my own sausages very often but tattie scones home cooked are amazing and these beans are ideal to get two of your kids five a day into them. So my dinner was Aberdeen Angus link sausages, home baked beans, fried egg, Stornaway black pudding, homemade potato scones and a big 'dod o' bread'. I won't go into the details of cooking those ingredients I bought, they're pretty self explanatory but if you fancy homemade beans and potato scones here you go.

Potato scones
500g potatoes mashed with butter
100g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until they form a dough like consistency, this shouldn't be too dry. Place on a lightly floured surface and roll out until about 3mm thick and then cut into rounds the size of a side plate and cut these into 4. You can then cook on a girdle or in a pan with a little oil depending on your preference. These can just as happily be served with smoked salmon and creme fraiche on top as with a full cooked breakfast.

Home baked beans
1 tin haricot bins
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2tsp mild chilli powder
1/2tsp paprika
Splash balsamic vinegar
Squeeze tomato ketchup

Quite simply add everything to a pan, stir well, bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat as low as possible and leave until the tomato juice has concentrated (maybe 20 mins) then correct for seasoning. Now that's not much more difficult than opening a tin full of salty, sugary baked beans is it?

Serrano wrapped pheasant breast stuffed with Stornoway black pudding roasted with butter beans

Pheasant needs to a little bit of fat to protect and prevent drying out. Serrano ham is perfect for this. Stornoway black pudding, marag dubh in Gaelic, is a protected product in the EU reflecting it's importance. It is made by four butchers in the town to traditional methods and it's sweet iron rich flavour perfectly offsets the pheasant and salty ham.

This will serve 2 people (and leave some beans for you to have cold)

2 pheasant breasts
4 slices Serrano ham
2 slices Stornoway black pudding
2 large tins butter beans
50ml white wine
50ml concentrated stock
2 small onions finely chopped
2 cloves garlic

Ready to roll

Open up the pheasant breasts for stuffing, slice the black pudding for stuffing, keeping the trimmings for the beans. Place the ham slices two side by side slightly overlapping, place the pheasant at one end, put the black pudding into the opening and then roll round into a small parcel.

Put the oven on at 180C. Sweat the garlic and onions in a casserole dish until soft and then add the butter beans. Cook for a couple of minutes to make sure well coated and then add the wine and bring to the boil, when starting to evaporate add the stock and the pudding trimmings. Maintain a simmer and then place the pheasant on top, put the lid on and place in the oven for 15 minutes until the pheasant is tender. Let the pheasant rest a moment and check for seasoning in the beans then serve the pheasant on top in bowls (the beans shouldn't be too wet but shouldn't have dried out either)

Thursday night is stock night

Do you ever think that those little cubes, though convenient aren't really quite enough but also a little bit too much at the same time. Another tip I took from John Webber up at Nick Nairn's School was to save over vegetable trimmings and use them to make stock. Therefore I've now decided that Thursday night is stock night when I'll make use of my weekly choppings before the veg box arrives on a Friday. You can use any number of vegetables for this, especially onion (including the skin for darker stock), celery, broccoli stalks and carrot. Starch rich veg like turnip and potatoes should be avoided. Add to this any bones that you that you may have left over or bought for the purpose. These should be roasted if you want a darker more intense stock. Add salt, pepper, aromatic herbs like thyme and bay leaf, cover with cold water and slowly bring to the boil and simmer for a few hours. Suddenly waste becomes a thing of the past and you get more intense natural flavours.

Pan fried partridge on porcini barley risotto with a game and red wine reduction

Partridge is a beautiful rich, subtly gamey meat which I think goes equally well with earthy flavours as creamy. I got this one as a Saturday night treat cooking for myself at the Queen's Park farmers market from Winston Churchill Venison. I like to make my own stock from the carcass, you can shortcut this and use game stock or even chicken or vegetable and throw the bones away. But why would you?!

You'll need one partridge per person so this recipe is for two.

2 partridges breasts and legs removed
100g pearl barley
25g dried porcini mushrooms
Sprig rosemary leaves finely chopped
4 shallots finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
Splash (50mlish) malty ale like 80 shilling
Knob butter and olive or rapeseed oil
100ml red wine
Tsp runny honey, preferably heather honey
700ml game and mushroom stock (recipe at the bottom), reserving 100ml for the reduction
Handful chives


Season and lightly oil the partridge breasts and legs. Rinse the mushrooms and rehydrate in hot water for 30 minutes, strain and reserve the liquor which you mix with the game stock up to the required volume. Chop the mushrooms roughly. In a saute pan sweat the shallots, garlic and rosemary in the butter and oil until softened. Wash the barley and add to the pan and stir to coat well for a minute or so then add the mushrooms for another 30 seconds and then the beer. Bring to the boil and reduce until almost completely evaporated.

Add about 200ml of the stock mixture and bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to a fast simmer, when almost evaporated add in another 200ml and cook on a lower heat. Keep doing this until tender with a little bite, you may need more stock or less but this is a good starting point. When the barley is almost cooked, 5 minutes or so from the end place the legs on top and cook for a couple of  minutes then turn over and cook the other side then remove. When the barley is cooked remove from the heat, stir through the chopped chives, and cover to keep warm.

Heat a frying pan to a high heat then lightly oil and add the partridge breasts and legs, cooking each side for 2-3 minutes until tender. The legs are cooked and you're just giving them a bit of colour and flavour.

In a separate pan add the reserved stock and red wine and bring to a vigorous boil. Correct for seasoning and then add the honey. Continue to reduce until a thick glistening sauce consistency. (You'll possibly notice in the picture no reduction, be careful not to let pan overbalance as it makes an awful mess....)

Serve the partridge on top of the barley risotto with the reduction drizzled over and round the plate.

Game stock
Roast the partridge carcasses for 30 minutes or so at 200C. Add these and any pan juices to a saucepan. Add a shallot chopped, a chopped carrot and chopped stick of celery, teaspoon salt, good grinding of pepper, garlic clove skin on, bay leaf, handful parsley and 2-3 sprigs of thyme. Cover with cold water and slowly bring to the boil. The longer you cook the more intense the stock will be, 2-3 hours should be fine to ensure flavour but not boiled away!

Nick Nairn Cook School - Knife skills

Ask most 'amateur' cooks what skill they'd most like to learn from the professionals it would be knife skills. How do you chop things so finely, neatly and quickly with a cheffy flourish and no digits missing? I know it's the skill that I most wanted to learn which was why I was delighted with what Santa brought me on Christmas morning. So, for a 9.45 start I headed off into the early Sunday morning Glasgow sunshine winding my way out past Glengoyne distillery with a beautiful view of snow capped Ben Lomond into the Trossachs. You see this school is a little out of the way, set just beside Scotland's only lake, The Lake of Menteith, and what a wonderful setting, certainly worth the 60 minute drive.

The school itself is very well set up with a welcome coffee, meet your few fellow 'students' and feel at ease, no stuffiness here. We then paired up and headed into the kitchen under the watchful eye of our teacher for the day John Webber. I paired up with a lovely lady called Elspeth, a fellow cook school novice and we donned our aprons and set off on the journey to better slicing and dicing.

The class was made up of a series of demonstrations, starting with the basics and working up to different techniques. As John said 'you won't be able to handle a knife like a chef in these three hours but we will build your confidence'. First up the technique to let the knife do the work by slicing rather than applying pressure and risking permanent maiming or disfigurement. It's amazing how simple a technique it is after the first few slices of celery have been managed, your arm working a bit like a pendulum and the knife never leaving the board. Then the lesson on 'crabbing' your fingers to move along the vegetable which stays still. This is a bit like advanced knife skills and only to be attempted once you're totally familiar with what the sharp bit does!

So onto the ingredients for the meal we would cook, Thai red curry stir fry. Mange tout were sliced into thin elegant strips, as were peppers. With a practice potato (you'll need to go on the course to understand) we learned the holy grail, how to finely chop an onion! Then carrots were sliced and courgettes diced. All with hints and tips along the way from John and Tristan (when chopping herbs if the board is green you're applying too much pressure rather than slicing....). Then we moved onto the chicken, learning to finely slice across the grain of a chicken breast to make it more tender. So with all our ingredients prepared along with 'one I prepared earlier' red curry sauce it was time to finally cook  our lunch. It was great to get cooking after all the prep and lovely to sit down for a communal lunch and compare notes and experiences on all things food.

Post-lunch was a lesson on sharpening, on which knives perform which tasks best, and on buying knives. It's amazing how many mistakes you can make with something as apparently simple as a knife. And that was our three hours over in a flash, time to go to the cookshop, shake hands with fleeting or not so fleeting friends and say goodbye armed with our homework lessons. Now where's that celery??


Nick Nairn Cook School, Port of Menteith, Scotland

Queen's Park Farmers Market, Glasgow

I love farmers markets. In fact, I love all food markets, the sights, sounds, smells, colours, the wonderfully eclectic mix of people you get. I get drawn to them, like a child to sweetie shops. My favourite is definitely Borough Market in London which I find amazing and a real sanctuary on the south bank of the Thames. And I love the way in France and Spain you can go to one every day for a specific delicacy as you would the supermarket over here.

The great thing is that they are becoming more and more popular in Scotland and springing up in many towns and suburbs. So to feed my desire for wonderful fresh food I headed to the beautiful Queen's Park on Glasgow's Southside this morning to look for some game and a haggis for Burns night. I wasn't disappointed. The aroma hits you immediately on leaving the car, lots of fresh cooked meat, sausages and burgers. All to tempt the punter. I once watched my brother in law work his way round Borough Market sampling his way to an appetising and filling lunch, today I settled for a light breakfast of the offerings!!!


The array of stalls has the finest produce, with Aberdeen Angus beef featuring high on the menu. But you'll also find game, fish, cheese, organic vegetables, takeaway curries and breads, and an array of other farmed meats. All from around Scotland and all lovingly produced by people who beam with pride when you enjoy their samples. This is what I really love about food, buying sausages from the guy who reared the cattle and made the sausages himself yesterday, or the lady who minces the offal from her own animals to create her haggis. Buying direct from the people who value quality and share a passion.

My mind goes into overdrive with possibilities, all from 'what would the kids like best' to what goes well with various cuts and what is the purple curly stuff at the organic veg stall? Today I bought venison, pheasant and partridge from Winston Churchill Venison, Haggis and Stornoway Black Pudding from Edenmill, wonderful Aberdeen Angus sausages from Ballathie as well as organic eggs and vegetables. I can't wait to get creating with all of them and share the recipes on here.



This market is on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month
http://www.scottishfarmersmarkets.co.uk/organisers/index.htm#org_glasgow

Spiced haddock fillet with Arbroath Smokie fishcakes

Smokies, synonymous with Arbroath on the Scottish east coast are a beautiful salted and hot smoked fish with a wonderful flavour of the sea but a gorgeous sweetness too. Most definitely a delicacy, wonderful on their own, especially when freshly smoked but also impart a wonderful flavour to a fishcake and work really well alongside their fresh brothers. Haddock is always a wonderfully meaty mellow fish that reacts well to spice so feel free to increase these and let the little seeeds work their magic on the white flesh.

This will serve 2

Spiced haddock
2 haddock fillets skinned
1tsp cumin seed
1tsp coriander seed
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/2tsp mild chilli powder
1 clove garlic
2 slices bread made into breadcrumbs
1 egg
Oil for frying

Gently toast the whole spices in a pan and then place in a mortar and pestle, add the ginger, chiili and garlic. Pound into a thin paste. Add to the breadcrumbs and mix to a homogeneous state. Dip the fish in egg and then in the breadcrumbs on a large plate. Fry in the oil over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes each side until tender (you can roast in a medium oven for 10-12 minutes but will be a bit dryer). Serve on the fishcakes.

Smokie fishcakes (this will make six fishcakes)
1 smokie
3/4lb potatoes
Handful breadcrumbs
1tbsp parsley chopped
1tbsp chives chopped
Splash of milk
Flour for dusting 
Oil for frying

Boil and mash the potatoes. Remove the flesh from the smokie. Mix the fish together with the potatoes, herbs and breadcrumbs, adding a little milk if too dry. Make into little patties by dividing the mix and flattening with your hands. Dust lightly with flour, shaking off the excess and fry over a high heat in a reasonable amount of oil (a couple of mm up the side of the fishcake) for 2-3 minutes each side until crisp and golden.

You can serve the fishcakes individually as a light meal or snack simply with some salsa.

Roast Queen squash soup with Pecorino Romana and Truffle oil

I love the sweetness that squash gives you when you roast skin on, it's a wonderful base ingredient for so many things because it complements them beautifully. In this the garlic, pecorino and truffle all provide big flavours but they are able to be themselves against the sweet background of the squash.

This will probably serve two as a reasonable starter or light lunch

1/2 Queen squash with seeds removed
1/2 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic crushed and roughly chopped
Olive oil
Vegetable stock, preferably fresh but if not only on oxo size cube
Pecorino Romana, roughly 10-15g
White truffle oil to drizzle



Place the squash on a baking tray and cook in a pre-heated oven at 200C until the skin is blackening and the flesh soft. Peel, chop roughly and set aside. Soften the onion and garlic in a saucepan for a couple of minutes until not quite soft, still with a little crunch to the onion. Put in the squash and stir round and add enough stock to almost cover, don't be too eager, remember you can thin later but thickening is not so good. Bring to a simmer on the lowest heat possible for 10 minutes, you want to blend the flavours rather then cook much more. Blitz the soup with a blender and then off the heat add the cheese. I added about 20 gratings from a grater then another 10, do it by taste as the cheese will vary with age and quality. If it's right for you it'll be right for everybody else. Serve into warmed bowls and drizzle a couple of drops of truffle oil, it's a delicacy remember and strongly flavoured so be prudent. Serve with warm crusty bread and maybe a glass of rose too.

Lavender and Bramble Creme Brulee

This is a slight variation on a dessert from Geoffrey Smeddle at www.greatbritishchefs.com which is a wonderful site that I highly recommend. I thought brambles would go better (than raspberries and vanilla) as a winter dish because of their more earthy flavour. But if you stumble across this Geoffrey I have given you full credit and can't wait to try your raspberry version as a chilled dessert in summer!!


This will make 4

75g caster sugar, plus extra for topping

350ml double cream

4 egg yolks
Splash milk
1/2 tsp lavender leaves

100g brambles

Pre-heat the oven to 150C. Put the cream, milk and lavender in a saucepan and bring to boiling point, then lower the heat and simmer for five minutes. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together in a bowl until pale and creamy. Return the cream to boiling point and remove from the heat. Pour over the egg mixture and whisk until it is thickened.

Place five or six brambles in the bottom of each ramekin. Strain the lavender scented cream through a sieve into a jug as it's much neater than trying to do it straight from pan to ramekin. Pour over the brambles until the ramekins are about two-thirds full. Put the ramekins in a roasting tray big enough to accommodate all comfortably and fill with hot water until halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Cook in the warm oven for around 45 minutes until set then take out and allow to cool. Sprinkle caster sugar over the top to give a thin layer and then place under a hot grill until the sugar caremalises to golden brown. Serve when the sugar is cooled.

Rumbledthumps

This is a traditional border dish and is a perfect accompaniment to meat.....although I could happily have a big bowl as a meal in itself! Apologies for picture, looks not too appetising but you can tell by readin that this is comfort food!

This will serve four as an accompaniment

Half savoy or similar cabbage shredded
1 onion thinly sliced
1lb potatoes (whatever you prefer for mash)
Good knob butter
Salt and black pepper (although white is traditional, you choose)
50g Bonnet or Dunlop cheese

Heat the oven 180C or heat the grill depending on how you favour roasting your cheese. Boil and mash the potatoes. Sweat the onion and cabbage in a butter in an oven (or grill) proof pan until well softened. Add the potatoes and salt to season and good grating of pepper. Mix well and flatten down in pan. Grate over the chees on top anf place in oven to melt cheese. Serve

Beef roasted with strong broth

This is a variation on a recipe from 'Broths to Bannocks', which gives you the technique and encourages you to adapt it to the ingredients available. It would have been a regular meal in Scots households to cook a broth over the fire to last several days and possibly cook meats in it to have over several days if you could afford it. This is the recipe I used:

Strong broth
1 kg beef bones
Green tops of 1 leek
1 carrot coarsely chopped
1 onion studded with four cloves
Several sprigs of thyme
Good handful parsley
6 cloves garlic unpeeled
2 bay leaves
Splash white wine
Knob butter
Dash amontillado sherry

To serve as a meal
1kg beef brisket
Handful pearl barley
Handful parsley chopped
Handful chopped chives

Roast the beef in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes until well browned. Sweat all the chopped vegetables in the butter in a stock pot (or the best pot you have available). Remove the beef from the oven and place on top of the vegetables, pouring over the juices. Deglaze the roasting dish with the white wine and pour this in too. Place in the herbs and then barely cover the meat with cold water. Put on a low heat and slowly bring to a simmer, this may take an hour. Skim off any scum which rises and then simmer for 5-6 hours (or a bit less if you don't have the time or need to go to bed!!). I left the bones and vegetables in the pot overnight to extract even more flavour which is fine if you're cooking the dady before. If not then strain through a fine sieve. Reserve a little of the broth to reduce as a gravy for the beef.

You can keep the broth this way as a clear broth, can add vegetables, herbs, grains, pulses. Whatever you fancy really (although Catherine Brown recommends not strongly flavoured green vegetables like cabbage or broccoli). I added barley as I think it makes a broth.

Scrape the meat from the bones, if you're lucky there should be lot, and add to the broth. Add the barley and bring to the boil. Bring down to a simmer and add the brisket on the top of the pot. and cover with a lid. Check the brisket after 30 minutes to check if it is how you like it, if not leave it a bit longer, you'll know how you like your meat better than I do! Remove the beef and place under tinfoil to rest and then check the barley (or whatever else you're cooking). If it is cooked remove from the heat and add in the herbs and stir. Add in the dash of sherry to make it richer and serve.



When you have finished your soup you can carve your beef and serve with potatoes (I made rumbledthumps) and the gravy over the top. You will hopefully have sufficient broth and meat left for another meal or two, depending on how many you've fed.

The Bungo Bar & Kitchen, Nithsdale Road, Glasgow

Newly opened in the southside of Glasgow (Strathbungo to be precise hence the name), The Bungo is in the same family as The Left Bank in the West End. The emphasis is on style and informality, and is effortlessly homely, with welcoming service and an atmosphere with a wonderful buzz about it. The 'Bar' is well stocked with a huge variety of drinks, ideal for a drink or light snack, while the 'Kitchen' produces a mixture of gastropub/bistro delights.

This was a family meal with my two young children but there is no kids menu, 'we can do everything on the menu in half portions' I was told without being prompted. That's my idea of family friendly. It also meant with an afternoon of play in Queen's Park to follow there would be no aperitif from the wonderful range of cocktails, local spirits or winter warmers. Maybe next time...

The emphasis of the menu is on local produce (it was wonderful to see bags of tatties and bunches of herbs being delivered as we ate), and there is a very clear Scottish emphasis with a journey through the Mediterranean, Middle East and Asia for the food traveller. There is really a bit of everything for everyone. So we went for a bit of everything. North Sea Haddock supper to share for the girls, Crab, chilli and rocket linguine for my wife (I was forced to choose again!) and a Bungo burger for me. Hugely unadventurous you may think but I was drawn by the idea of green chilli aioli and rosemary salt chips.

The wine list is a joy to go through. What I love is that it makes it so simple for everyone, no wine snobbery here. Headings on the wine list such as 'savoury and elegant' and 'berries and fruit' for the reds; and 'crisp and dry' and 'fresh and aromatic' gives a wonderful guide. With each of these headings containing three or four wines to choose from with a little tasting note it means that the chardonnay lover is suddenly drawn to vermentino or chenin blanc and the merlot fan looks at a carmenere or valpolicella. This simple approach suddenly opens up the world of wine beyond the supermarket shelves.

I opted for a Romanian pinot noir as 15 years ago when I had a stint selling wine for a living it was a bit of a laughing stock and I thought two things. Firstly pinot is my favourite grape and secondly it wouldn't be on here if it was truly awful. I wasn't disappointed, wonderful strawberry fruit with a little gamey tannin. I would highly recommend it for a light lunchtime tipple. My wife went for the pinot grigio rose, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a white poured into a glass that had a dribble of red left in the bottom it was such a subtle pink but the fruit and dryness was astounding, the best pink I've had for a while. Very elegant.

So what about the food? Well my eldest daughter, who is a conniseur of chips, first response was 'mmmm, good chips, I love these green bits'. Praise indeed but it was true, the rosemary salt set them off perfectly to the extent that we thought a spare bowl was in order just in case!! The fish was also completely eaten, another good sign. The aroma when it arrived at the table was wonderful and the flavour lived up to it, a wonderful fleshy haddock with a deep flavour and light batter. The crab linguine was superb, wonderful fresh salty sweet crab with enough to chilli to be worthwhile and give a little tingle but not overwhelm with perfectly cooked linguine. This is the sort of food that I would happily eat every day, fresh, tasty and letting wonderful ingredients tell their story without overcomplicating them.

The burger was also delicious with a great, well-seasoned beef flavour. Alongside was a healthy portion of chips and the much anticipated green chilli aioli which again had all the flavour of chilli and just enough heat to make it interesting. The only downside to the three meals for me was the level of salt. The aioli had a wonderful freshness but I thought had been overseasoned a bit. The chips similarly, the first few were amazing but then you began to realise that the rosemary salt was actually overpowering the wonderful 'skin on' potatoes and by the end you were getting a bit thirsty. However don't get me wrong, this was one downside amongst a lot of positives and certainly wouldn't stop me going back, it wouldn't even stop me getting the chips again and I'll definitely be making my own rosemary salt very soon.

Coffees for dessert for the adults and sumptuous Italian style milk ice-cream with large chocolate buttons for the girls finished the meal perfectly and at fifty quid I thought it was excellent value. I look forward to going for breakfast, dinner and maybe even just a Pincer & Tonic in the coming months.

This is a place that will go from strength to strength I think. The layout is great and genuinely catering for drinkers, coffee sippers and diners alike. It's a shame the wonderful interior design didn't extend to the toilets which felt more Glasgow social club than funky southside bistro. However again this is a minor thing which I'm sure will soon be changed. What won't be changed is the superb, friendly, stylish and attentive service and I look forward to enjoying it again.  

The Bungo, Nithsdale Road, Glasgow
www.thebungo.co.uk

BrewDog Beers

After the unpalatable Paradox on Hogmanay I set out to find a BrewDog beer I liked, having found two that I didn't (although having revisited the IPA I've reduced this down to one!!). So I bought the 5am Saint Red Ale. And I love it! A huge flavour envelops your mouth, wonderful rich bitterness with a sweetness that follows through slightly subtly. Fruit flavours which are more Foxs Glacier than peaches and cream and a wonderful complex slightly confusing finish on it that has me thinking between cup of tea bitterness and hoppy sweetness. This is a beer with attitude for big boys and girls. Ah, ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have fallen in love with!!

So as I was on a roll I followed up with 77 Lager Juxtaposition Pilsner. This is every inch a pilsner lager. It's rich, it's hoppy, it has a little bit of sweetness and almost chewiness to it that you expect. I'm not sure how 'punky' it is in comparison to Brew Dogs other beers but it is a fantastic lager, a sipping lager and definitely sticks two fingers up to watery mainstream brew. This is a serious pilsner to challenge the Czechs at their own game. I think it's great and fancy it with a big bowl of stew.

Finally went for Trashy Blonde. This is a tasty light ale with lots of fruitiness and hoppy flavours and a bit of maltiness. Has a slightly bitter hoppy finish. Would drink it again but not if either of the other two were on offer!!!

Rose veal and bean stew

I really can't get enough of rose veal, I think it's wonderful. These flavours maybe overpower it slightly but as a dish I think it works really well. You could probably try with pork for an earthier, slightly more 'peasant' flavour. Would be very interested in comments on this if anybody cooks it?

This will comfortably feed two.

275g diced rose veal
1 onion finely chopped
1 clover garlic finely sliced
50g chorizo finely diced
1tsp chopped fresh rosemary
100ml white wine
400g tin beans (I used borlotti here as that's what I had but butter beans would probably be best)
Salt, pepper and olive oil
Little bit of chopped parsley


In a casserole dish sweat the chorizo for a minute or so in a little olive oil. Then add the onion, rosemary and garlic and soften over a low heat. Turn the heat up a little and brown the veal then add the white wine and stir. Add the bean, bring the wine to the boil, cover and place in an oven pre-heated to 150C. Cook for roughly 1hr 45 minutes until the veal is tender, be careful not to let the dish dry out, add a splash more wine if required during cooking. Correct for seasoning and stir through the chopped parsley and serve in bowls with hearty bread.

Venison, heather ale and wild mushroom pasties

This is probably quite a lot of effort for a simple pastie, and you could easily have it as a stew. But I like pasties, after a long, hard, cold day at work a pastie and pint of ale is very comforting and well deserved, the world feels a better place for it. I cooked the stew for this the night before and it has lots of good wild things from Scotland in it, venison, juniper, heather ale, thyme and a couple of interlopers in the shape of porcini mushrooms and pancetta. However it is packed full of flavour.

This will make two pasties to enable you to entertain with sophistication or take one for your lunch, you choose...

300g diced wild venison
4 juniper berries crushed
6 sprigs of thyme
1 clove garlic
50g pancetta
15g dried porcini
1 onion finely chopped
about half bottle Fraoch, maybe a little less, judge by eye
125g puff pastry
1 free range egg beaten
1 small potato finely diced
1 small carrot finely diced

Rehydrate the porcini in a small amount of water for 20-30 minutes, just enough to cover and add the juniper berries to it. In a casserole dish sweat the pancetta in a little olive oil for a couple of minutes and then the onion and garlic until softened. Turn up the heat and brown the venison, add the mushrooms, juniper and liquor then add the ale, judging by eye so it's not swimming. You may need a little more later so don't drink all the rest just yet! Add the thyme sprigs and a little salt to season, cover and bring to boil. Place in oven at around 150C for 2-3 hours or until venison is tender. If it's drying out add a little more beer as remember you want a little bit of a gravy in your pastie.


Once it is tender you can make the pastie or leave to let flavour develop overnight. To make the pastie cook the potato with the carrot until the potato is just cooked then drain. Mix in with the stew, remembering to remove the thyme stalks. Roll out your pastry thinly, just to a couple of millimetres and then cut round a side plate to give you two circles. Place on a baking sheet. Place dollops of the stew and vegetable mix on one side, making sure to leave a 1cm area round the edge. Using a pastry brush egg was this area. Fold over the pastry so that the bottom edge sticks out by about half a centimetre. Fold over the bottom edge and crimp both together with your fingertips to make a good seal. Give the whole pastie a good egg wash and then prick a slight hole on the top (no idea if this is necessary but not risking finding out!). Place the baking sheet in a pre-heated oven at 200C for 10-15 minutes until the pastie is golden brown, the contents will be piping hot and very juicy. Enjoy on a cold night with the rest of the heather beer or if that is gone a fine dark ale.

Williams Bros Fraoch Heather Ale

It sounds a bit cliched and twee to say you can taste the mountains on this ale. But you can, a mouthful of this is like a deep breath in a heather filled glen. This beer is infused with heather flowers when still hot (fraoch is Gaelic for heather) and these give the nose a wonderful floral, almost honeyed note with a little bit of gingery spice. It is well bodied with a light hoppy flavour with floral and peaty notes before finishing with a spicy maltiness and underlying sweetness. Maybe a little too sweet to drink more than a couple but a lovely refreshing beer and definitely a taste of Scotland.
Brewed in Alloa, 5% abv

Smoked salmon 'carbonara' style with linguine

This is a great variation on classic carbonara, which I love, but with a bit of a twist. To be honest it was a 'what have I got in the fridge' type creation but it works. Well I think it does. Normally I would just use smoked salmon trimmings whch are cheap and perfectly acceptable for quick bistro style cooking like this. However this time I had a beautiful side of salmon from St.James Smokehouse in Annan, where the salmon is smoked over oak chips from whisky barrels. This really took it to another level so if you can afford it use good stuff, if it's a quick midweek meal then trimmings will be fine.

As a rough rule of thumb take this for each person and multiply up by the number of people....

75g linguine
50g smoked salmon sliced
1 lg free range egg beaten
20g pecorino romano (for a more scottish dish you could use Bonnet) plus more for serving
Handful chopped parsley
Salt and pepper

Put the pasta on to cook as per packet instructions (following this guidance). Beat the egg and grate the cheese. After 5 minutes heat the salmon through in a frying pan for a couple of minutes then add the parsley for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat. When the linguine is cooked drain and add the salmon then the egg and stir through and finally the cheese stirring to get some heat into the eggs but not scramble. Serve with a further grating of cheese and a twist of black pepper.

Chateau de Sancerre 2009, Loire Valley, France

Sauvignon Blanc is such a wonderful grape. It allows the winemaker to stamp their own style on it and the land on which it is grown to have such a profound effect. In New Zealand the predominance is for new world style with loads of fruit flavour and a wonderful zingy freshness. In France along the Loire valley there is more of a finesse and subtlety. I love them both, when it is good it is very very good and difficult to beat in my opinion.

This is a lovely fresh wine, not as typically dry as Sancerre can be but more of a subtle floral and fruit offering. A beautiful brilliant straw colour it has a slightly peachy floral nose of intensity you'd almost be forgiven for thinking that this was going to be a dessert option. However when you drink it the palate has that characteristic flinty dryness of the Loire valley but with a big citrus fruit note leading to a long citrus fruit finish but a delicate peachiness coming through. This is a complex wine with wonderfully balanced fruit and acidity. Would definitely buy this again.

From Majestic Wines

Benjamin Darnault 'Les Cambriens' Grenache/Syrah 2010, St. Chinian, Languedoc

Benjamin Darnault was Naked Wines 'Winemaker of 2011' and it's easy to see why. From a small corner of Languedoc he packs a lot of flavour, complexity and fun into his wine, expertly reflecting the 'terroir' of that most underrated wine producing region which I would strongly recommend you visit. 

Les Cambriens is a beautiful deep intense dark red colour with a huge nose packed with spice, dark red fruit, leather, tobacco and almost vegetal aromas. The pallet is very fresh, with lots of spice and alcohol coming through but plenty of black cherries and brambles to to balance it. It has a great long tannic finish. A wonderful old world food wine.

From Naked Wines

Leftover brisket with puy lentils

So after you've roasted your beef what do you do with the rest of it? Sandwiches, salad? How about this very quick, easy, warming and healthy offering?

Will feed two for a light meal

250g (ish) leftover brisket (or any roast beef) chopped roughly
80g puy lentils
5 baby onions (pickling size as that's what I had!) chopped into quarters
2 cloves garlic sliced
75g pancetta or bacon
Splash each of white wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar
Teaspoon caper paste or tbsp chopped capers
1/2 tsp oregano
Olive oil, salt, pepper and bay leaf

Bring the rinsed lentils to the boil in water with salt and the bay leaf, cook as per packet instructions, probably 20 minutes to be al dente as required. Lightly brown the pancetta in the oil for a couple of minutes, add the garlic and onions then add the caper paste, oregano and beef, and warm through. Turn the heat up and add the white wine vinegar, literally just a splash or it'll be too sharp, and boil off before adding similar amount of balsamic and doing the same. Leave until the lentils are ready then drain and add to the pan and mix through then check for seasoning. Serve with lots of crusty garlic bread.

Beef brisket pot roasted 'Italian style'

Brisket is one of those cheaper cuts that doesn't need long cooking, in fact it's better to cook it quickly to pink in a pot with some wonderful penetrating flavour. I threw this together with what was 'oopsed' on the deli and vegetable counter in Waitrose!

This will serve 4 or 2 plus leftovers

1lb Aberdeen Angus brisket
1 onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
200g chestnut mushrooms finely chopped
100g chargrilled artichokes from the deli counter
1tsp caper paste or tbsp chopped capers
Small handful sage leaves roughly chopped
Small tin of chopped Italian tomatoes
Glass red wine
Olive oil, sea salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 180C. In a suitably sized casserole that can go on the hob, sweat the onions and garlic in a glug of oil for a couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms for another minute then the sage, capers and artichokes. Cook on a low heat for a further minute then clear to the side of the pot but don't remove. Add the meat and brown well on all sides. Add the wine and tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. When the liquid has reached a simmer place in the oven for around 45 minutes until the meat is pink or longer if you prefer well done. Remove the meat, let the meat rest, then carve, serving with the sauce which will be wll reduced and saute potatoes, chunky chips or even a big chunk of crusty bread.

Thrifty January – Cheaper cuts and leftovers

January, that month when winter seems to hit hardest in terms of motivation, energy and money. It’s cold wet and windy outside and the joy of rich festive food has gone. But that doesn’t mean flavour has to go too. I love autumn and winter food for a number of reasons. There is still an abundance of filling flavoursome  vegetables and it is the perfect time for getting cosy in the kitchen with cheaper cuts of meat that require nothing more than a little adventure, some imagination and a bit of investment in time. Long, slow cooking is king this cold, wet and slightly dreich month that begins the year.
No matter what your favourite meat there is a cut for you; pig cheeks, pork osso bucco and shoulder, beef shin, rib trim and brisket, ox cheek, diced venison, lamb neck fillet and shanks, duck legs, chicken thighs. All are readily available and packed full of hard working flavour just waiting for a combination of vegetables, herbs, spices, wine and beer to bring them to life and bring a very welcome warmth to your heart.
Over the next few weeks (whenever I find some combinations that work well) I’ll post the link to a few recipes here. Starting with....

Beef brisket pot roasted 'Italian style'

Leftover brisket with puy lentils

Venison, heather ale and wild mushroom pasties

Stovies with skirlie

Brew Dog Paradox, Isle of Arran edition

To finish the beer tasting on Hogmanay I'd opted for this. I've tried a couple of Brew Dog beers before and not been hugely impressed. But I love the way they try to do something different and am always willing to try, and am sure I'll come across a favourite at some point. That coupled with the fact that I love Isle of Arran Malt whisky I decided that this was one for the tasting table.

This is a stout aged in Isle of Arran malt whisky barrels and marketed as killer 10% Imperial stout. On first taste there was an overwhelming sweetness that comes through, 'bloody hell it's like dandelion and burdock' was one taster's first comment! This is followed by an unctuousness and almost burnt bitterness of the roasted barley. I have to say that I didn't find it pleasant, it was too overpowering and the 10% alcohol seemed to be the main purpose. When watered down to a 'shandy' there were some seriously complex flavours coming through and I have the feeling if it was brewed as a standard Imperial stout and aged similarly then it would be stunning.

However I was gutted on Ne'erday when I realised I'd forgotten to cap and bring home to braise my shin of beef in for steak pie. That could have been seriously rich.

Brewed in Fraserburgh, 10% abv

Hogmanay beer tasting - Strathaven Ales

My piddly little offering of ales was laughed at when I arrived at friends on Hogmanay. In Crocodile Dundee style I quickly found out 'that's not a selection of beers, this is'. I paraphrase of course but was impressed with the mixed case from Strathaven Ales (www.strathavenales.com) that I was pointed towards. This is a microbrewery with a range that is anything but micro. As they boast 'there's an ale for everyone.....let's find yours', I doubt there are many people that they couldn't find something for.

I started the evening delicately, Duchess Anne is a beautiful light ale. A wonderful winter aperitif or summer quaffing beer made from wheat and lager hops and flavoured with meadowsweet. It's soft, fruity and slightly floral, a bit like a diet IPA. Most refreshing. Next up was Avondale amber ale, floral and slightly bitter; followed by Clydesdale IPA, which was richer than a lot of IPA's, sweet and hoppy with a slightly bitter finish. Both very pleasant and drinkable ales.

After these three 'lighter' ales it was time for something a bit more robust in flavour. Craigmill Mild Black Ale. This was quite simply stunning, every so often you taste a beer that makes you think 'wow'. This was one of those. A dark mild ale that was like a porter in colour and nose with a roasty chocolate colour and aroma. The flavour was rich and chocolatey with a wonderful deep bitter note followed by a zesty aftertaste. All this flavour and only 3.5% abv, it tasted like so much more than that. I would happily recommend this to anybody who'll listen and several more who won't.

Ginger Jock is a ginger beer in the truest sense of the word in that it's a beer first and foremost rather than an alcoholic soft drink and while quite pleasant wasn't really for me. There was also Claverhouse Red Ale which was floral and citrussy and Old Mortality, a stylish 80/- ale with a deep malty flavour.

The last special mention goes to Aleberry. This is a malty ale which is infused with damsons after fermentation, it gives it a very slightly purple hue and a fruity nose. And what a flavour, wonderfully fruity ale flavours supplemented with lovely balanced acidity of thirst quenching berries. As I said to my host, 'this is the sort of beer you want waiting for you after finishing a marathon'. It was great!!


So eight ales to taste in one sitting, what a mighty fine way to pass the last evening of the year. Can't believe I've never found this brewery before, I'll now be a regular visitor.