With social distancing in effect, members of the Scottish Craft Butchers and Quality Meat Scotland’s (QMS) Scotch Butchers Club is providing customers with deliveries of locally-sourced Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork.
As well as offering door-to-door drop-offs, many butchers are providing a free-of-charge delivery services.
With many youngsters and teenagers spending more time than normal at home, now is a good time for them to improve their cooking skills.
Meanwhile, the latest QMS campaign, Make It, is directed at 18-39-year-olds in Scotland and aims to give them the confidence to choose red meat as part of a healthy, balanced diet and when they do eat meat they “make it” with Scotch Beef and Scotch Lamb.
Here’s a trio of tasty recipes, ideal for teenagers (younger children will need some adult supervision).
Pork and apple burgers
Ingredients – makes 4-8
- 450g Specially Selected Pork mince
- 1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and grated
- 3 spring onions, chopped
- Rind of 1 lemon
- 1-2 small eating apples
- Freshly ground black pepper
The method
- Mix together the pork, grated apple, onions and lemon rind.
- Season with black pepper and form into 4 large or 8 small burgers.
- Cook under a preheated grill set to medium for 5-7 minutes on each side or until firm to the touch and cooked through.
- Serve on split rolls, with some salad, and for extra crunch, a slice of apple on top.
Chilli beef kebabs
Ingredients
- 450g lean Scotch Beef popeseye (rump) steaks, cut into small cubes
- 432g (approximately) can of crushed pineapple, or finely chopped rings
- 60ml fresh basil, roughly torn
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2tbsp mild chilli sauce
- 1 green or red chilli, deseeded and chopped
- 150g pack of dried egg noodles
- Wooden or metal skewers
The method
- In a bowl, mix together the pineapple, basil, garlic, chilli sauce and fresh chilli.
- Add the beef, mix thoroughly, cover and pop in the fridge (for between 30 minutes and 4 hours)
- Remove from the fridge and thread the beef on to skewers (keep the marinade)
- Cook under a preheated grill for 12-15 minutes, turning occasionally.
- Meanwhile, in a saucepan cook the egg noodles as per packet instructions.
- Heat the marinade in a pan and boil for 3-4 minutes until piping hot.
- Add the noodles and mix.
Lamb sausage pizzas
Ingredients – serves four
- 400g lamb and rosemary or mint sausages, skinned
- 500g ciabatta bread mix
- 2tbsp olive oil
- 350g carton fresh tomato sauce
- 1 green pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 200g feta cheese, finely crumbled (optional)
The method
- Heat the oven to 220C.
- Tip the bread mix into a bowl (keep a little aside for kneading).
- Add warm water (according to packet instructions) and 1 tbsp of olive oil.
- Bring together to make a soft dough.
- Knead for five minutes then divide into four balls.
- Lightly dust the surface with the reserved bread mix and roll the balls out into four 18-20cm rounds.
- Transfer to two large non-stick baking sheets, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.
- Spread the tomato sauce over the pizza bases then crumble the sausage meat over the top.
- Scatter with peppers and red onion and drizzle with a little more oil.
- Bake for 20 minutes until risen, golden and cooked through.
- If using, scatter over the feta cheese and serve with a green salad.