Next Saturday, we all get a great chance to celebrate St Andrew’s Day, and for me that’s about a celebration of all we have on offer here in Scotland – great produce from our glorious land and sea, and a wealth of fantastic producers and suppliers spanning every corner of our country.
For many, a traditional Scottish meal or St Andrew’s Day supper will include a hearty Scotch Broth.
It’s a cheap and cheerful meal that can cook slowly over a longer period of time until the barley and meat gradually soften and develop real flavour.
I can think of nothing better or more satisfying than a warming bowl of broth on a cold winter’s evening.
Hogget is absolutely delicious at this time of year and is a hugely underrated ingredient. Hogget is the meat of a young sheep that is older than one year.
As they are a little more mature, and our Scottish sheep have been nurtured on a diet of heather and moorland, they have a great, distinctive and rich flavour, quite different to lamb.
The result is a beautifully juicy, well flavoured, firm meat but if you cook it just perfectly, it won’t be too tough – just a real pleasure to eat.
Of course, no meal to celebrate Scotland would be complete without a little taste of whisky, either enjoyed to toast the evening, or in my Scottish take on the French classic “Baba” – the perfect end to a wonderful evening.
I think that regardless of what you choose to eat, any St Andrew’s Day feast should be about sharing the pleasure of your favourite, fresh, seasonal Scottish ingredients, created by our wonderful selection of artisan producers.
SCOTCH BROTH
2 litres water
1tsp salt
2lb/1kg Mutton – shoulder, flank or neck
1 large chopped onion
1 large chopped leek
75g split peas
100g pearl barley
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium swede (rutabaga), peeled and diced
2 sticks celery
2 cloves of garlic
1tbsp chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Soak the pearl barley and the split peas for a minimum of three hours, preferably overnight (rinse before adding to the pot).
Trim the fat from the mutton. Place the mutton and barley in cold water and slowly bring to a simmer.
Simmer for 45 minutes with lid on, skimming any fat or residue that floats to the surface.
Add the remaining vegetables and simmer gently until lamb is thoroughly cooked.
Remove the mutton from the pot and separate the meat from the bone. Return the meat to the pot.
Season to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve while hot.
BRAISED HOGGET SHOULDER WITH LETTUCE AND PEAS
SERVES 4
1 kilo of hogget shoulder – buy it tied from your butcher
2 chopped carrots
1 onion, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
1tsp peppercorns
1 bouquet garni
1tsp fennel seeds
2tsp cumin powder
2tbsp tomato puree
400ml white wine
1 litre lamb or chicken stock
1tbsp chopped parsley
1tsp chopped rosemary
100g caul fat
FOR THE PEAS A LA FRANÇAISE
90g unsalted butter
1tbsp salt
600g fresh or frozen peas (podded weight)
100ml whipping cream
10g pancetta, cut into batons
2 baby gem lettuce, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
FOR THE HOGGET
Heat a heavy bottom pan. Season the hogget shoulder all over and colour in a pan until golden all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Heat the chopped carrots onions and celery, then sweat gently for two to three minutes. Add the bouquet garni and half head of garlic, a teaspoon of peppercorns, one teaspoon fennel seeds and two teaspoons of cumin powder then add two tablespoons of tomato puree and sweat for one to two minutes, before slowly adding 400ml white wine and cooking off.
Add the hogget shoulder back into the pan and cover with one litre of lamb or chicken stock. Place into the oven with a lid over your pan and leave to cook for two and a half to three hours.
Once cooked, remove the hogget from the stock. Open up the hogget shoulder to allow the meat to cool.
Meanwhile, pass the stock from the pan and reduce it by two thirds. Keep a little bit of the stock aside to use later. Then, separate the meat carefully from the shoulder, gently flaking it into a bowl.
Once the stock is reduced, add the flaked meat and season with salt and pepper, then add a tablespoon chopped parsley and a teaspoon chopped rosemary and mix together.
Take the mix and create a crépinette (a small flattened sausage-like parcel) by creating a nice ball of the hogget mix and wrapping in caul fat. Try to wrap the mix so each is the size of a tennis ball. Place the hogget parcels into the stock and baste through for five to ten minutes on the side of stove.
FOR THE PEAS A LA FRANÇAISE
TO MAKE THE PEA PURÉE
Sweat the chopped onion in 50g of the butter for four to five minutes. Bring a pan of water to the boil and add one tablespoon of salt.
Blanch the peas for one to two minutes and refresh in ice water. Drain, then add about one third of the peas (about 200g) to the onions – keep the rest for the finished dish.
Add the cream and seasoning to the peas and onions and cook together for a further two minutes. Blitz quickly and leave to chill – this helps keep the purée green until ready to serve.
TO FINISH THE PEAS
Blanch the pancetta in boiling water for one minute and then drain through a sieve. Sweat the bacon in the remaining 40g of butter, then add the rest of peas and pea purée, and cook for three to four minutes. Add the lettuce, and check the seasoning.
WHISKY BABAS WITH BERRIES
MAKES 10
FOR THE BABAS
3tbsp milk
5g active dried yeast
200g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
6g sea salt
20g caster sugar
2 free-range medium eggs, lightly whisked
60g butter, soften, plus extra for greasing
FOR THE WHISKY SYRUP
200g sugar
200ml water
200ml whisky, or to taste
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
FOR THE CHANTILLY CREAM
300ml whipping cream
25g icing sugar
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
TO SERVE
125g blueberries
125g raspberries
125g blackberries
200g strawberries
Juice of
75g caster sugar
FOR THE BABAS
Lightly butter 10 individual baba tins or dariole moulds. (Alternatively use five and bake the babas in two batches).
Warm the milk to tepid. Sprinkle in the yeast and leave until dissolved.
Put the flour, salt and sugar into an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix on a low speed for a minute.
Add the milk and yeast mixture, followed by the eggs, and mix on a low speed until you have a smooth dough. Now slowly add the soft butter and continue to mix until the dough becomes smooth and shiny.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with cling film. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place for about an hour until it has doubled in size.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knock back gently. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces, about 35g each, and roll into small balls. Place in the prepared baba moulds, cover with cling film and leave to prove in a warm place for 40-50 minutes until risen to the top of the tins.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180oC/Gas 4. Once proved, bake the babas for 12-15 minutes until deep golden. Turn them out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
To make the whisky syrup, dissolve the sugar in the water in a large pan over a medium heat, then bring to the boil. Add the whisky to taste, vanilla seeds and citrus zest, then remove from the heat and allow to cool down slightly.
Add the babas to the warm whisky syrup and leave them to soak for about one hour, turning them every 10 minutes or so.
For the Chantilly cream, whisk the cream, icing sugar and vanilla seeds together in a bowl to soft peaks.
In a separate bowl, toss all the berries together with the lemon juice and sugar. Put the babas into individual bowls, pour the whisky syrup over them and add the berries.
Serve with the Chantilly cream.