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Recipes from around the trails

Manx-Celtic recipe (posted February 06, 2012)

Kindly supplied to us by Rosemary from Rearyt Ny Howe, Kione Droghad, Isle of Man

Manx Broth

Ingredients:

Boil shin and bone together with a pinch of salt. Keep topping up the water and when the meat is cooked, take it out. (The meat can be served cold as a separate meal).

Put the stock on the heat again with the barley which has been soaked overnight. Let the liquid simmer until the barley is cooked, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking. Then add the diced vegetables. Add the tyhme and parsley and keep the broth simmering until the vegetables are cooked through.



Burns Night, Scottish-Celtic recipes (posted January 25, 2012)

Kindly supplied to us by Eileen from Ballantrae, South Ayrshire, Scotland

Introduction to Robert Burns and Burns Night supper

Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Scotland, on January 25 and died in Dumfries, Scotland, on July 21, 1796. He was a bard and wrote many poems, lyrics and other pieces. Some addressed political and civil issues. He is probably best known for "Auld Lang Syne", sung at New Year's Eve not only in Scotland but all around the world. He is also known as: "Rabbie Burns"; the "Bard of Ayrshire"; "Scotland's favourite son"; and in Scotland "The Bard".

The first Burns' supper was on July 21, the anniversary of his death, in Ayrshire, Scotland, in the late 1700s. The date was later changed to January 25, which marks his birthday. Burns' suppers are now held on or close to his birthday by people and organizations with Scottish origins worldwide.

In each of the following recipes, the ingredients suggested are for a meal serving four people.

Cock-a-Leekie Soup

Ingredients:

Clean out the chicken and place in a pot of water which is boiled and allowed to simmer for an hour. Add some of the leeks and half of the onion and some vegetable stock. After about an hour remove the chicken and keep the stock. Take the chicken meat of the bone. After straining the stock into a pot, add the remainder of the leeks and onion and add the barley. Cook for a further thirty minutes. Season to taste. Add the chicken meat to the soup and then serve.

Haggis with neeps (mashed turnips or swedes), tatties (mashed potatoes)

The origins of haggis date back thousands of years. The edible offals are chopped and mixed with cereals and herbs and cooked in the stomach. The Scandinavians have similar dishes names 'hoggva' in Iceland and 'hugga' in Sweden and points to the link between Scottish and Scandinavian culture which was particularly strong in the ninth to the fifteenth centuries.

The making of haggis is best left to the experts. A good quality haggis should be bought and there are many good quality products made with lamb, beef, onion, oatmeal, pepper and spices. There is also a range of good quality vegetarian haggis available.

Ingredients:

Haggis - Place the haggis in a large covered pan of cold water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 60 minutes.

Tatties/Potatoes - place in a lidded pan of salted cold water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about twenty minutes. Drain and add butter and milk and then mash with a little nutmeg.

Neeps/Turnips - place in a lidded pan of salted cold water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about twenty minutes. Drain and then add butter and milk and mash.

Recitation of Selkirk Grace

Traditionally at the start of a Burns Supper the Selkirk Grace is recited:

"Some hae meat and cannot eat.
Some cannot eat that want it:
But we hae meat and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.'
The parade of the haggis then follows when the haggis brought to the table with the following address to the haggis:
"His knife, see rustic labour dicht
An' cut ye up wi' ready slight'

It is at this point that the knife is used to cut into the haggis and eating starts. The beginning of both the above traditions is accompanied by bagpipe music. There are further toasts and poems during the meal, starting with 'Toast to the Lassies' by a male guest and reciprocated by a female. Other poems are recited during the meal.

Cranachan

Ingredients:

Spread the oatmeal on a baking tray and carefully bake in a low heat over until golden. Liquidise about half the raspberries. Whip the double cream and add in the whisky and honey and mix. Add in 50g of the toasted oatmeal and the liquidised raspberries. Place the mixture into individual serving dishes and add the remainder of the raspberries and oatmeal onto each. Serve with wafers.

All washed down with, of course, the Scottish traditional drink of whisky! The night ends with the singing of 'Auld Lang Syne'.

Breton-Celtic recipe (posted January 23, 2012)

Kindly provided by Stephane from Belle Isle en Terre in Brittany

Skate and Cabbage

Ingredients for four people:

Skin the skate wing. Slice the cabbage and then blanche for ten minutes in boiling water. Spread butter over an oven dish and line the bottom with chopped shallots and parsley. Then place the cabbage over the top and then add the skate. Pour the white wine over. Add about 30g of pieces of butter.

Have the oven at 230 degrees and cook for 10 minutes. Take about one and a half to two tablespoons of cooking liquid and mix with the equivalent amount of crème fraiche. Pour this mixture over the skate and then add the remaining pieces of butter and season. Return to the oven for about seven minutes and then serve.

en français

Irish-Celtic recipe (posted January 5, 2012)

Kindly supplied to us today by Ciaran from Dunmore, County Galway in Ireland

Irish Stew

Ingredients for four people:

Chop the lamb into pieces and fry the meat lightly until brown in vegetable oil. Place half the lamb in a casserole dish and then half of the chopped vegetables and parsley on top. Put the remaining lamp on top and then add the rest of the vegetables with the potatoes on top. Pour the stock (about 400 ml) over the top, bring to the boil. Place in oven at 160 C to simmer for an hour and a half to two hours. Put the rest of the parsley into the stew and season to taste.

Alternatively:
Use four Irish lamb chops. Place directly into the casserole dish with all of the vegetables as above and half the parsley. Pour the vegetable stock over the ingredients. Put in over at 160 C for an hour and a half to two hours. Add parsley and seasoning to taste.

Breton-Celtic recipes (posted January 1, 2012)

Kindly supplied to us today by Dominique from Belle Isle en Terre in Brittany

Cauliflower loaf with Thyme

Ingredients for four people:

The cauliflower is dived into small florets and blanched in boiling salted water for 15 minutes and then allowed to cool. The tomatoes are cut into pieces and cooked gently for five minutes with a spoon full of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of sugar, salt and pepper and a sprig of thyme.

Mixing the baking powder, softened butter and flour in a bowl. Put in the six eggs with the cooled cauliflower and tomatoes sauce. The mixture is put into a buttered loaf tin and cooked for 40 minutes at 190 degrees. It is served warm with the crème fraiche.

en français

Breton Vegetable Soup

Ingredients for four to six people:

The white beans are soaked overnight in cold water. Then drained and boiled in water for an hour.

Prepare and slice the vegetables. Place the vegetables (except the leeks) in a saucepan with the beans and the garni and add salt and pepper. Boil and then add the single piece of flat bacon. Cook for an hour and then add the leeks with additional pepper. Cook for another hour.

Take out the bouquet garni. Remove the bacon and take of the rind. Dice the bacon. Remove the skin of the chitterling sausages and cut into slices. Place the sausages onto each plate, covering them with the vegetable soup. Add the bacon and finely chopped parsley to each serving.

en français