Haggis and Beef Scotch Eggs

How do you make a Scotch Egg more Scottish? Add Haggis! Use traditional or vegetarian haggis to make these Haggis & Beef Scotch Eggs for Burns Night, Hogmanay or St Andrews Day.  But remember, Haggis is for life - not just the 25th of January!

Sometimes foodie experiments turn out well and sometimes they don't. The Scotch Eggs I'm sharing with you today were a big success. It was only after they'd been devoured and a quick Instagram snap of them generated a lot of interest that I realised that they were most definitely worthy of a blog post. As an interim measure I shared the recipe on my Facebook Page and it produced lots of likes, shares and general excitement. Sometimes I think I should concentrate purely on Tunnock's Teacakes, Gin, Irn Bru and Haggis as these always seem to be the things that grab attention on my social media channels! Perhaps I have a disproportionate amount of Gin drinking Scots in my audience?!

Prior to these I think the first and only time I've ever made a Scotch Egg was in 'O' Grade Food & Nutrition. As I recall it took longer to clean the deep fat fryer afterwards than it took to make the actual Scotch Egg. These are undoubtedly much healthier than a deep fried version and the double coating of panko breadcrumbs give a fantastic crunch. A good quality, not too fatty, Scotch Beef sausage will make all the difference. They taste equally good cold as they do straight from the oven and are most definitely not just for Burns Night.

 

Haggis & Beef Scotch Eggs

6 Hard Boiled Eggs
400g beef sausages
200g haggis
2 eggs lightly beaten
Panko breadcrumbs
Fry Light (or equivalent oil spray)

Boil 6 eggs for 5 minutes, peel and cool (cook longer if you're not keen on a runny yolk)
Squish the meat out of the sausages into a bowl. Finely chop the haggis and mix well through the beef. Divide the mixture into 6 equal pieces (100g each if like me you like to be exact!)
Lay out a piece of clingfilm on your work surface. Squish out one piece of meat to a roundish flat circle,
Place a hard boiled egg in the middle and draw up the clingfilm around it.
Shape into a ball easing the sausagemeat to completely cover the egg before peeling away the clingfilm.
Repeat for the other 5 eggs.
Dip each meat coated egg into the beaten egg, then the panko and repeat so each has a double coat.
Place the Scotch Eggs on a baking tray, spray with fry light (or drizzle with oil) and cook at 200c for 25-30mins.

Some more of my Quirky Scottish Recipes that may well have Rabbie turning in his grave can be found in this post 25+ Quirky Scottish Recipes. Expect Scotch Beef, Irn Bru, Tunnock's Teacakes, Haggis, Scottish Salmon, Tattie Scones, Whisky, Shortbread, Arbroath Smokies, Scottish Gin and more.

For more Haggis of all persuasions you'll be needing My Top 10 Haggis recipes for Burns night.

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Haggis Neeps and Tatties Soup

Fair fa your honest sonsie face! Yup, we're talking haggis. Serious Burns. Although in my book Haggis is most definitely for life and not just for Burns Night (25th January for the uninitiated). However today I'm celebrating the life and works of Scotland's National Poet in soup form. Not sure why I've never gone down this route before with the holy trinity of Scottish ingredients but it absolutely works. Serve with a Nessie ladle and a glass of Scotch Whisky.

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties Soup
Serves 6

1 Onion
Splash of Scottish Rapeseed Oil
500g Tatties (potatoes)
300g Neeps (swede)
1.8L beef/lamb stock
450g Haggis
Salt & Pepper
1/2 Tsp English Mustard Powder
Nip of Whisky (optional)

Peel and finely chop the onion and sweat it in a large soup pan along with a splash of Scottish Rapeseed Oil.
Whilst the onions are cooking, peel the neep and the tatties and grate or finely chop them. Add to the pan alongside the onions and continue to sweat for a couple more minutes.
Next add 1.8 litres of stock to the pan. I used 2 lamb stock cubes and one beef stock pot. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove the haggis from its outer cover and cut into small cubes.
At this point you can either add all the haggis to the soup, warm it through and serve it in a rustic broth style or alternatively, for a smoother version add half the haggis to the soup and blitz with a stick blender. Heat the remaining haggis in the microwave and heap it up in the middle of the bowl.
For both versions you will need to taste and season before serving. How much seasoning you need will very much depend on your haggis. I added a generous amount of freshly ground salt and pepper plus a 1/2 teaspoon of English mustard powder.
True Scots may wish to add a nip of whisky.
Slainte!

Mango, Pineapple and Coconut Tropical Smoothie Bowl

One of the topics of discussion when I was a guest on BBC Radio Scotland Kitchen Cafe last week was new year new recipes. We asked the question - what dish would you like to master this year? Answers ranged from basics like roast beef, omelettes and stovies to donuts, Thai curry and ravioli. This got me to thinking of my own foodie new years resolutions which are more along the lines of dishes I'd like to make for the first time. The list as it stands is as follows - macarons, smoothie bowl, bundt cake, gazpacho and baking a cake/something sweet in my slow cooker.

I reckoned I may as well strike when the iron is hot and make a start at what's probably one of the easier things to tick off the list - a smoothie bowl. Six months ago I didn't even know what one was! Basically its a thick smoothie, served in a bowl and eaten with a spoon. It's often decorated with fruit, cereals, nuts, seeds and suchlike. I made mine for breakfast and it certainly seemed much more filling than a regular smoothie. I reckon that's partly due to the thickness and the addition of toppings but also due to the fact that you have to sit down and take your time to eat it with a spoon. 

If a fruity breakfast is your thing do check out Bintu's Akara. These banana fritters hail from Sierra Leon and are nutmegy banana pancake balls.

Mango, Pineapple and Coconut Tropical Smoothie Bowl

Smoothie

150g Frozen Mango Chunks (alternatively use fresh mango and a handful of ice)

2 slices tinned Pineapple

1/2 Banana

4 Tbsp Coconut Yoghurt

Toppings

Coconut Chips

1/2 Banana, sliced

Pumpkin Seeds

Dried Pineapple

Blitz together all the smoothie ingredients in a blender, smoothie maker or stick blender. Add a splash of the pineapple juice or water if it's too thick.

Pour into a bowl and decorate with your toppings.

Grab a spoon and enjoy.

Here are 10 more delicious sounding Smoothie Bowl recipes from fellow food bloggers who jumped on the bandwagon long before me!

1. Strawberry & Basil Fruit Soup - Munchies & Munchkins
2. Tropical Fruity Smoothie Bowl with Hidden Veg - Eats Amazing
3. Simple Summer Smoothie Bowl - Rough Measures
4. Superfood Energy-Packed Breakfast Smoothie Bowl - The Petite Cook
5. Red Berry & Coconut Smoothie Bowl - Tin & Thyme
6. Super Food Smoothie Bowl with Lean Greens - Veggie Deserts
7. Watermelon Smoothie Bowl - Eats Amazing
8. Smoothie Bowl - Hungry Healthy Happy
9. Breakfast Green Thickie - Fuss Free Flavours
10. Banana & Apple Butterscotch Green Smoothie Bowl - Celery & Cupcakes

Our Farmhouse Gingerbread House - Christmas 2015

I've previously written about the annual tradition in the Foodie Quine household of the creation of a festive Gingerbread House. You can get the full rundown of the previous four builds in my post last year - The evolution of the Gingerbread House 2010 - 2014. At this point I should reiterate that I have no input whatsoever to the process. It's all down to my sister (aka Auntie Adele), boy and girl. I merely provide the kitchen and take all the glory on social media ;-)

The plans decided upon were for a Farmhouse Gingerbread House and the gingerbread recipe used was Mary Berry's from her Baking Bible. The sections were baked for 8 minutes, then the windows/doors re-cut and crushed sweets added for glass. Back in the oven for a further 3 minutes then all sides trimmed to exact size using a metal ruler. Asbestos hands required as you must work quickly so as not to let the gingerbread cool as then it will crack as you cut it. In the past the cement has been caramel however this year the construction team opted for Royal Icing. The house was left to set propped up by assorted soup and baked bean cans before the decoration and landscaping could commence on Christmas Eve.

When it came to decor, as always there was an obligatory sprout in the chimney. New additions in landscaping were marzipan trees and flake log piles. The walls were kept minimalist with the majority of sweets adorning the roof. My particular favourites were the curly wurlies along the roof ridge, the jelly tot path and the tic-tac fairy lights. 

Whilst I've washed my hands of the large house, for the past couple of years I've kept coming across super cute tiny wee gingerbread houses on Pinterest. Finally I got round to actually making some for myself. Clearly my architectural skills are somewhat lacking as I totally miscalculated how many of each piece I needed to build a house. Lots of spare roofs meant plenty to nibble on as I got stressed about about assembling them. They should perch beautifully on the edge of a cup of tea but mine were rather more on the chunky side. I actually had great fun making and decorating them and perhaps they too can evolve over the coming years. Apparently the three amigos are planning a Gingerbread Barn and Silo for 2016 so I may need to up my game. 

I shared the Gingerbread Farmhouse on my Instagram and was delighted when it was chosen as one of the Rodda’s Cornish Clotted Cream ‪#‎CrownYourPuds‬ winners for December. It's in good company along with Supergolden Bakes stunning Festive Rosewater Pavlova with Syrup-soaked Figs and Pomegranate and Emily's Recipes & Review's super cute Christmas Pudding Macarons. 

Not quite sure how I share the prize of a Cornishware Mug Set with my sister, son and daughter...

Top 10 Foodie Quine Recipes for 2015

Happy New Year! We're just about recovered from the Hogmanay hangover here in Scotland ;-) I hope the first few days of 2016 have been good for you and yours and would like to take this opportunity to wish you health and happiness for the months to come. Lang may yer lum reek!

As promised in my Baker's Dozen" favourite Foodie Adventures post, today I'm sharing my top ten most popular posts as clicked on by you my readers for 2015. The past 12 months were very busy for me in freelance foodie terms and I also had the opportunity to work on recipe development and sponsored posts for some well known brands including British Lion Eggs, Barber's Cheddar, Zyliss, Love Pork, Oreo, Bailey's, Schwartz, Good Family Food, The Big Lunch, SPAM, Expedia, Tefal, Thermapen, Craft Bakers Week and more. Here's hoping for more of the same in 2016. 

Without further ado, here's the final countdown...

10. Baileys, Pistachio and Cranberry Fudge

9. Roast Scotch Beef with a Wild Garlic Pesto Crust

8. Malt-Easter Traybake

7. Singing Swede

6. Cheesy Spinach, Mushroom and Potato Crust Pie

5. Rhubarb Gin

4. Rainbow Fairy Cakes

3. Gingerbread Biscotti

2. Irn Bru Ham

1. Irn Bru Pulled Pork

No surprise that the top two are my phenomenal Irn Bru creations. I've had so much great feedback on both of these recipes and they have been widely shared on social media. I really must get my thinking cap on in order to emulate their success in 2016. 

It's the time of year where many food bloggers do round up posts so here are links to some more from my colleagues. Plenty of inspiration to be found within these for meal planning in the year ahead

Eats Amazing - Top Ten Blog Posts of 2015

Fab Food 4 All - Highlights of 2015 + 30 Food Bloggers’ Most Popular Recipes

Baking Queen - 2015: A Year in Review for BakingQueen74

The Veg Space - Top 10 Recipes Of 2015… And What’s New For 2016

Tinned Tomatoes - Top 15 Veggie & Vegan Recipes of 2015 - Readers Choice

Tin & Thyme - Top Ten 2015 Recipes – Your Favourites