Oh broth-er, where art thou?

BROTH.

Winter in Scotland. Long, dark, cold, wet, windy.  Four season in one day, except the two best ones. Harsh.

Yet, there is something splendid that happens every winter that makes us, even at the height of summer, long for these days of  wind stung faces, nippy ears and numb noses.  Scotch broth. A big steaming bowl, so thick you could serve it in slices and stand your spoon upright.

It’s with a smirk on my face I announce that it is officially broth season.

Traditionalists would probably insist it is made with lamb or mutton.  I love lamb, but for some reason I’m not a huge fan of it in a soup, so I prefer mine with chicken and all the lovely cold fighting goodness this brings with it.

The hero of the broth is a Scottish speciality, imaginatively named, Scotch Broth Mix….

You can buy this everywhere in Scotland.  I’m not sure about how readily available it is elsewhere, but if struggling the magic ingredients are dried red lentils, pearl barley,yellow split peas, green split peas and marrowfat peas.

Now there are probably a thousand different recipes and the truth is that I have probably never made the same pot twice.  But, that’s the beauty of it.  Many winter veg lend themselves easily to this soup.  Leek, turnip (swede to those outside Scotland), carrot, parsnip, kale.  All would live very happily with their pulsey brothers in broth, so I use what I happen to have.  Simples. My most recent batch also included butterbeans and extra marrowfat peas.  I love these peas in a soup.  These are the gems I dig for at the bottom of the bowl, like little tasty emeralds of joy.

So, there you the secret to surviving Scottish winter.  Enjoy!

Chicken broth.

Chicken Stock

Scotch broth mix

dried butterbeans

dried marrowfat peas

onion

leek

carrot

parsnip

chicken meat

parsley

water

salt and pepper

Soak a couple of handfuls of the broth mix with a handful of butter bean and a handful of marrowfat peas for 6-8 hours. Rinse then add to a large pot and just cover with chicken stock.  I’m not precious. Use ‘real’ chicken stock if you have it because it’s awesome, but i won’t beat you for using stock cubes.  Life is hectic- if you have time to make fresh chicken stock all the time, you need to get out more.

Simmer for 2o minutes.  While this is bubbling away dice your onion, carrot and parsnip.  Add this to the pan and top up with some water.  Not too much- Remember, you want your spoon to stay almost upright in the soup once it’s ready.  Season with salt and pepper and simmer for another 20 minutes giving it a stir every now and again to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Towards the end check the butter beans and peas are cooked.  I find the best method it to simply put some in your mouth and chew. Easy.

If you’re happy they are cooked through throw in some shredded chicken, ideally brown meat for the best flavour along with some chopped parsley.  Stir and check the seasoning.  If needed add a bit more salt and pepper or extra stock.

Now the hard part.  Allow to cool and transfer to the fridge overnight in an appropriate fridgeable container.  The second day soup rule is an essential part of amazing broth.  It’s worth the wait.

Slice a wedge of soup from the container and heat making sure the butter beans and peas are toasty hot right through then transfer a mountainous lump to a bowl and eat with a big spoon and a bigger grin.  This will make you wish winter could last forever.

 

 

 

 

Cooking and eating and cooking some more

Things have been quiet lately. We seemed to have returned to autumn so the bike has been feeling rather dejected, as I been spending a lot of time with the cooker.  Good thing happen when the cooker and I hang out together. Here are just a few examples:

Magical chowder…

Saute one small chopped onion in olive oil with a sprinkling of thyme leaves. Once soft add one large Maris piper, or other floury potato, peeled and chopped into small cubes. Season well and allow to heat through before adding a good glug of white wine to the pan. Stir, allowing the wine to completely soak in before adding two teaspoon of plain flour. Stir though allowing the flour to cook off for a few minutes before adding one or two bay leaves. Gradually add some milk. Allow to thicken each time before adding more. Once the potatoes are half covered, season and put a lid on the pan. Cook on a low heat for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. If sauce gets too thick, add some water.  Add a good drizzle of double cream to make sauce nice and rich, and season.  Add a handful of frozen peas. Chop a large undyed smoked haddock fillet into large pieces an layer on top of the potatoes and cook for a further 5 mins.  Add some chopped parsley, cooked prawns and a large handful of spinach.  Stir through- the fish will start to break up. Once the spinach had wilted it’s ready to serve! Check seasoning before piling into warm bowls. No need for bread, this is a monster or a meal!

Ok, next rainy day dish…

 

Sun, soup and cycles-a wholesome Easter weekend

It’s been a good week.  A wholesome week.

I have been a busy girl.

First, I feel I should really mention my first whisky tasting experience.  Wednesday night I attended Tam’s Drams’ whisky tasting dinner at MacSorley’s bar in Glasgow. I was worried I was going to be a bit out of my depth.  I had visions of old men with beards and Aran sweaters, scowling at the young pretender.  I was wrong.  It was fabulous.  Informative but unpretentious and nobody was taking themselves too seriously.  Now, I would normally have photos, but please bear in mind there were 6 whiskies to get through- 2 before the starter, 2 between courses and 2 after the main dish.  After the second whisky, thoughts of photos went out of the window, but you can probably imagine….

I have to mention the food, of course.  Brilliant.  Really really brilliant.  The menu is amazing and I can’t wait to go back.  It’s definitely worth checking out the website using the link above to get a sample of how imaginative and tempting everything sounds.  And, they do stovies!   This pleases me lots. Not enough places serve stovies.

Anyway, on with the wholesomeness…

Soup.  I make it all the time, but I was feeling a bit experimental this week and I was so delighted with the result of my Sweet potato and Squash spiced soup with lentils and coconut milk, I have added it as my first recipe in my Small Kitchen Diaries.

Delicious.

Today involved more food, but it was well earned.  Once more I took to my bike and ventured out along the local cycle paths.  It was a beautiful day.  Not too warm, not too windy.  Perfect cycling conditions.  We peddled for hours through the countryside stopping only to do some shopping and eat ice cream.  We finally made it home where we sat on the picnic blanket in the garden and ate olives and drank red wine out of tumblers so not to spill it everywhere, as I so often do when trusted with a wine glass outdoors.

 

An Applecross prawn a day keeps the doctor away

I’ve just spent seven heavenly days in my favourite place in the world and I’m feeling pretty happy and chilled out.  My body may be back behind a boring desk at work for 8 hours today, but my spirit is still firmly in Applecross bay with the prawns and the squat lobsters and all the other lovely edible creatures just waiting to sacrifice themselves to please my belly.

I have eaten a lot this week.  A lot.  I may be having a food baby now, but it was worth every last mouthful.  In keeping with tradition our first meal was at the Applecross Inn where I devoured whole Applecross prawns swimming in garlic butter.  These bad boys were huge and juicy and oh so delicious.  It’s always the first meal of holiday prawns that are the most memorable.  Maybe because, after a few months since I was last in Applecross, my memory of them had started to fade, so when they arrived at the table on the first night there was a fanfare playing in my head.  When placed in front of me I felt like they should leap up off the plate with big jazz hands (or claws) going “ Taaa-Daaaaaa!”.  Yes, I know- that mental picture was pretty awesome, right?

Anyway, moving on from my prawn day dream…

Many other fabulous meals were had, including big beefy steaks, crispy fish and chips, half pints of prawn tails with cocktail sauce and lovely squat lobsters which you can find in abundance in and around Applecross, but not may other places further south.  This is a shame, as they are fantastic.  Apparently they don’t travel well- Perhaps they get car sick?  Let’s not dwell on that mental image.

I also concocted my very own creations in our wee but-n-ben- a slow cooked lamb and haricot bean stew in velvety tomato sauce yumminess, home baked shortbread and the vital scottish breakfast of kings (and queens) square sausage, fried onion and tatty scone in a roll!

Apart from the eating I did some moderate outdoor activities, including a walk to the mast above the Bealach-na-ba. Here is the view from the top:

However,most of my newly acquired protein fuelled energy was burnt on a walk through shin deep cow field muck and rivers to reach a beautiful remote beach only visible when the tide is super low.  It was probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen and not another soul around for miles.  It also helped that this was on the most glorious day of the year so far.  I think I had a bit of a moment and tried to capture it on camera, but it just didn’t do it justice.

On Wednesday we were joined by friends from London who flew to Inverness and completed the journey in true ‘romantic’ highland fashion- by stinky diesel train.  However, I am underselling this as, if you have to travel by train, the route from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh is the one to do it on.

I’ve been to the Applecross area so many times over the years and I love it a bit more each time, but since my wedding there a few years ago, I forgot how much fun it was to show it to someone for the first time.  The drive over the Bealach-na-ba for starters- it’s a bit like the marmite of the road world. If you love driving, you will love the Bealach-na-ba, but if your not so confident, it’s hell on earth.

Personally, I love it and the views from the summit (on a clear day) are probably the most spectacular roadside views you’ll find in the world…or for at least….20 miles, bearing in mind the coastal road between Applecross and Shieldaig is equally as stunning.  As well as showing off the scenery it was a joy to impart our knowledge of all the food produced locally and share some lovely meals.  We destroyed cheeseboards from the West Highland dairy, decimated venison sausages from Roddy, the butcher in Lochcarron and obliterated all the Torridon and Shieldaig smoked salmon we could find.  Even the honestly box eggs from the roadside cupboard were the best eggs we had ever tasted and, over the week, we cleared out the top shelf leaving only the hats and gloves for sale (they were rather nice too, but it was just too sunny to justify knit wear, it was above 5 degrees after all!).

I can’t think of anywhere else in Scotland there is such a fantastic range of foodie places in such a small area, especially somewhere so remote.  On the down side, we missed the start of ‘the season’ by one week, therefore we missed out on food at the Kishorn seafood bar, The Potting Shed in the Applecross Walled Garden- my very favourite place to eat in all the world, not just because food is amazing, but it is also where I had my wedding- and Nanny’s place in Shieldaig.  Maybe just as well as I don’t think we had enough meals in each day to cover them all.  However, we did pay the Applecross Inn frequent visits and had a lovely lunch at the Shieldaig Bar and Coastal Kitchen where we were very pleased to see Clootie dumping with Drambuie custard on the menu.  I don’t think it surpassed the sticky toffee pudding from the Applecross Inn though- Sweet spongy syrupy magic in a bowl.

In between all this eating and occasional moderate/minimal exercise, we also did a good job of working our way through our very special bottles of whisky from Tam’s Drams in front of the stove, not to mention a good few more on offer behind the bar at the Applecross Inn.

Does this all sound very indulgent?  It was!  …..Most pleasing

Ahhhh, if only it could have gone on forever. I fully intend on moving to Applecross and when I do this will be doing every day.   I also intend on winning the lottery to fund such activities and maybe to invest some sort of cholesterol and calorie burning device.  On a tangent, we did befriend a lovely chap, we shall refer to as Santa, and I came close to negotiating the purchase of a caravan from him once he had finished building his new house and had moved out of said caravan.  I really believe I could have been spending many a happy weekend stuffed into Santa’s wee caravan in the middle of nowhere, full of squats and prawns and whisky….if only we had one more round of drinks to finalise the deal.  However, I was swiftly removed from my bar stool and promptly marched home under the light of the super moon, safely away from the temptation to trade the family jewels for a tin can on wheels….It would have been nice though!

Anyway, it all had to end at some point, so we finished our visit with a grand finale at the Applecross Inn where we had our last prawny supper, a lovely bottle of red (connoisseurs choice, no less) and many many whiskies to fuel our final journey home through the creepy woods, made slightly less creepy by our raised alcohol levels.  On Saturday we made a pit stop at Roddy’s butchers where the London collective bought the remaining stock of smoked fish to take home and we purchased a half cow half venison sausage monster, followed by a quick visit to the Carron Pottery where many tea towels and sheep skin slippers were adopted.  I am pleased to report they are now living happily with their new family in London.

I had a fabulous week and I’m glad everyone else had just as nice a time.  We all plan on a return visit soon, very soon.

Watch out prawns!

In the mean time here is the best of the rest…

All quiet on the Western Front

Cold subsided, trains running, rain finally stopped, waistline expanding.  Exactly as things should be in early February.

With no major plans afoot other than some dogsitting this weekend, there is not much to report other that what I’ve eaten for my tea.  See below for my magical winter warming caraway and cumin spiced parsnip soup and chunky beefy curry with caraway rice (I love caraway seeds).  I have also attached pictures of other random things that have made me smile this week, including my dozy cat, our local pub dog enjoying the stove and the first sunset I have seen in ages.

Culinary cure for colds

I appear to have developed man flu.  I have been working on a cure…

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First of all, the most delicious wine ever.  Honestly, this stuff is fruity juicy loveliness in a glass.  It’s normally about £9 a bottle but currently on offer in Morrison’s at about half that.  Stock up now!  Next stop, a steaming mountain of rich and heavenly smoked haddock and mustard cream bean stew with spinach.  My lovely husband channelled our food God, Nigel Slater, to create this dish and it was amazing.  It’s tastiness was off the scale.  Despite it’s cold curing abilities (although, this is probably the reason it was so effective), it’s fat and calorie content is through the roof.  I consumed the lot before I realised how I may have just reduced my life expectancy by a day or two.  It should come with a public health warning.  Having already done the damage, I thought there was really no point in stopping there so I reclined on the sofa with a toasty, boozy and creamy Gaelic coffee to help complete the healing process. Ahhhh.  This worked wonders.  Finally, feeling slightly closer to human, I had a cheeky wee Cuba Libre as a digestif.  Havana Club with four fat wedges of lime squished over ice and topped with full fat cola.

Today I am functioning at about 90%.  A definite improvement.  Magic.