Instead of buying a whole, traditional haggis, this time I bought a 200g section of a "haggis pudding", packed like a black pudding in a plastic skin. This suited my purposes perfectly. I divided the haggis in two, and pressed each portion into a big, flat portobello mushroom and roasted it in the oven until the mushroom juices were flowing and the edges of the haggis were crisp but not too dry.
I served it with bashed neeps (mashed turnips - which are what we Southerners call swedes) flavoured with a little butter and a lot of nutmeg, broccolini and a whiskey sauce. The whiskey sauce is a bit contentious; apparently only tourists would eat haggis with a whiskey sauce. Well, sometimes I am a tourist, and the sauce tasted good so I am not ashamed.
Whiskey Sauce for haggis (or steak or chicken)
1 tsp butter
1 shallot, finely diced
1/4 cup whiskey
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2tbs double cream
Melt the butter and add the diced shallot. Saute until transparent. Add the whiskey and allow to reduce by half. Whisk in the mustard and cream. Do not allow to boil again.
Since we were already doing an "occasional treat" meal, I also made a dessert. Now, I found a couple of recipes for something called Edinburgh Fog - basically amaretti biscuits with boozy cream - and I decided to make it into a Scottish-influenced version of Eton Mess (broken meringues, strawberries and whipped cream) .
Fettes Mess (serves 2)1/2 cup amaretti biscuits, broken into pieces
2 tbs whiskey
1 tbs honey
1 cup raspberries (fresh Scottish ones in summer - these were frozen)
1/2 cup double cream
Whip the cream to soft peaks, fold in the other ingredients and divide between 2 glasses. Allow to chill for a couple of hours before serving.
16 comments:
Whisky (Scotch) or Whiskey (Irish or other). It matters you know!
Love the idea of stuffing haggis into mushrooms. have at least 3 haggis in the freezer so that may happen soon.
I'm jumping on the Follow wagon. I can't resist a good food blog :)
Jude - oh god. how did that slip through? Mea culpa! Although I could say that you wouldn't use your good Scotch in cooking...
Cat - thanks for visiting!
Both courses look delicious. Did you use hard or soft Amaretti biscuits?
You are one adventurous eater, Foodycat. Think I'll pass on the haggis, but the Eton mess looked scrummy!
I went to a Robert Burns dinner in Duluth, MN one year & found the whiskey helped make the haggis taste better. My Scottish friend in SF hosted a big dinner this year & everyone there loved it.
Sue - they were soft ones.
Rachel - apparently the vegetarian haggis is very nice too!
Kat - apparently the ban was lifted this year so proper haggis was allowed into the USA. I've never had a bad one, but apparently the poor quality ones can be very unpleasant.
Upon reading the part where you said portabello mushrooms and haggis, I felt my salivary glands constrict... I could smell the aroma while you're cooking it... I wish I could try my hand in cooking haggis too!
*Ignoring the haggis..*
Lovely dessert! Since I skipped the haggis I will have two glasses, please. :)
I didn't realise that haggis had so many calories, though I have never had it, that sounds great and the whiskey sauce sounds wonderful too. I love turnips, next time I have them I will be sure to add nutmeg, that sounds like a great addition.
I might go straight to the dessert on this one--it looks wonderful!
How do you split a haggis? Hmm, I'm sure there's a cracking good punchline there but I'm too awed by your sense of adventure to think of one right now. Many kilojoules in the haggis but I assume lots of protein, iron, zinc and other nutrients to balance it all out as an occasional meal (but you already know I'll just try the greens and dessert instead :-)).
Malou - they did import a few this year, so you might be lucky!
Natashya - of course you can. You can even have some neeps with the sauce, to taste.
HH - nutmeg is excellent with most vegetables.
Deb - I can't believe so many people are refusing my haggis!
Cranky - yes, it is very nutritious!
That whisky sauce sounds wonderful! I've only had haggis once, it wasn't bad, in fact I quite liked it, I still don't know that I'd seek it out again though.
I think haggis is "once per year" food at most.
My last taste was in about 2003. The last Scottish function was Men Only - a Douglas cousin ouyting and I didn't object.
Laura - no, if haggis wasn't very easily available, I wouldn't really worry either!
Mother - sometimes twice a year, because we'll eat it for St Andrew's Day too.
Post a Comment