Recipes
Cullen Skink - smoked haddock chowder
Recipe
Ingredients
4 to 6 servings
● 4 cups (950ml) whole milk
● 1 bay leaf
● 1 pound (450g) finnan haddie (Scottish smoked haddock), or homemade cold-smoked fish (see note) Purchased from Boston Smoked Fish Co. 3 lbs for 12 servings
● 2 tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter
● 1 medium (8-ounce; 225g) yellow onion, finely diced
● 1 pound (450g) Yukon gold potatoes, peel on or off as desired, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
● 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream
● Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
● Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
● Finely minced chives, for garnish
Directio
1. In a 3-quart saucepan, heat milk with bay leaf over medium heat until nearly simmering. Add fish and cook until just starting to flake. Using a slotted spoon, remove fish to paper towels to drain; set aside. Discard bay leaf. Transfer milk to heatproof mixing bowl or other container; set aside.
2. Wash saucepan and return to medium heat. Add butter and cook until melted. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until nicely softened but not browned, about 6 minutes.
3. Return milk to saucepan and add potatoes. Return milk to bare simmer. Then cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes; stir and scrape saucepan occasionally to prevent milk from scorching.
4. Using a potato masher or large wooden spoon, crush potatoes in pot until partially mashed. You want a good range of potato bits, some so small they thicken the broth but also larger chunks.
5. Remove and discard any skin or bones from fish; then flake into the soup. Add cream. Season with salt and pepper, and, if desired, stir in pinch of cayenne. Serve, sprinkling chives on top of each bowl.
Notes
Real finnan haddie is an incredible ingredient and it's worth tracking down, but you can also cold- smoke any lean white-fleshed fish (like haddock, cod, or halibut) at home, if you have the appropriate equipment. To do it, make a brine by dissolving 60g (~2 oz.) salt and 30g (~1 oz.) sugar, along with 2 bay leaves and 15 whole black peppercorns, in 500ml (~17 fl. oz.) water over high heat. Remove from heat and add an additional 1500ml (~51 fl. oz.) cold water (you could also add 500g (~17 oz.) ice to chill the brine rapidly). Make sure brine has cooled fully; then add fish (skin on or off, as desired), and let soak, refrigerated, for 1 hour. Remove fish from brine, set on a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet, and let stand at room temperature, uncovered, for 1 to 2 hours.
Transfer fish to refrigerator and leave, uncovered, for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours longer. Using a real cold-smoking rig, smoke fish following the smoker's instructions with cherry or other wood until deeply smoked, about 4 hours. Alternatively, put fish in a zipper-lock bag, and, using a smoking gun, inflate bag with smoke. Seal, then refrigerate for 30 minutes. Add another blast of smoke to bag; then refrigerate again for 30 minutes. Repeat this process for a total of 5 or 6 smoking and resting cycles (or longer, if you want an even deeper smoke flavor). Then proceed with recipe as written.
Scottish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (260 g/9 oz) whole wheat flour (fine ground)
- 1 ¾ cups (260 g/9 oz) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons (28 g/1 oz) cold butter, cubed
- 1 large egg
- 1 ⅔ cups (13 fl oz/370 ml) buttermilk*
- 1 tablespoons rolled oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (215°C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
- Mix together the flours, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles course bread crumbs.
- In a separate jug, whisk the egg and buttermilk together (see note on how to make Buttermilk below)
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid, hold a little back.
- Using an open hand bring the flour and liquid together to a loose dough. The dough should be quite soft, but not too sticky. You will know then if it needs more of the liquids. (Flour in different places reacts differently to added liquid).
- Turn onto a floured work surface and gently bring the dough together into a round, about 1 1/2 inches (4cm) thick and 8 inches by 8 inches.
- Place on the baking sheet and score the bread by blessing it with a deep cross on top (see video). Poke a hole in the 4 corners of the bread to release the fairies and stop them from cursing your beautiful bread.
- Glaze the bread with the leftover bit of buttermilk in your jug and scatter the oats on top.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 400°F (200°C) and bake for 30 minutes more. When done, the loaf will sound slightly hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from the baking sheet and place on a wire rack to cool.
- Once cooled, slice the bread and enjoy with butter. Store leftovers covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Buttered Leeks
Neeps and Tatties
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Ingredients
Sticky Toffee Sauce
- 1/4 cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter
- optional - 1 tbsp Drambuie liqueur (or good quality whisky)
- 2 cups (16 ounces) whipping cream
- 1 cup, packed (6 ounces) dark brown sugar
Pudding
- 8 ounces Medjool dates, finely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups packed)
- 1 cup (8 ounces) boiling water
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup packed (6 ounces) golden brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cups (8 ounces) flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
Instructions
Oven temperature is 350°F (175°C) but don't preheat it yet.
Butter 8-inch-square pan (preferably not dark.)
- Mix flour and baking powder and set aside.
- Place chopped dates in small bowl, then pour 1 cup boiling water over the dates and let cool, about 1 hour.
- Now preheat the oven. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl to blend.
- Scrape sides of bowl often. Add 2 eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and scraping down the bowl.
- Add half of flour and baking powder and beat to blend.
- Next, add the remaining 2 eggs, one at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Continue scraping down sides of bowl, often.
- Now add the remaining flour and beat until blended.
- Combine instant coffee and baking soda in small bowl.
- Pour into date mixture, stirring to dissolve coffee granules. It will froth slightly.
- Add the date mixture to batter and mix well until evenly combined.
- Pour the batter into prepared pan. I have found that placing about 1 cup of batter, into another small pan works also. The cake doesn't rise as high, which means there is no need to level the top.
Bake the cake.
- Place on rimmed baking sheet and bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
Prepare the cake and make the sticky toffee sauce.
- Let the cake cool in the pan. After it has cooled, you can level off the top of the cake if necessary. Carefully remove the cake from the dish, then level and remove the top. I like using a cake leveler. Place the cake back into the pan. Poke holes all over the cake with a skewer or toothpick.
- Bring cream, brown sugar and butter to boil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer sauce until reduced to 1 3/4 cups (12 oz), stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. If adding the Drambuie, add it after taking the sauce off the heat.
- When cake is cool and caramel sauce is still warm, but not too hot, pour about half of the sauce over the cake. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate, without covering. After an hour or so, when the sauce has become firm, cover the dessert with cling film (once cool the plastic won't stick to it.)
- When serving, cut a piece and heat in microwave until the caramel melts; the dessert should be hot and steaming. Serve with the reserved, warm sticky toffee sauce and freshly whipped cream.
Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Directions
- Gather all ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- Beat butter and brown sugar together until smooth and creamy.
- Add 3 to 3 3/4 cups flour; mix well.
- Sprinkle board with remaining flour. Knead for 5 minutes, adding enough flour to make a soft dough.
- Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into 3x1-inch strips.
- Prick shortbread cookies with a fork and place on ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake in the preheated oven until edges are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet briefly before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.