Scottish Recipes

(Above image is a capture of Bramble and Apple Mousse)

The following have been sourced from a community fund raising book entitled ' Good things from Arisaig'. Arisaig is a coastal village in the Scottish Highlands, about 36 miles west of Fort William.

Smoked Fish Pate with Melba Toast

Ingredients

12 oz (340g) #kipper (undyed), smoked mackerel or smoked trout fillets.

3 oz (75g) soft butter

Freshly ground black pepper

Lemon Juice

3 oz (75g) cream cheese

2 tbsp chopped chives

To garnish-4 black olives.

(# A kipper is a whole herring, a small oily fish which has been split in a butterfly fashion from tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or pickled and cold-smoked over smouldering woodchips.)

Check that all the bones have been removed from the fish fillets. Mash the fillets in a bowl. In another bowl beat the butter until creamy, then beat in the cream cheese. Add the fish, season with pepper and stir in the chives. Add lemon juice to taste and beat well until smooth. Spoon the pate into 4 small ramekin dishes and garnish each with an olive. Serve with fingers of hot toast or melba toast.

To make melba toast, toast slices of medium-cut bread on both sides, then slit the toast in half horizontally. Place the bread toasted side down on a grill pan and toast under a high heat until crisp-watch carefully so that the toast does not burn.

Pork Tenderloin with Prune Stuffing

This is a good dinner-party main course as it can be kept warm in a low oven until ready to serve, and is easily carved into slices.

Ingredients

1 large pork tenderloin (i.e. a long fillet) about 1.5 lbs (675 g) or 2 smaller tenderloins.

4 rashers streaky bacon, de-rinded.

Salt

1 oz (25g) soft butter

Freshly ground black pepper.

For the stuffing:

1 oz (25g) butter

2 shallots or 4 large spring onions, finely chopped.

4 oz (100 g) ready-to-eat prunes, stones removed and chopped.

4 oz (100g) fresh white breadcrumbs

4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 egg

Half tsp dried thyme

Grated zest of 1 small lemon

2 tbsp cream

FOR THE GRAVY:

1 tbsp plain flour

Half pint (300 mls) cider.

Pre-heat the oven to 350F /180C/Gas 4

Split the tenderloin in half, leaving one long edge uncut. Open out the tenderloin like a book and place between two sheets of greaseproof paper. Beat lightly with a rolling pin. Season with salt and pepper.

Make the stuffing: melt the butter in a pan, add the shallot or onion and fry gently until softened but not coloured. Add the thyme and prunes and cook for 2 minutes. Tip the contents of the pan into a bowl and add the breadcrumbs, parsley and lemon zest. Beat the egg with the cream and use to bind the stuffing mixture. Season well with salt and pepper.

Spoon the mixture on to one half of the tenderloin and cover with the other half. Shape the stuffed tenderloin neatly, then spread with butter and season with salt and pepper. Wrap the bacon rashers round the tenderloin and tie with string at 1” (2.5cm) intervals and place in a buttered roasting tin. Roast in the top half of the oven for 1 hour then transfer to a heated serving dish and keep warm, removing the bacon. Make the gravy: stir the flour into the roasting juices, add the cider, salt and pepper and cook gently, stirring until thickened.  Carve the tenderloin into neat thick slices and serve with the gravy in a warmed sauce-boat and roast or croquette potatoes and steamed broccoli. A garnish of fried apple rings with a little rowan or redcurrant jelly spooned into the centres is a nice finishing touch.

Bramble & Apple Mousse

This is a light and refreshing mousse, ideal to make during the bramble/blackberry season. Frozen blackberries can also be successfully used.

Ingredients

1 lb (450g) Bramley apples)

1 lb (450g) blackberries, hulled, plus extra blackberries for decoration.

4 oz (100g) caster sugar

Half oz (15g) powdered gelatine

Quarter pint (150 mls) water

Juice of 1 lemon

2 egg whites.

Peel, core and slice the apples and place in a saucepan. Wash the blackberries and add to the pan with the water and 3oz/75g of the sugar. Simmer, covered, for about 15 mins or until the fruit is tender. While the fruit is cooking, sprinkle the gelatine over the lemon juice in a small bowl and leave until spongy.

Remove the cooked fruit from the heat and immediately stir in the soaked gelatine until dissolved. Puree the apple and blackberry mixture in a blender then pass through a sieve. Leave until the puree is cold and beginning to thicken. Whisk the egg whites to form stiff peaks, fold into the remaining sugar and whisk again until blended (do not overwhisk). Fold the egg whites into the blackberry and apple puree, pour into a pretty glass dish and chill overnight until set.

Decorate with fresh blackberries and serve with cream.

Small meringues sandwiched together with whipped cream go well with the blackberry mousse, as do ginger snaps filled with whipped cream.

Tip: Use the yolks from the 2 eggs to make mayonnaise.

Banana Tea Bread

Ingredients:

8 oz (225g) self-raising flour

1oz (25g) walnuts, coarsely chopped.

4 oz (110g) butter

6 oz (175g) caster sugar

4 oz (110g) sultanas or seedless raisins

4 oz (110g) glace cherries

Half level tsp salt

2 eggs

1 lb (450g) ripe bananas.

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing basin. Add the butter, cut into pieces, and rub into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly and the fat evenly distributed. Add the sugar, sultanas or seedless raisins, glace cherries, which have been rinsed under warm water to remove the outer sugar coating then patted dry and cut in half, and the walnuts. Mix together and hollow out the centre of the ingredients.

Crack the eggs into the middle, peel and mash the bananas with a fork and add to the eggs. Using a wooden spoon beat all the ingredients thoroughly to a soft consistency-no extra liquid will be required. Pour the mixture into a large buttered loaf tin lined with greaseproof paper. Spread the mixture evenly and place in the centre of a moderate oven (350F/180C/Gas 4) and bake for 90 minutes. Cool before removing from the tin, then serve sliced and buttered.

This bread keeps well and is even nicer after a day or so.

© Nigel P Cole/Catswhiskerstours Limited