The UK – Scotland: Beaujolais Beef, Champit Tatties with Skirlie & Whisky Cream Cauliflower Cheese

The UK is a constitutional monarchy of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK has many food traditions & we decided to cook a  Scottish meal. My aim is to cook a meal from  every independent country in the World. So my blog challenge for this meal was to cook a meal from the United Kingdom (UK). I have chose to cook a dinner from Scotland as my  UK meal – sorry to the many other awesome & unique food styles originating in the UK; I wish I could have cooked your food too! Scotland has a wonderfully romantic & interesting culinary history with strong Renaissance linkages to France and I could really see that influence in the food I chose to cook. 

Our experience of Scottish food was made all the more interesting by the fact we were hit by a sever weather bomb of rain, wind & an electrical black out shortly after I began to cook so the majority of the dinner had to be cooked outside on gas BBQ/oven & dinner was completely candle-lit. I had the most amazing experience cooking this food outdoors in a storm; with my hair flying in the wind & the food sizzling under a real flame I got a sense of what cooking must have been like for my Scottish great great Grandmothers!

Our Scottish Menu included

  Beaujolais Beef, 
Champit Tatties with Skirlie 
& 

                                                 Whisky Cream Cauliflower Cheese

WOW FACTOR: The Skirlie. You could make Skirlie & sprinkle it on many things. Everyone said it was a highlight of the dinner & I was completely surprised by how fabulous the Skirlie was!

BEAUJOLAIS BEEF

INGREDIENTS:

·      150g (5 oz) lean bacon – trimmed & sliced into

·       8 small, young onions – cleaned & peeled

·      400g (14oz or two cups) button mushrooms, peeled & sliced

·      I tbs butter

·      1 teaspoon sugar

·      2 bay leaves

·      1½ kg  (3lb) stewing steak, cut in 4cm cubes

·      4 tablespoons oil

·      5 cloves of garlic, crushed

·      4 tablespoons flour

·      1 bottle of Beaujolais (or fruity young claret/Burgundy) – use a good table wine of drinking quality – if you can afford to,  don’t use cheap wine as the wine is the central flavour for this dish; a good wine will give the dish a rich fruity flavour

·      Salt and freshly milled black pepper

·      Bunch of fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano/marjoram & parsley stems) tied together with cooking twine

METHOD:

1.    Preheat the oven to 150C / 300F / Gas Mark 2

2.    Heat the oil & a  ½ tsp salt into an oven proof  enamel casserole / Dutch oven  and brown the cubes of meat in the hot oil stirring to ensure all sides of the meat are browned (about 10 mins).

3.    Add the garlic and sprinkle the flour over the meat

4.    stir with a wooden spoon to mix the flour evenly through the meat so that no lumps of flour remain

5.    Place in the oven uncovered for 15 minutes to continue the browning process, removing twice to stir (after 5 minutes & after 10 mins), to ensure the meat is evenly browning &  the sauce is smooth

6.    After 15 mins remove the dish from the oven again & stir well

7.    Add wine, light seasoning (I used a little salt & sprinkle of pepper), and bunch of herbs.

8.    Bring the dish back to a simmer on top of the stove, cover and return to the oven (in total the beef will be in the oven for 3 hours).

9.    After the meat is placed back in the oven  fry the bacon & butter in a pan until the bacon is lightly brown.

10.  Add the onions to the bacon and gently cook uncovered until outsides of onions begin to brown - about ten minutes.

11.  Now add the mushrooms, sugar & bay leaf stir, and cook gently until the mushrooms are just brown

12.         When the beef has been cooking for one hour take it out of the oven give it a good stir then stir in the bacon mix making sure the onions are evenly distributed through the pan & not too near the sides to prevent them from burning onto the sides of the pan.

13.         Return the covered pan to the oven & cook for a further 2 hours

14.          When the beef is done  spoon it into a dish suitable to be served on the table

15.          If you  drink wine serve this dish with a bottle of  the same Beaujolais you used to cook the beef, that way the flavours are layered & highly compatible

This recipe was adapted from an original sourced from:

http://www.rampantscotland.com/recipes/blrecipe_beefclaret.htm

  

CHAMPIT TATTIES WITH SKIRLIE

·      INGREDIENTS:

·      4 heaped tbs  butter, divided

·      1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

·       1 ½ kg (3 lbs) potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (choose potatoes for mashing)

·      3 tbs oatmeal (or whole rolled porridge oats)

·      ½ tsp nutmeg

·      210 ml (7 fluid ounces) milk

·      1 tablespoon fresh parsley, roughly chopped

·      salt & freshly ground black pepper

METHOD:

1.     Put the potatoes for the Champit Tatties in a large pan of salted water, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes until they are tender.

1.     While the potatoes are boiling make the Skirlie:

2.     Melt 2tbs of butter in a medium frying pan, add the onion and fry very gently for 15 minutes until soft and browned, stirring occasionally.

3.     When the onions are cooked, mix in the oats, increase the heat slightly and fry, stirring often, until oats & onion are well toasted and golden

4.     remove from heat and season with nutmeg, parsley, salt and pepper: set aside.

5.     Towards the end of the cooking time for the potatoes, heat the milk over a low heat (don't boil it) & drop the remaining 2tbs butter into the milk so it melts.

6.     Drain the potatoes and mash them well, then slowly beat in the hot milk and butter

7.     Add more salt & pepper to the Tatties if you think they need it then spoon the Tatties into a warm serving dish.

8.     Sprinkle the Skirlie over the Tatties & then serve

Recipe adapted from original soured from:

http://www.food.com/recipe/champit-tatties-with-skirlie-134878

 WHISKY CREAM CAULIFLOWER CHEESE

    INGREDIENTS:

·      One medium cauliflower – cut into florets

·      185g (6 ounces) mushrooms - finely chopped

·      ½ green pepper/capsicum - finely chopped

·      300ml (1 ¼ cups) double cream

·      120 gm (4 ounces) grated cheddar cheese - Use quality flavoursome cheese

·      50 ml (2tbs)  Scotch whisky

·      2 tbs fine oatmeal

·      Pinch of nutmeg

·      Salt and pepper

·      3 tbs  almonds - chopped

METHOD:

1.    Drop the cauliflower florets into boiling salted water & cook until just blanched – about 3 minutes

2.    Drain and mixed cauliflower in with the chopped mushrooms and green peppers then place this mix into a buttered ovenproof dish

3.    Heat the cream gently in a small pan, add the cheese, stirring frequently.

4.    When the cheese has  melted, remove from the heat and mix in the whisky and oatmeal

5.    Add salt and pepper to taste and the pinch of nutmeg.

6.    Pour the whisky cream over the cauliflower and sprinkle the chopped nuts on top

7.    Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for 45 minutes.

8.    Serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from original sourced from:

http://www.rampantscotland.com/recipes/blrecipe_cauliflower.htm