This is an elegant little dish that would suit a celebratory dinner as well as a weekday meal. The side dish is an Italian classic, but we have switched out the olive oil and lemon juice that would usually moisten the dish and replaced it with 0% creme fraiche. The creaminess works really well against the iron of the spinach and the black pudding.
You could add another vegetable to the plate; the sweetness of butternut squash or carrots would work pretty well.
A warm salad is the ideal solution for a quick and easy supper that doesn’t break the bank, contains plenty of vegetables, and isn’t a stir fry. It can often be tempting to throw too much at a dish; a stir fry with every veg going, a salad ditto. Black pudding is a wonderful ingredient. Deeply flavoured, a little goes a long way. The apple lends that sweet yet sharp thing so unique to apple, whilst parsnip (the surprise ingredient here) adds a squashy texture and earthy depth.
This recipe highlights the versatility of black pudding with a major renovation of a classic brunch dish; kedgeree. Nothing has been removed but each ingredient shines with health and we have added more than a few extras to please your body and mind. Brown basmati rice takes the best of brown rice and basmati to give a finely textured and flavourful base. We have also added Puy lentils in to shake it up a bit.
A subtle twist on classic Burn’s Night ingredients makes use of the versatility of haggis to create an easy everyday supper dish.
Usually made with the leftovers from a Sunday roast but the concept of soft duck, mashed potato and greens fried to crisp perfection was just too hard to resist. Of course if you happen to have these leftovers hanging around then by all means go for it. We are guessing not, so here’s how to do it from scratch. The poached egg on the top is utterly non-negotiable; the runny yolk bathes the ingredients in creamy loveliness and a hen’s egg just doesn’t quite cut it; sorry hens.
If you are not sure about cooking venison then this is a really easy place to start. Mild in flavour, yet definitely recognisably venison, the meat of the wild Scottish roe deer deserves to be included in this, one of the most famed of all Scottish dishes. The aim here, was a kind of sliceable meat and potato pie. It is a fabulous one pot dish for supper, with bags more flavour because of the venison. The recipe makes enough for 4, but will do for two as it makes a great no brainer dish for supper the next day.
The meat of wild Scotch roe deer is mild yet full of flavour. Should you be new to venison, this is a great way to try it; familiar enough to stay well within steak territory, yet with a slight twist on flavour that suits the wild meat perfectly. If you can’t get chanterelles, use any mushroom available or simply leave them out.
A rich stew of venison meat, simmered with savoury beef stock and the sweetness of bramble jelly, forms the base of these individual pot pies. Shop bought puff pastry is far easier and even far better than most of us will ever make at home and even chefs consider it a perfectly standard ingredient. There is no need to thicken a stew with flour, a spoonful of tomato puree is all you need for a well-reduced gravy.
These festive sliders are ideal for Christmas entertaining and the wild Ayrshire venison gives them a lovely grown-up twist. So simple to make, and utterly delicious, you can make them as large or as small as you want; from full-size burger to bite-size slider. If you can find tiny bread buns to suit the purpose then cut out rounds using a pastry cutter, making sure that you twist as you cut to prevent the bread squashing down.
Potato, that can be bound in creamy sauce. Who knew? Clearly the Italians did, but it remains doubtful that they make their own by hand every time. This is how fast, off the shelf, food should be. It will literally stroke your soul until all is well with the world. And sing you a lullaby whilst doing it.
