Food: Celebrate Scotland's national day with special feast

Published on Saturday 28 November 2009 10:02

IT'S Scotland's official national day on Monday and, across the globe, our very own patron saint will be celebrated throughout the weekend ahead of St Andrew's Day.

This year sees an extra special feast day of St Andrew as it also marks the end of the year of Homecoming, and events will be taking place across the Capital.

From a mass march of pipes and drums up the Royal Mile to the Castle Esplanade to a spectacular fireworks display from the Castle, St Andrew's Day is being done in style. With the winter parade taking place on Princes Street today to mark the beginning of the Capital's winter festivities, there's no better excuse to get together with friends and family over dinner to celebrate the best of Scotland.

For me, St Andrew's Day is synonymous with good food and even better whisky. Although cooking is my day job, it's a real pleasure to get together with friends on this special day and entertain, and St Andrew's Day is a great excuse for me to source some fantastic Scottish ingredients and cook a dinner full of homeland flavours.

A good hearty soup is such a Scottish dish – warming, comforting and filling. Cullen Skink is one of my favourites and to make a luxury version of the dish when entertaining is simple. Add smoked salmon and large Atlantic prawns to a basic version to make it extra special. This is just delicious when served with some crusty bread and Scottish butter.

Now is also the perfect time for pheasant, with shoots going on all over Scotland most weekends during the season. Get in touch with your butcher or farm shop to check availability and they should be able to prepare the bird for you the way you need it. Alternatively, opt for a premium supermarket such as Waitrose for your pheasant. It is a strongly flavoured bird and can really stand up to big, bold flavours. Think about making a stew with red wine and cinnamon.

Venison is also great at this time of year and is much healthier than beef. Venison steak can be matched well with redcurrants. Homemade game pie has a real wow factor, a nice crusty pie lid giving way to a beautiful, aromatic gravy inside. And you can't go wrong with braised shank of Borders lamb.

To end a perfect St Andrew's Day feast, try your hand at homemade clootie dumpling, a Scottish classic that invokes memories of Sunday lunch, or my recipe for the dessert Edinburgh Fog. Now all that's left to do is dig out a Proclaimers album and polish up your ceilidh dancing skills.

Peter Fleming is head chef at Hadrian's Brasserie, The Balmoral, www.thebalmoralhotel.com, 0131-556 2414.

RECIPES

Braised shank of Borders lamb served with leek mash, Celtic cabbage and Ayrshire bacon

(Serves four)

Ingredients

4 lamb shanks

Vegetable oil

Seasoning

4 peeled garlic cloves

2 sprigs of rosemary

2 bay leafs

Red wine

2 litres lamb stock

60g butter

Cornflour (optional)

Mash ingredients:

8 large potatoes, peeled and cut for boiling

Seasoning

Ground nutmeg

Double cream

1 leek, trimmed, cut and washed

100g butter

Celtic cabbage ingredients

1 Savoy cabbage

8 rashers Ayrshire bacon, cut into thin strips

Half litre chicken stock

120g butter

Seasoning

Method

For the lamb, heat pot with some vegetable oil and place in lamb shanks to seal off, season. Add garlic, rosemary, bay leaf and red wine. Reduce for a few minutes then add stock, bring to boil and reduce heat. Simmer gently for 2-3 hours or until meat is very tender – almost coming off the bone.

Remove shanks from the liquid and strain to remove herbs. Return to pot and gently bring back to the boil, skimming off any excess fat. Check sauce and thicken with cornflour if required. Finish by whisking in butter. Check seasoning.

For the mash, place potatoes in pot with salted water and boil until soft. Put pot on a moderate heat with 100g of butter and add leeks. Melt butter and sweat off leeks until soft. Season. Set aside until mash is ready. Drain water from potatoes and mash. Add seasoning, nutmeg, butter and cream. Mash together. Fold through the leek. Keep warm and set aside until ready to serve.

For the cabbage, trim outer leaves of cabbage, cut into quarters and remove the core. Shred cabbage very finely. Heat a large pot, adding all the ingredients for the cabbage. Bring to the boil and simmer gently. Stirring occasionally, cook until the cabbage is very soft. Keep warm and set aside until ready to plate up.

To serve use a deep, wide bowl. Arrange cabbage in the centre of the place. Add a portion of mash to each plate and place the lamb on top of the cabbage. Coat the lamb in the sauce and serve.

Edinburgh Fog

(Serves four)

Ingredients

250g of whipping cream

1 punnet fresh raspberries

1 heaped tablespoon of toasted pin head oatmeal

2 teaspoons of heather honey

1 tablespoon whisky

8 shortbread biscuits

Icing sugar

Method

Whisk the cream together with the honey and whisky. Fold in the toasted oatmeal. Arrange the raspberries in a wide glass or ramekin and spoon cream mix on top. Set on a side plate with shortbread and dust with icing sugar. Serve and enjoy.