Recipes: Tom Kitchin's St Andrew's day recipes

AS A chef born and brought up in Scotland, I'm fanatical about the Scottish seasons and rely on them to shape my cooking. Throughout the year, my menu is based around the very best produce available from our land and sea. It's a principle I use both in the restaurant and at home.

I work with local producers who are among the best in the country. Their passion and knowledge of their produce allows me to continue to experiment with ingredients and create new dishes as well as modern takes on classic recipes. Having said that, Scottish celebrations such as St Andrew's Day coming up later this month, and Burns Night, in January, offer a great excuse to celebrate Scottish food, its history and heritage. For me, it's a chance to have fun with traditional Scottish recipes and put my own modern twist on the much-loved national dishes.

I constantly search for new ways to develop dishes and incorporate them into my menus, so special occasions are an opportunity to experiment and come up with new ideas. I think the reason my cooking style is always evolving is because I never sit still. It's a great way to discover new dishes or tastes.

I remember the first time I appeared on BBC2's The Great British Menu, and made a wild boar breakfast - I had so much fun creating that dish. It was my own tongue-in-cheek re-invention of the classic Scottish breakfast, consisting of home-made boar cheek sausage, my crispy pig's ears, a fried quail's egg, home-made baked beans with special tomato chutney sauce and stuffed wild mushroom with mull cheddar.

For me, it was a way to showcase Scotland's finest produce to viewers, while making food fun. Ultimately, eating should be about enjoyment and I always want diners - and my friends and family for that matter - to be surprised and delighted by what they eat.

Burns Night is probably the most recognised of dates in the Scottish food calendar, when people across the world enjoy a traditional supper of cock-a-leekie soup, haggis, neeps and tatties and clootie dumpling. However, another important Scottish celebration - and reason to celebrate all that is great about our food - is St Andrew's Day.

St Andrew's Day brings together people from across the globe to celebrate the country's heritage, history, vibrant culture and, of course, our great Scottish larder. It is the perfect time to enjoy quality food and drink with friends and family. Scottish winter ingredients can be combined to create warming, wholesome dishes and it's another great opportunity to champion our fantastic wealth of produce to the rest of the world.

In our family, we're going to be making a bit more effort to celebrate our heritage this year and will be entertaining friends so I've had fun trying to create some celebratory dishes we can enjoy together.

The infamous Scotch egg is often given a bad name, as too many people have been put off by ready-made versions.Actually, made fresh, it can be truly delicious - great posh picnic food or a perfect party snack. If you're making them yourself, it's best to eat them warm as soon as you've cooked them, when the egg yolk is still runny.

For a true, rustic taste of Scotland, I add haggis to my version in place of pork. Haggis was once considered a poor man's dish made from leftovers and, while it certainly follows my principles of using absolutely every part of produce in cooking, it has also become a regular feature on many tables across the country. If you're too afraid to make your own haggis, make sure you buy a quality, spicy haggis from your local butcher.

It's easier than you think to make your own Scotch eggs and so much more satisfying. It's a great way to use up eggs if you have them in your fridge and makes a nice change from standard poached, fried or scrambled. I like to serve this as a Sunday snack and it's one that will definitely be on our menu this St Andrew's Day. n

HAGGIS, NEEPS AND TATTIES

Neeps and Tatties

1 turnip (neeps)

litre water

2 large handfuls caster sugar

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs thyme

6 black peppercorns

2-3 garlic cloves

salt to season

Method

Peel and slice the turnip thinly. Boil the remaining ingredients. Take the liquid off the heat and drop in the turnip. Leave to infuse for two to three hours, then remove from the liquid and cut into thin strips.

HAGGIS

1 haggis (whole)

3 egg yolks

100g flour

2 whole eggs

100g bread crumbs

Method

Heat a large pot of water and wrap the haggis in tin foil and place into the smoking water. Leave to cook slowly for two to three hours then remove. Slice open and remove the haggis from the bladder into a large bowl and mix with the egg yolks. Place on cling film and roll as a roulade two inches wide then leave in the fridge to chill. Once chilled, cut the haggis into one inch slices and remove the cling film. Meanwhile, set up three different containers - one with flour, one with whisked eggs and a little milk, and one with bread crumbs. Place the haggis first in the flour, then the egg mix and then the bread crumbs and set aside.

TATTIES

1 large potato

20ml clarified butter

salt to season

a Japanese mandolin is also required to slice the potato

Method

Peel the potatoes thinly on the mandolin. Mix with a little clarified butter and salt and squeeze gently into place in a non-stick frying pan. Shape into a circle two inches wide, cook on a gentle heat until crispy then set aside.

To serve

Pre-heat fryer to 180C. Place haggis in the fryer. Meanwhile place the strips of turnip on the bottom of a bowl. Remove the haggis from the fryer and place on tissue paper, salt lightly.Place the haggis and potato gallette on top and garnish with a fried quail's egg.

HAGGIS SCOTCH EGG

5 hard boiled eggs, with the shells removed

500g haggis, cooked

1 large raw egg

3oz approx of dry bread crumbs

small quantity of flour

pinch of mace, salt, freshly ground pepper

Method

Dust the hard boiled eggs in a little seasoned flour. Wrap/mould the haggis meat round the egg, making sure there are no gaps. Beat the egg and coat the meat-covered egg with this and then bread crumbs.

Deep fry in hot oil 185C, taking care as you put the eggs into the oil. Cook for about five or six minutes. If you don't have a deep fat fryer, they can be cooked in oil in a frying pan, turning frequently to ensure the meat is fully cooked.

Drain and serve hot.