SHORTBREAD

So this is the last installment of my scottish inspired menu.  I'm finishing with two sweet treats to go with coffee or for your guests to take home, shortbread and tablet.

Short bread I think is quintessentially scottish with it's buttery crispness. I've added some different flavours to these more because I can't stop myself rather than it needs it.

BASIC SHORT BREAD

170g Plain Flour
30g Semolina
50g Sugar
125g Butter

Caster Sugar for dusting

Combine the flour, semolina and sugar.  The semolina helps make you shortbread short.  Next rub in your butter.  Due to the quantity of butter it get very sticky so it will be easier to do this in a freestanding mixer.

It should now be coming together so remove it from the bowl and form it into a dough by hand.

Roll the dough out to the thickness you want your biscuits, they will not change during the bake, and cut out your shapes.  Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment and sprinkle with caster sugar.  Prick the tops with a fork and bake for 20-25 minutes at 170C

When they are baked to a light golden colour remove them from the oven and immediately sprinkle with caster sugar again.

Womersley Foods are producers of the most delicious vinegars, jellies and dressings made from home grown fruit and herbs inYorkshire since 1979.  I am totally in love with their products and actively seek out recipes I can add them to.

My round shortbread has 1 tbsp of Orange & Mace Dressing from Womersley along with 30g of Dark Chocolate Chips added to it.

The shortbread fingers have 1 tsp of Lavender Extract and 1 tbsp of Lavender Honey added to them.

You can add any of your favourite flavours, 1 tsp of Caraway seeds and Chocolate also work well or     1 tsp Almond Essence with a few chopped Glace Cherries always goes down well.

Tablet is a scottish version of fudge, crumblier than fudge but just as sugary and sweet.  My mother always made it for bonfire night and called it Helensburgh Candy.

2lbs Sugar
1/4lb Butter
1 Cup Milk
400g Tin Condensed Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Melt the sugar, butter and milk slowly in a heavy based pan.  If you melt it too quickly you will have a grainy texture. When it begins to boil add the condensed milk.  slowly bring it back to the boil stirring all the time.  Continue stirring while it boils till it starts to colour and the temperature reaches 240F.  It you don't have a sugar thermometer it takes about 15-20 minutes and you can test it by dropping a small amount into iced water.  If it sets immediately it's ready.

Remove the pan from the heat add the vanilla and beat till it cools.  You can do this in a freestanding mixer to save your arms.  Once it becomes thick and your mixer starts to struggle pour it into a 23cm x 17cm baking tray lined with parchment.  Be careful not to over beat as this will make it too crumbly.

Leave it to cool completely then cut into bite sized cubes. I know it sounds like a bit of a faff but it's not really and so worth it.

PASTY PIE

I always find making pie's a rather satisfying.  It's such a homely comforting thing to do and I get a real sense of achievement from doing it. This recipe is not a particularly christmassy one but it's good to have in reserve over the festive season.  You can make it ahead and have it in the freezer for those days when you've been too busy because you're out christmas shopping or hung over from the works doo and can't face having to think about what to cook.  It's great hot or cold so you could also have it as part of your boxing day splatter or in the summer on a picnic.

I've made one giant one here, in fact, I doubled up the recipe and made two so I'd have another in reserve.  You could of course make the more traditional individual pasties if you wanted.

Heat  the oven to 160c fan.  Make your pastry with 300g Plain Flour.  Rub in 100g Butter/Margarine and 50g white fat like Cookeen.  This gives you a shorter more crisp pastry.  When you have the bread crumb finish, add enough cold water to bring it together to a dough.  Tip in onto a floured surface and knead slightly till it's smooth.

Now line am 8/9" cake tin with the pastry leaving a bit of an over hanging edge.  When you add your filling the pastry will draw in slightly so leaving an overhang ensures you have enough for your crimping.  

Next prepare your filling.  Thinly slice 3 medium potatoes and 200g swede.  Slicing them thinly means they will cook with ease.   Season 500g steak mince with 1 tbsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp mace 1/2 tsp salt and add 1 large onion finely chopped.  Now layer your filling into the lined tin starting with 1/3 of the potato and swede then 1/3 of the meat.  Repeat the layers till all your filling is in.  To finish your pie, trim the overhanging edge and brush it with a little water.  Top the pie with a pastry lid,  pressing the edges together.  Give it a lovely crimp and any other embellishments you like, personally I can't resist a bit of lettering, then brush with beaten egg and make a couple of steam holes with a knife.

The pie should take about 1hr 30 mins to bake, individual pasties will be around 45mins.

FAGGOTS!

What is it about Faggots that you can't actually say them without an exclamation mark!  I first had them when I left home and had to fend for myself.  'Brains' Faggots they were and I thought they were made from brains hence the name, I'm not entirely convinced  they didn't mind you.  Anyhoo, my love of offal has not waned and I recently saw faggots selling in a butchers in Bath.  I'd not thought of making them myself before but I'm glad I did, they're de-lish, like a meatball only softer but not mushy like to aforementioned  faggot of the cerebral variety.

Now, you have 3 choices when it comes to mincing your offal (not very often you get to use that sentence!)  Get your butcher to do it, if you have a mincer do it yourself or just stick it in your food processor but be careful not to get it too mushy, you still want a bit of texture.

We had ours with onion gravy and squashed potatoes.  Squashed potatoes if you're interested are new or salad spuds, boiled then put in a roasting tin and 'squashed' slightly with a fork or masher.  You just want to crack them open a little. drizzle a little oil on and sprinkle with salt flakes and caraway seeds.  Roast these at the same time as the faggots.

• 1 Onion chopped finely
  220g Minced Pigs Liver
  3 Lambs Hearts Trimmed of fat and chopped into chunks
  400g Belly Pork Trimmed of fat and rind and chopped into chunks
  1/2 tsp Mace
  1 tsp Allspice
  30g Fresh Chives snipped
  15g Fresh Sage snipped
  1 egg
  130g Fresh Bread Crumbs
  Salt & Pepper
  
  
  GRAVY
  2 Red Onions
  2  Sprigs Fresh Thyme
  2 tbsp Oil
  3 tbsp Flour
  1 Glass Red Wine
  1 1/2 pt Fresh Stock
  1 tbsp Red Currant Jelly
  
  
  Basically everything goes in together and gets a good mix either in your mixer or by hand.  When it's all combined form it into balls, I made 24 using an ice cream scoop to measure even quantities.  Roll them lightly in your hand to form the shape and chill in the fridge for 1 hour to firm up a little.
  
  
  Once chilled, roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 170C.
  
  
  I made the gravy by roasting the onions chopped into chunks with the fresh thyme drizzled with oil. Cook for about 30 minutes then sprinkle with flour and stir it in till it coats the onion.  Put your pan on the hob and add a glass of red wine (I keep left overs in the freezer for things like this) heat it through till it starts to bubble, you want to cook off the alcohol but keep the flavour.  Now add your stock and the red currant jelly and stir till it thickens.
  
  
  Once the faggots are cooked, pour the gravy over them and return them to the oven for 10 minutes before serving..  
  
  

Enough for another day and in a foil tray just like 'Mr Brains'