Notes about Recipes in this book

• Cock-a-leekie [soup]

  • rmardel on March 22, 2025

    This soup is delicious! I used a 3 pound chicken and actually made the broth and cooked the chicken the day before finishing the soup. Not intentionally but something came up. I then used the chicken fat that I skimmed off the top of the soup to sauté the onions rather than the oil specified. I somehow that would be in keeping with historical practice. The soup does have a light clear broth that is very flavorful and the other ingredients are well balanced. Will make again.

• Cullen skink

  • rmardel on February 26, 2025

    This soup is delicious: rich, creamy, smokey, and satisfying. It is also very simple. I have various recipes for Cullen Skink in my collection and in many ways this is the most elemental, and, now that I've made it, I think nothing more is needed. Using the haddock trimmings to infuse their flavors into the milk while you do the rest of your prep is easy and yields big payoffs. The rest of the soup is easy peasy. The potatoes are not pureed into the soup, but some of the potato does dissolve into the milk, thickening the broth. My piece of haddock was 8 ounces rather than the 7 recommended in the recipe (200g) and I used it all. I thought it was perfect. This is not a soup for those who do not like smoked fish as it is distinctly smokey and filled with fish flavor. The only addition I would make would be perhaps a sprinkling of chives across the top when serving, but my chives are not yet up for the season.

• Carrot & cumin soup

  • rmardel on March 11, 2025

    A version of this soup was served in so many places I traveled on my last trip to Scotland, and it was always available as a gluten-free option, even at Simple soup and sandwich stops. Maclean's soup is not gluten free but he notes that it is easy enough to leave off the flour in order to make it so. Some places I had this it contained cream. With or without cream, or probably flour, this soup is easy and delicious and reminds me the flavors of Scotland.

• Smoked mackerel with beetroot & radish salad

  • rmardel on March 11, 2025

    Simple, fresh, and inviting salad.

• Arbroath smokie, cheddar & baby spinach pie

  • rmardel on March 12, 2025

    Oh my, this is wonderful! I couldn't get an arbroath smokie, although I tried, so I followed Maclean's suggestion to use smoked salmon. I had some hot smoked salmon in the fridge, and some smoked mackerel, but not not enough of either so I used both. I did have trouble with the pie crust as written, but I strike this up to the fact that used gluten free flour and my eggs were smaller than recommended. I can amend that in future. Delicious, with a rather complex and yet subtle blend of flavors. That could have partially been because I used two kinds of fish, but I think this would be wonderful with any kind of smoked fish. I almost always have smoked fish around, and this will become a regular repeat.

• Haggis & sweet potato sausage rolls

  • Beth891 on September 18, 2024

    Really tasty I made pretty much as recipe but swapped a small red onion for the shallots. They are a great way to use up leftover haggis:)

• Smoked haddock kedgeree

  • rmardel on March 09, 2025

    Delicious! I'm glad I tried this but it doesn't work for me as a breakfast dish, even though that is traditional. I didn't think the eggs added anything much, nor really the herbs. I wanted something that played off the smokiness of the dish more. I would absolutely serve this as a side dish however. Updated to add that it is obviously not traditional but I love this cooked and served in the style of congee with an egg, and possibly crumbled seaweed gim, which offsets the smokiness of the haddock perfectly.

• Pan-seared loin of venison with raw-spiced cauliflower, brambles & game chips

  • rmardel on March 17, 2025

    This is very good, but not something I would make frequently. The hazelnut crumble and the raw cauliflower component can be made in advance, and I did so. The technique for the caramelized cauliflower was interesting and although I initially thought the cauliflower was cooked to a softer consistency than I prefer, it was quite good. The long cook is necessary to get the browning, and the resulting cauliflower, although soft, has a rich custardy caramelized flavor. Surprisingly it holds together. Each of the components was interesting on its own, but together, in a bite containing all the components, the flavors melded and sang. The dish would be lovely for a special occasion.

• Warm wood pigeon with black pudding salad

  • rmardel on March 22, 2025

    It is the lentil and black pudding salad that really shines here. I would happily just eat a plate of the salad. I used morcilla, as I have access to that, instead of Scottish black pudding. I'm sure black pudding would be delicious and I do intend to make it someday. The salad works well with the wood pigeon also but I would absolutely make the salad again, even without the wood pigeon, as wood pigeon is difficult to find where I live. As to the wood pigeon itself, I don't know if my wood pigeon is simply smaller than those found in Great Britain, where I think they are more common, but the whole breast (two halves) weighed in at just over 4 ounces and cooked in far less time than specified in the recipe. Something to be aware of.

• Broccoli, blue cheese & brambles

  • rmardel on March 18, 2025

    Delicious salad with a wonderful combination of textures and flavors that feels simultaneously fresh and complex. Use only the tender broccoli stems, and remember to slice them very thinly. If they are not too thick they absorb the pickling liquid nicely and perfectly offset the richness of the cheese and the saltiness of the capers. In fact all the ingredients play together very nicely here. Worth repeating, and the broccoli can be prepared in advance meaning that the salad can be pulled together quickly at the last minute. Even the broccoli prep only takes a few minutes. Outstanding flavor for little effort.