Burn's night supper

… also known as, haggis neeps and tatties, with a whisky sauce.

The haggis was from Bracewell's butchers in Todmorden market hall - and is the best haggis I have ever tasted.

All ingredients from Tod market - except the whisky, which came out of the cupboard.

Haggis
Potatoes
Swede
Double cream
Butter
Black pepper
Whisky

1.  Cook haggis - I boiled ours for an hour.
2.  Peel and chop potatoes and swede, boil until cooked, then mash with plenty of butter and black pepper.  Transfer to an oven dish and bake while the haggis finishes.
3.  Simmer double cream, whisk in a splosh of whisky and simmer again for a couple of minutes, whisking occasionally.  This allows the alcohol to evaporate, but retains the flavour of the whisky.
4.  Serve, scoff … pipe Scottish tunes.
5.  Raise a wee dram to the timorous beastie.

Beetroot and carrot burgers

Meat free Monday - today we had beetroot and carrot burgers - and the veg dodger had seconds!

This could be made vegan by omitting the cheese - but the melting saltiness is really nice in the middle of the burger.  It could be replaced by a few cashew nuts for a bit of crunch and flavour.

Onion
Beetroots
Carrots
Porridge oats
Olive oil
Cheddar
Garlic
Courgettes
New potatoes

1.  Grate the onion, beetroot and carrots - mix well together.  Add a big handful of porridge oats, plenty of salt and pepper and a good splosh of olive oil.  Mix together again.
2.  Cut cheddar into small cubes.
3.  Put potatoes on to boil.
4.  Finely chop garlic, chop courgettes into cubes.
5.  Make the burgers, packing cheese into the middle - I used rings to pack them onto the pan, but you can shape them by hand by moulding around the cheese, fry them at a medium heat, in olive oil for about 5 minutes on each side.
6.  Fry the courgette and garlic in olive oil in another pan - keep tossing around so that all sides get cooked.
7.  Serve, scoff … have seconds - you'll be surprised how tasty they are.

Paella (well, an easy version)

Easy, quick and extremely tasty - this version of the Spanish classic can be on the table in 30 minutes.  All ingredients available from Todmorden Market (Paul's fresh fish, The Mediterranean  Pantry and the vegetables from Kevin).

Olive oil
Shallots
Celery
Red pepper
Tomato puree
Paella rice
Saffron
Smoked paprika
Vegetable stock (from bouillon)
Tomatoes
Prawns
peas

1.  Finely chop shallots, a stick of celery and a red pepper.  Sautee in olive oil until nearly soft.
2.   Add a good dollop of tomato puree, a pinch of saffron and stir in.
3.  Add a big handful of paella rice and stir in until every grain is coated in oil.   Add a mugful of stock.
4.  Add a pinch of saffron and a teaspoon of paprika and stir in.  Add grated tomatoes (or a tin) and more stock and leave to simmer.
5.  Simmer for about 15 minutes, checking that it's not going too dry.
6.  Taste the rice - when it is the tiniest bit "chalky" on the inside add the prawns and peas - probably more stock as well, just to finish off.
7.  When the juice has pretty much been absorbed turn the heat off under the pan, and let it sit for a couple of minutes to absorb the rest (it should sit as a spoonful and not leak juice into a puddle when it's served).
8.  Serve, scoff …. have seconds - be chastised for nicking prawns without the accompanying rice (I only pinched one!)

Leftovers pies ...

I don't know about you, but we always overstock for Christmas … so today was about using as much as poss of the leftovers from the festivities, to make way for the new veg box etc tomorrow.

I didn't want to just resort to big bowls of "whatever" as it was also first week back at work and very cold, so some comfort was needed.

We had left over roast chicken and roast potatoes … the ends of two punnets of mushrooms (chestnut and shitake), a bag of tarragon, and some emmental.  We also had the veg dodger and the veggie, so needed tasty food to suit all needs.

Olive oil
Onions
Garlic
Mushrooms
Cornflour
Soya milk
Tarragon
Chicken (cooked and stripped)
Butter beans (tin)
Emmental (or other melty cheese)
Roast (or cooked another way) potatoes
Carrots
Courgettes
Cornmeal
Italian seasoning (herbs and a pinch of chili)
Fennel seeds
Baby Spinach
nutmeg

1.  Start the pies with the mushroom sauce which will go into both of them by sauteeing the chopped onions, crushed garlic and chopped mushrooms in olive oil.  Toss gently until the onions have softened and the mushrooms have released their water, and this has gently simmered away.
2.  Sprinkle in a tablespoonful of cornflour, stir in to coat the mushrooms, then add soya milk to make a sauce.  Stir until it boils, keep stirring and let it simmer for a minute or two as the cornflour cooks and the sauce thickens, stir in finely chopped tarragon (not too much, or it will taste medicinal).
3.  In one oven dish - empty a tin of drained and rinsed butter beans - top with half of the mushroom sauce.  Layer on emmental cheese.
4.  Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and add to the other half of the mushroom sauce.  Mix together and transfer to an oven dish.
5.  Top both pies with sliced, cooked potato (or mash if that's what you have) … drizzle with olive oil and bake for 25 minutes or so.
6.  Mix together cornmeal, Italian seasoning and fennel seeds in a bowl.  Slice courgettes and toss in the herby mixture.
7.  Peel, chop and steam the carrots for about 15 minutes.
8.  Fry the courgette slices in a little olive oil - in batches - keep warm in a serving dish while you finish the rest.
9.  Add steamed carrots to the serving dish.
10.  Put a splash of olive oil and a small drop of water into the hot pan from steaming the carrots - add the baby spinach and put the lid on.  The residual heat will wilt the spinach.
11. Stir the spinach (put it over a low heat if necessary, to wilt it) … grate in a small pinch of nutmeg, stir in.
12.  Serve, scoff …

Vegetable frittata with roasted baby potatoes

Well Christmas cooking this year has not been well represented on KitchenFairies.  There are a number of reasons for this … KitchenFairies HQ had more then its normal number of keen cooks, so the meal prep was shared … and I don't have details of all recipes;  a number of us were struck by the lurgy, so were not on top our game; we were too greedy to wait for pics to dive into the delicious food which was put in front of us … ho hum, normal service will be resumed.

This recipe is a great one for using up all sorts of vegetables and cheese which are loitering in the fridge - and any cheese which is hanging about.  I used mainly cheddar, but also some nice soft French cheese (I have forgotten the name - it wasn't brie or camembert … but along those lines …) and a little feta.

Olive oil
Potatoes
Onions
Leeks
Garlic
Mushrooms
Red pepper
Courgette
Parsley (optional, or use a pinch of dried herbs)
Leftover cheese (see above)
Butter
Eggs
Cheddar - grated

1.  Toss the potatoes in olive oil and roast (at 180ish) for about an hour.
2.  Chop and sautee onion, leeks, garlic … in olive oil - add chopped mushrooms, pepper, courgette … and whatever else needs using up in olive oil, until almost done.  Turn of the heat.
3.  Stir bit sized chunks of leftover cheese into the mixture and top with a handful of baby spinach.  Leave to wilt.  Stir in gently after a minute or two.
4.  Butter an oven dish - transfer the veg into it when the spinach is nearly fully wilted.
5.  Whisk eggs (8 in this case) vigourously to get some air into them.  Pour onto the veg mixture - prod and shake to get the egg into all the gaps.  Top with grated cheddar and bake for about 30 minutes.
6.  Serve, scoff