Tuesday 24 January 2012

haggis and onion tart



Ingredients
500g of shortcrust pastry (shop bought or homemade - whichever you have time for!)
1 large onion sliced (or a couple of small ones)
900g haggis (or 2 x 1lb / 454g)

200ml chicken stock
2tbsp whiskey

2 egg whites

Method
heat a tbsp of groundnut oil in a frying pan.  Add the onions and cook over a medium heat for 5-8 minutes, until they are soft and clear.
Remove the haggis mix from its packing / bagging and slice it into smaller pieces.  Add this to the onions.
Pour the chicken stock and whiskey over the haggis and heat until hot through and the ingredients are combined.
Leave the mixture to one side to cool.

Roll out your shortcrust pastry to around 5mm thick and wide enough to place over a 23inch clip tin, or similar.  Roll out the pastry over the tin and gentle ease it into the tin.
Line the top of the pastry with parchment paper, fill with baking beads and place in the oven on Gas Mark 5 for 15 minutes.  Remove the pastry from the oven, remove the beads and brush the entire pastry base and sides with the egg whites, which should be lightly beaten before hand.  This seals the pastry.
Place the pastry case back in the oven for a further 10minutes, but without the parchments or the beads.

Remove the case from the oven and sit on a wire rack.  Spoon the haggis mixture into the pastry case and level over with a palette knife or spatula.

Leave to cool completely before serving.  Can be eaten cold or re-heated to warm.

Katie xx

  

Monday 23 January 2012

fair fa' your honest, sonsie face . . .

...great chieftain o' the puddin-race!

This week it is Burn's night, and I'm ready for it.  Got me haggis, got me neeps an' got me tatties.  I'll have a  proper Burns night supper on Wednesday, but I'd like to make something else too.   Last years Haggis sausage rolls went down extremely well at work and at home, but perhaps a wee Haggis Tart or pie this year.  Watch this space for the only commitment to a savoury dish I am willing to share on this blog; year in, year out.

'mon - Gie her a haggis!

Sunday 15 January 2012

bakers block

I haven't signed into my blog account for 10 weeks.  This, dear reader, is an unfamiliar and unexpected form of abstinence.  What makes this even more startling is that, for the same 10 week period, I haven't baked anything.  Nothing.  Not even a cheeky mince pie over Christmas.  My KitchenAid is clearly showing symptoms of depression and my cookery books are gathering dust.

Something has to change.

I spent today with a rather inspiring friend and together we will conquer the world, but until then, I have been motivated to head back into the Kitchen, don an overly flowery apron and re-aquiant myself with my baking station.  First step, as always, light the oven.  Done.

Over the past week or so I have been dragged out of an eight week long stress induced coma by the following;

Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill
The Postmodernism exhibition at the V&A
A third (and final) visit to the Richmond Pantomime
"you've got the hair of Simply Red"
An unexpected roast dinner at my local
Season 4 of House
Paul Simon - You can call me al

I fully appreciate that some of the above may mean nothing to you.  But they mean an awful lot to me.  Thank you to all those who had something to do with any of them (especially Paul Simon).

P.S I'm baking a reliable carrot cake but I promise to deliver some new recipes soon.  For now, I'm easing back into it all - bear with!

Katie xx