Inverness Gingerbread

 

This is the most thickest gingerbread I have made so far. It's vintage and is made with no eggs or baking powder. As vintage... or retro recipes go, it works as it makes an old-fashioned rich dark gingerbread. 

Inverness Gingerbread

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1 cup rolled oats

3 cups all purpose flour, sifted

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups dark molasses

1/2 cup candied lemon peel, minced

4 tablespoons grated fresh green ginger or 2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/4 cup cream

Measure the oats, and then grind them, or run them very briefly in an electric blender. Cream the butter until light and fluffy, then blend in the molasses. Mix in the flour, oats, lemon peel, and ginger. Last, stir in the cream. Bake in a greased and floured 9 x 14 inch pan at 350ºF (180ºC) for about 45 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.  

Notes: I did add a bit more cream, about another 1/4 cup,  then the recipe called for, so equalling about 1/2 cup cream. Ovens vary therefore baking times may vary. 

Scottish Recipe Booklets

 

Charming and quaint as these recipe booklets are with their reproduced artwork and simplified one page recipes, an easy tourist attraction on a turnstile memento, they do offer up some wonderful traditional sample recipes to dive into. Just under fifty pages and approximately seventy-five titles available in the series making them a holiday token to gather and share. I have collected quite a few of these over the years. I know they may seem kitschy however I do seek them out and adore them all the same as a keepsake of my travels and I do reference and enjoy trying the recipes when possible. 

The recipe, Collops of Beef, is from the Favourite Scottish Recipes booklet and is traditionally served on Burns Night, January 25th.

Collops of Beef

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Serves 4

1 1/2 lb. piece of braising steak, sliced into 4 

1 onion, chopped

6 oz. mushrooms, sliced

2 tablespoons flour

2 oz. butter

salt and freshly ground pepper

Bay leaf (optional)

3/4 pint beef stock

Set oven to 350ºF (180ºC) or Mark 4.

Mix the flour with the salt and pepper. Coat the beef slices with seasoned flour. Melt the butter in a frying pan. Fry the collops for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside. Gently fry the onion and the mushrooms. Put the onion and mushrooms and a bayleaf (if desired) into the casserole. Lay the collops on top. Pour in the stock, cover and cook for 1 and 1/2 hours. Serve with buttered mashed potatoes and a green vegetable. Rowan or red currant jelly goes well with this dish. 

Nova Scotia Oatcakes ~ Robert Burns Day

 

These rectangular oatcakes, pictured top left, are popular throughout the maritime provinces in Canada and are a salute to the regions Scottish roots. While I tried to stick close to the recipe I did add a teaspoon on British mixed spice and a teaspoon of ground flax seeds. With or without those subtle additions they are substantial enough to keep you going and are welcomed any time and perfect with tea or coffee or just a wee bit of whisky.    

Nova Scotia Oatcakes

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2 cups oatmeal

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, room temperature or vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Dissolve baking soda in boiling water (add a little more water if needed)

In a large bowl combine the oatmeal, flour, brown sugar and salt with butter, I used my clean hands to blend them together, then add the dissolved baking soda and add a bit more boiling water, if necessary, to form the dough. 

Mold into a ball, then press it out on to the prepared baking sheet, all the while forming it into a rectangle with your clean hands and gently using a rolling pin to help make it about 1/4 inch thick.

Cover and chill in the refrigerator on the baking sheet for 10 to 15 minutes to firm up the dough, then remove and using a butter knife score the oatcakes down the middle and across, don't completely cut them, to make 8 to 10 squares. You will use these lines to make clean cuts after it is done baking. 

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are golden brown. They should be crisp and crunchy, not chewy.

Separate the cakes along the score lines with a thin sharp knife and then allow to cool. 

Food Photo of the Day ~ Scottish Oatcakes

 

Made two different kinds of oatcakes for tonight in celebration of Robert Burns Day. The rectangular oatcakes are more of a new recipe, which I will post about later, where as the circular oatcakes are a more traditional Midlothian recipe. Either are delicious and would go well with a wee dram of whisky to toast Scottish poet, Robert Burns. From the Highlands and to the Lowlands, Happy Robert Burns Day! - JD   

Robert Burns Night Dinner ~ Slow Cooker Cock-a-Leekie Soup

A lovely soup to warm the cockles of one's heart and remember the late poet, Robert Burns. 

"But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower, it's bloom is shed;
Or, like the snow-fall in the river,
A moment white, then melts forever."

- Robert Burns, Tam O'Shanter 


Slow Cooker Cock-a-Leekie Soup

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4  boneless skinless chicken breasts

3 leeks, washed and sliced

3 - 5 carrots, chopped

1/3 cup barley

1 onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried thyme or fresh springs
salt and pepper to taste
2 boxes (900ml each box) low sodium chicken broth

1 shot of Scotch whisky
dried prunes, diced 
3 to 4 julienne slices of lemon peel - optional

Place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker. Add the leeks, carrots, barley, onion, bay leaf, thyme and prunes to slow cooker. Pour the chicken broth over all the ingredients. Add the whisky, prunes and lemon peel. Cook on high for 5 to 6 hours or low for 7 to 8 hours. When done, remove the chicken breasts and shred each one. Return the meat back to the soup. Serve with oatcakes or a rustic bread. 

Notes: You may placed the diced prunes on top when serving rather than in the soup.

Drop Bannock

Scottish poet Robert Burns proclaimed "Oatcakes are a delicate relish, When eaten warm with ale." They are also quite lovely when eaten with whisky too. However if you have neither; then bannock are quite satisfying with a bit of butter and a spot of jam. This recipe, predominately made with oatmeal, therefore I did have some trepidation, due to making bannock with flour previously, turned out wonderfully. Simplistic and more pancake like however undeniable delectable and moreish.

Drop Bannock

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1 egg 

1 pint of milk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

oatmeal as required

Beat the egg. Stir in milk. Stir in soda, salt, and enough oatmeal to make a droppable batter. Pour into a jug. Rub a frying pan with some butter. Warm the pan over medium high heat. Pour the batter into small rounds; You may also drop the batter from a serving spoon, if you wish. Heat until bubbles form on top or the bottom is nicely brown, then turn and brown the other side; as you would with pancakes. 

Notes: I added 1/2 teaspoon of British mixed spice, for a bit of flavour. 

  

Midlothian Oatcakes

This morning I made oatcakes and after tasting them I will never buy another prepackaged oatcake again! This evening I will serve them with a blue Stilton cheese and or a Whisky Cheddar cheese. A glass of Scotch will accompany the oatcakes nicely as we toast poet Robert Burns. How are you celebrating Robert Burns Day?