Thursday 22 January 2015

Burn's Night

2015 is the year of Scottish Food and Drink which means that it’s a great year to be Scottish, contrary to Ewan McGregor’s belief in Trainspotting.

It’s also nearing Burn’s night so that means lots of food, drink and poetry, and so we’ve brought it upon ourselves to provide you with our favourite recipes for the perfect Burn’s night supper to give you an idea of what you can make.

Don’t worry about trying to find all of these ingredients because we stock them all at Mitchells!
What you’ll need
- 900g haggis (vegetarian or otherwise)
- 1kg Turnips
- 1 large carrot
- 1kg potatoes
- 100ml milk, warmed in the microwave
- 80g butter
- salt and pepper to taste

How to make it
1. Heat the haggis following the instructions, meanwhile peel the potatoes and turnips, then dice the turnips and carrot into 1cm cubes and cut the potatoes into quarters.
2. Gently boil the potatoes in a pan of salted water and the carrot and turnip in a separate pan of salted water for 20-25 minutes until soft.
3. Drain each pan separately and allow all the steam and moisture to evaporate. This will ensure creamy potatoes and turnips that are not watery.
4. To the potatoes, add 40g butter, the hot milk, salt and pepper to taste and mash well until creamy. To the turnips and carrots, add 40g butter, salt and pepper to taste and mash, retaining some texture.
5. Serve altogether with the hot haggis.

This recipe, using Macsween’s, Presly’s or Scotts’ haggis, will pay true homage to the “chieftain o the puddin’-race”, and you can purchase all of these ingredients in store for your Burns’ celebrations.
The most Scottish way to wash all of this food down is with a dram of malt whisky. We have an extensive range in stock at very keen prices including locally distilled Glen Garioch Founders Reserve (currently at £32.99) and their 12 Year old (on a special price of £37.99). If you are looking for something in particular, please just ask as we can order in individual bottles by special request.
Next there should be a spot of dessert because what meal is complete without a wee sweet addition? Keep with the scottish theme and indulge in Mitchells crannachan ice cream made especially for us by Rizza’s of Huntly. Or you could make your own traditional crannachan pudding. Here’s our twist on it using our delicious oatcakes in as an ingredient.

What you’ll need
- 750ml double cream
- 4 tablespoons of runny honey
- A handful of crushed Mitchells oatcakes
- A splash of whisky (optional)
- A handful of raspberries (frozen are ideal)

How to make it
1. Whip the cream carefully to ribbon stage and chill for a while.
2. Add a splash of whisky (or your chosen liquor) to the raspberries and allow to soften for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the cream from the fridge and add the honey, retaining a little for garnish. Then fold in the crushed oatcakes and boozy berries to the cream.
4. To serve, either spoon into a glass and decorate with a drizzle of honey, or place in one large serving bowl and leave in the fridge for an hour or two until your guests arrive.
If you try any of our recipes, why not share any photos or any stories with us we would to hear how it went!

Get in touch on Facebook or Twitter, or upload your photo to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #LoveMitchells and we will share our favourites online.

For more news from Mitchells, our inventory, Mooorial and Inverurie, subscribe to our mailing list.
Make Sure You Follow Us Online


If you have found this post interesting please use the "Share" buttons below to tell your online community about it, there's a good chance they will find it interesting too. Thank you.