Recipes

Canny Scot recipes are slightly different from other recipes. Many ingredients have alternatives, and many of the quantities can be changed slightly to suit own taste. This is because we know there will be times when you run out of stuff, or something is on special offer, or you are a veggie or slimmer, etc. so within the recipe, or at the bottom we'll list alternatives, and you can help by contributing your versions too.

Potato and pea curry

This can be served as a main course or as an accompaniment to other curries.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons of oil
4 onions finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped or crushed
800 g of potatoes chopped into bite-sized pieces
100 g peas, fresh or frozen
2 teaspoons of chopped ginger
2-3 tablespoons of curry powder (depends how hot you like it)
2 400 g tins of tomatoes or 800g of fresh tomatoes skinned

Method

1. In a large pot fry the onions and garlic in the oil until they are a golden colour.
2. Add the potatoes, peas, ginger, and curry powder and fry for a few minutes stirring all the time.
3. Add the tomatoes and simmer until the potatoes are cooked.
4. Season with salt and top with chopped coriander or parsley leaves.

Vegetarian lentil soup

Ingredients
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 or 2 onions chopped (depends on size)
1 large stalk of celery including the leaves chopped
1 carrot chopped
375 g red lentils
bouquet garni or pinch of mixed dried herbs
2 litres of vegetable stock
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
chopped parsley to garnish
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion, celery and carrot for around 10 minutes.
2. Add the stock, lentils, and bouquet garni and bring to the boil, then simmer covered for 25 minutes.
3. Add the lemon juice and the cumin. Then you can puree all or part of the soup if you wish, or you can leave it chunky.
4. Season to taste and serve with some chopped parsley.

Lentil salad

Ingredients
400 grammes of green lentils
1 clove garlic crushed, chopped or minced
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
stock - chicken, vegetable or ham
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Rinse the lentils and place in a pan with 1.2 litres of stock.
2. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the lentils are tender - this can take anything from 15 - 40 minutes depending on the lentils you use, so test every 10 minutes or so.
3. Drain off any excess stock, and put the lentils in a bowl with all the other ingredients and mix.
4. Serve hot, warm or cold, on their own or as a side dish.

Variations. You can add fresh herbs at stage 4 to give the dish a more aromatic flavour. It stores well in the fridge.

Fish sauce for pasta

Ingredients
425 g tin of tomatoes, or chopped fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
1 large onoin peeled and chopped
Up to 1 teaspoon of hot chilli powder depending on taste (you can leave this out if you don't want it spicy)
198 tin of tuna chunks or salmon or any strong flavoured fish
Salt and pepper

Method

1. Place the tomatoes, tomato puree, onion and chilli powder in a saucepan and simmer until onion is cooked.
2. Drain and flake fish, add to the sauce and reheat.
3. Season to taste.

Serve with any pasta. This recipe is low calorie, so is good if you are trying to loose weight.

Variations. You can add fresh or dried mushroom at stage 1. Some wine can also be added at stage 1.

Pea and bacon soup

Ingredients
2.1 litres of ham or chicken stock, or stock made from a ham shank
335 g of yellow ot green split peas which have been soaked overnight
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 large onion chopped
175 g of chopped streaky bacon or lardons, or the meat from the ham shank
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 large carrot diced
1 celery stick diced
1 popato diced
salt and pepper
some cream or milk - optional
fresh parsley - optional

Method

1. In a huge pot boil the peas in water for about 10 minutes then drain off the water.
2. Add the stock and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes.
3. Add the vegetables and bacon and simmer for 40 - 50 minutes.
4. Season to taste, then you can puree all, some or none of the soup.
5. Add some milk or cream and serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

This is a really hearty soup and freezes well.. It actually tastes better the next day or after freezing.
If you want to splurge out you can serve it with stiltion croutons - basically a toasted stilton sandwich cut into cubes.

Split pea soup

Ingredients
2 pints of ham stock
8 oz. split peas
1 diced carrot
1 small diced white turnip
1 chopped onion
salt and pepper

Method

1. Soak the peas overnight, then rinse thoroughly.
2. Bring the stock to the boil, add all the other ingredients, bring to the boil, then simmer. Go away and do something interesting for 2 hours, When you return the soup is ready!

This soup is cheap, delicious, freezes well and is perfect for cold weather. You can substitute any of the veggies, but you must have either an onion or a leek.