Burns Night

Meal Plan Occasions 2: More Special Occasions

Occasion 1 · Burns Night

Welcome to More Special Occasions. This second collection has seven more celebrations, each with a main meal and a dessert, written for 4 people (except Valentine's Day, which is for 2). Healthy rules are relaxed here too. We start with Burns Night, the supper held on or around 25 January to celebrate the poet Robert Burns, which is a good one for Edinburgh. The meal takes about 1 hour, and the cranachan is made while the haggis cooks. Quantities are for the whole table, in metric with UK names.

Main meal

Main meal · Serves 4 · Scottish

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties with a Creamy Mustard Sauce

Prep: 20 minutesCooking: about 1 hourAbout 35 minutes of hands-on workServes 4

Ingredients (4 portions)

  • 454 g haggis (1 standard pack), in its casing or vacuum pack
  • 1 large swede (about 800 g), peeled and cut into 3 cm chunks (the "neeps")
  • 1 kg floury potatoes (such as Maris Piper), peeled and cut into chunks (the "tatties")
  • 60 g butter (30 g for the neeps, 30 g for the tatties)
  • 100 ml milk, for the tatties
  • 1 pinch black pepper
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped (for the sauce)
  • 15 g butter, for the sauce
  • 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • ½ cube chicken or vegetable stock cube
  • 150 ml hot water for the sauce
  • 100 ml double cream
The Address to a Haggis
At a traditional Burns Supper, the haggis is brought to the table and Robert Burns's poem begins with "Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin'-race!". If you feel like it, read a verse out before you cut the haggis open. If not, a cheer will do.
Make it ahead
Peel the swede and potatoes in the morning and keep the potatoes in cold water. The sauce can be made earlier in the day and reheated gently.

Method

  1. The haggis: heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan). Take the haggis out of any plastic or netting that is not edible (check the pack: some can go straight in the oven in a casing, and some need to come out). Wrap it loosely in foil with 2 tbsp of water and put it in a small baking dish. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until it is piping hot all the way through (75°C or more in the middle).
  2. The neeps: put the swede in a large pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until a knife slides in easily. Drain very well (let it steam dry for 2 minutes), then mash with 30 g of the butter and plenty of pepper.
  3. The tatties: put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until soft. Drain, return to the warm pan and mash with the other 30 g of butter and the milk until smooth. Season.
  4. The sauce: melt the 15 g of butter in a small pan over a medium heat. Cook the onion for 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in the mustard and the stock cube dissolved in 150 ml of hot water. Bubble for 3 minutes, then add the cream and simmer gently for 3 minutes, until it coats the back of a spoon.
  5. Take the haggis out of the foil, put it on a board and cut it open down the middle. Spoon the haggis onto each plate, with a generous spoonful of neeps and tatties alongside, and pour over the sauce.
Haggis must be piping hot
Haggis is made with offal and oatmeal and must be cooked right through. Check that it is steaming hot in the middle before serving. Chill any leftovers within 2 hours and eat them within 2 days, reheated once until steaming hot.

Swaps

Vegetarian haggis in place of the traditional kind (it needs 5 minutes less in the oven). A whisky and cream sauce instead of the mustard sauce, if you like. Butter and chives on the tatties.

Shopping list for this recipe

Dessert

Dessert · Serves 4

Cranachan

15 minutesAbout 15 minutes of hands-on workServes 4

Ingredients (4 portions)

  • 50 g medium oatmeal or porridge oats
  • 300 ml double cream
  • 3 tbsp runny honey (2 tbsp in the cream, 1 tbsp to finish)
  • 400 g fresh raspberries (or frozen, defrosted and drained)
Make it ahead
Toast the oats the day before and keep them in a jar. Whip the cream and assemble the glasses about 1 hour before you serve, because the oats go soft if they sit in the cream for much longer. Or serve it deconstructed, with the parts in bowls, and let everyone build their own.

Method

  1. Toast the oatmeal in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until it smells nutty and turns light golden. Tip onto a plate to cool.
  2. Whip the cream with 2 tbsp of the honey in a large bowl until it makes soft peaks (do not overwhip). Fold in about two thirds of the toasted oats.
  3. Crush about a third of the raspberries roughly with a fork.
  4. Layer 4 tall glasses or bowls: a spoonful of the crushed raspberries, a big spoonful of the oat cream, a few whole raspberries, and repeat.
  5. Finish each glass with a little cream, the rest of the whole raspberries, a sprinkle of the remaining oats and a drizzle of the last tablespoon of honey. Serve at once or chill for up to 1 hour.

Swaps

A splash of whisky (1 tbsp) folded into the cream, as it is traditionally made. Blackberries or strawberries in place of the raspberries. Half cream and half Greek yoghurt for a lighter version.

Shopping list for this recipe
Coming up next
Occasion 2 is Chinese New Year, with sticky soy-honey chicken thighs, longevity noodles and pak choi, followed by mango, coconut and ginger biscuit pots.