Hogmanay

Meal Plan Occasions 2: More Special Occasions

Occasion 7 · Hogmanay

Today at a glance. A proper Scottish New Year's Eve meal for 4 people, with a slow-cooked steak pie that you can make the day before and a trifle that must be made ahead. Both mean you are free to see out the year with your guests, and have a plate of shortbread ready for the first-footer. Quantities are for the whole table, in metric with UK names.

Main meal

Main meal · Serves 4 · Beef

Steak and Onion Pie with a Puff Pastry Lid, Mash and Buttered Cabbage

Prep: 30 minutesCooking: about 3 hours 15 minutesAbout 45 minutes of hands-on workServes 4

Ingredients (4 portions)

  • 900 g braising steak (chuck or shin), cut into 3 cm chunks
  • 2 tbsp plain flour, for coating the beef
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 cm pieces
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 cubes beef stock cubes
  • 600 ml hot water for the stock
  • 1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry (about 320 g), chilled
  • 1 egg, beaten, to glaze
  • 1 kg floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 50 g butter, for the mash
  • 100 ml milk, for the mash
  • 1 savoy cabbage (about 500 g), shredded
  • 25 g butter, for the cabbage
  • 1 pinch black pepper
First-footing
At Hogmanay, the first person to step across the threshold after midnight, the "first-foot", traditionally brings gifts such as shortbread, a piece of coal and a black bun, to bring good luck to the house for the year. A tall, dark-haired man is the luckiest first-foot, according to tradition. A plate of shortbread by the door works well.
Make it ahead
Make the filling the day before: it improves overnight. Cool it completely, cover and chill. Put the filling in the dish and top with the pastry just before baking, and allow 40 minutes in the oven from cold.

Method

  1. The filling: put the flour in a large bowl with a little salt and pepper, add the beef and toss until coated. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large, heavy casserole dish or pan with a lid over a high heat. Brown the beef in 3 batches for 3 to 4 minutes each, turning, and lift it onto a plate.
  2. Add the last 1 tbsp of oil and the onions and carrots to the pan and cook for 8 minutes, until soft and golden. Stir in the tomato purée and thyme for 1 minute.
  3. Dissolve the 2 stock cubes in 600 ml of boiling water. Return the beef and its juices to the pan, pour in the stock and scrape up the sticky bits from the bottom. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a low simmer, cover and cook for 2 hours to 2 hours 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the beef is meltingly tender and the gravy thick. Take the lid off for the last 20 minutes if it is too thin.
  4. Spoon the filling into a 2 litre pie dish and leave it to cool for 30 minutes (a hot filling melts the pastry).
  5. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Lay the pastry over the dish, trim and press the edges with a fork, cut a small hole in the top for steam, brush with beaten egg and decorate with pastry offcuts if you like. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and deep golden and the filling is bubbling.
  6. The mash: while the pie bakes, put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until soft. Drain and mash with the 50 g of butter and the milk until smooth. Season.
  7. The cabbage: steam or boil the cabbage for 4 to 5 minutes, until tender but still bright green. Drain well and toss with the 25 g of butter and plenty of pepper.
  8. Serve big spoonfuls of the pie with mash and cabbage.
Cook the beef through
The beef must be tender and the pie bubbling and steaming hot in the middle. Cool any leftover filling within 2 hours, chill it and eat it within 2 days, reheated once until steaming hot.

Swaps

Mushrooms or a handful of frozen peas in the filling. Shortcrust pastry for a full pie with a base. Swede (neeps) in place of the cabbage. Scotch broth as a starter.

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Dessert

Dessert · Serves 4 to 6

Shortbread and Raspberry Trifle

Prep: 20 minutes, plus 2 hours' chillingNo cookingAbout 20 minutes of hands-on workServes 4 generously (6 if small helpings)

Ingredients (4 portions)

  • 250 g shortbread biscuits
  • 3 tbsp raspberry jam
  • 400 g raspberries (fresh, or frozen and defrosted)
  • 500 g fresh chilled custard (shop-bought), or the custard from chapter 1
  • 300 ml double cream
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar
  • 20 g flaked almonds, toasted
Make it ahead
This must be made ahead. Assemble it up to the end of step 4 the evening before, or at least 2 hours before serving, so the shortbread softens and the layers settle. Add the cream and almonds just before serving.

Method

  1. Toast the flaked almonds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes, until golden. Tip onto a plate to cool.
  2. Break about two thirds of the shortbread into chunks and arrange them in the base of a glass trifle bowl (about 2 litres). Crumble the rest for the topping and keep it to one side.
  3. Warm the jam with 1 tbsp of water for 20 seconds in the microwave, and spoon it over the shortbread. Add most of the raspberries, keeping a handful for decoration, and press some of them gently into the jam.
  4. Pour the custard over the raspberries and smooth the top. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
  5. Just before serving, whip the cream with the icing sugar to soft peaks. Spoon it over the custard and smooth it with the back of a spoon.
  6. Scatter over the crushed shortbread, toasted almonds and the rest of the raspberries.

Swaps

Strawberries or blackberries in place of the raspberries. A little sherry or whisky sprinkled over the shortbread, as in a traditional tipsy laird. Lemon curd in place of the jam.

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Coming up next
Chapter 8 is the Occasions planner, with the dates for each occasion for the next three years, a make-ahead timeline for each, a scaling guide and food-safety reminders.