Food & Drink
Warm yourself up in winter with the taste and memories of childhood comfort food favourites
Neil Forbes serves up comfort food dishes from his childhood, plus Rose Murray Brown on Rutherglen’s sweet wines
Ido hope you all had a good Christmas and ate well, danced, drank and were generally merry. It is always quite a sad time as the celebrations come to an end, the trees get recycled and the decorations get packed away carefully. The winter months can be hard, with only a few hours of daylight and the bitter cold whipping in from the east.
At this time of year, I always think back to the food of my childhood. My mum was a good cook and made the best pies and puddings. Minced beef pie, suet pudding and Scotch broth followed by jam and coconut tarts, apple pie with custard, bread or rice pudding. All very easy to make but not that commonplace now.
Her pot of broth would last us the week and was never put in the fridge, rather it was left out on the stove with securely- placed lid. The odd cup of water was added to stretch it out further but by gum, it was good.
Cock- a- leekie soup
Now this takes me back. It’s a great starter, warming and very inexpensive too. Delicious on a cold and frosty evening with some warm bread or freshly- made oatcakes and butter. Very Scottish and so traditional, I adore it. The addition of prunes is a treat.
Serves four
1 free- range organic chicken breast or leg, skin removed, cooked and shredded
1 large leek, split length ways and washed
1 litre good chicken stock 2 tablespoons cooked long- grain rice or barley
1 tablespoon chopped, pitted prunes 1 tablespoon chopped curly parsley 1 small onion, peeled, chopped, 1 sprig of thyme good salt and pepper to taste, a little rapeseed oil
1 In a thick- bottomed pan, heat a little oil and gently fry the onion until translucent.
2 Season and pour in the stock. Bring it to a slow simmer then turn down to a low heat.
3 Chop the leek into inch- long pieces and add to the pot along with the thyme.
4 After 20 minutes or so, when the vegetables are nice and soft, add the shredded chicken and the rice or barley, and cook gently for a further 15 to 20 minutes.
5 Season again and add the parsley and chopped prunes.
6 Serve piping hot in warmed bowls with crusty bread or oatcakes straight off the girdle.
Beef shin with horseradish dough balls
Serve straight from the casserole. Serves two
250g shin of grass- fed beef, 2- inch pieces
1 tablespoon beef fat or cooking oil 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
½ stick celery, roughly chopped 1 sprig thyme
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon tomato purée
1 litre good, strong beef stock
½ glass good, red wine
1 teaspoon flour
2 large carrots, scrubbed – one diced and one cut into thick strips
1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into thick strips
50g celeriac, peeled and cut into thick strips
1 knob of butter
100g self- raising flour 50g suet, good salt and pepper 1 teaspoon chopped parsley fresh horseradish, grated ( optional)
1 Heat the oven to 170C/ Gas Mark 3
2 Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the beef fat in a casserole dish, add the beef and fry for 4 to 5 minutes until all the meat is caramelised. Remove the beef from the pot, leaving the heat on. Add the onion and fry for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring continually to give a good colour. Add the thyme, bay, garlic clove, celery and diced carrot.
3 Colour the veg until browned then add the tomato purée and the teaspoon of flour, and cook for a minute or two. Next, add the red wine and bring to the boil. Reduce until just a little is left, then add the stock. Return the beef to the dish, season and bring to a gentle simmer.
4 Cover with a lid and cook in a medium to low oven for 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally. It’s ready when the meat is so tender it could fall apart. 5 Blanch the remaining carrot, parsnip and celeriac in boiling, salted water for 4 minutes, then refresh under cold water. Add to a pan with a knob of butter and fry until they just start to colour. Keep in a warm place. 6 Twenty minutes before the stew is ready, combine the suet and flour in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and add the parsley, some grated, fresh horseradish and mix with enough cold water to make a wet dough.
7 Add the dough to the stew in 4 to 6 dollops, and place the lid back on and cook for a further 20 minutes or so.
8 Spoon the sauce over the dough balls and set to one side to rest for 20 minutes
before serving. Garnish with a grate of fresh horseradish and a sprinkle of parsley and serve with the root veg.
Queen of puddings
This was a real delight growing up. Makes one pudding
half a loaf of good bread, and/ or cake crumbs, 200g in total zest of one lemon pinch of nutmeg
220g caster sugar knob of butter
4 eggs, separated
2 large tablespoons of any jam you like, I like bramble but raspberry is good
350ml milk
350ml double cream
1 Firstly, mix the cake and bread crumbs into the milk and cream then add the nutmeg, lemon peel and half the sugar. Give it a good mix then add the egg yolks and mix again. Place into a butter- lined ovenproof dish.
2 Next, dot wee knobs of butter over the top of the mix. Place the dish in a roasting tin half- filled with hot water and bake at 180C for 40 to 45 minutes, until just firm to the touch. The deeper the dish, the longer it will take. 3 Allow to cool slightly then whisk the egg whites until stiff then gradually add the remaining sugar, a little at a time to make a meringue. Pipe or spoon the meringue in small circles around the edge of the bread pudding ( to resemble a crown) and glaze under the grill.
4 Melt the jam in a pot on the stove and spoon into the centre of the crown of meringue. Serve warm.