ALSO INSIDE: AMAZING MOTHER’S DAY RECIPES
Ordinarily, you might take your mum out for a meal on Mothering Sunday to show how much she means to you. That obviously won’t happen this year – but it doesn’t mean that you can’t spoil her all the same. We’ve rounded up some showstopping recipes to ensure your mum feels special this Mother’s Day, perhaps even more so once she realises the effort that you’ve put in.
BEEF TOPSIDE WITH A PEPPERCORN AND HERB CRUST
On Sundays, there are few things better than a roast dinner. And with quality Scotch Beef available right across the country, you don’t need much beyond a good cut of meat to create an impressive Mother’s Day lunch. In this recipe there are relatively few ingredients required for cooking the beef itself, but you may wish to add roast potatoes or some vegetables to serve.
Ingredients (serves four)
1kg Scotch Beef topside 12g mixed peppercorns 20g Dijon Mustard 20ml rapeseed Oil 3 sprigs of fresh thyme 3 small red onions 1 beef stock cube 300ml boiling water Sea salt (to taste)
Method
Preheat the oven to 220c. Grind the peppercorns in a mortar and pestle and finely chop the thyme.
Mix the peppercorns, mustard, rapeseed oil and thyme together in a bowl, season with sea salt.
Put the roast in a tin and spread the peppercorn mix over the top. Peel and quarter the onions and arrange around the meat, then roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water. Take the roast out of the oven, remove the onions and keep to one side. Turn down the heat to 170C.
Pour the stock around the roast and cover the beef loosely with some tin foil. Roast in the oven for 45 mins for a medium/rare roast, longer if you want your beef more well done. Cover the beef and let it rest for 20 minutes. Reheat the onions in the oven for five mins and serve, using the cooking juices to make some gravy if you want.
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CHARRED LEEK LASAGNE FROM ELLA RISBRIDGER
The beauty of making a lasagne is that it can easily be cooked, cut up and dropped off to your mum, gran, or anyone else who you want to bring a smile to on Mother’s Day. And this version, from food writer Ella Risbridger, will certainly bring a smile to any vegetarians who are looking for a meat-free lasagne that packs just as much of a punch when it comes to flavour.
Ingredients (Serves 6):
About 300g no-cook lasagne sheets, depending on the dimensions of your dish 1 x 125g ball of mozzarella
25g Parmesan
Freshly grated nutmeg
For the vegetable filling:
800g squash, such as butternut (but any is fine) 1 garlic bulb
50g butter
Small handful of thyme 2tbsp white wine
3 large leeks
400g kale
For the cheese sauce: 60g Parmesan
60g strong Cheddar 40g butter
40g plain flour 600ml milk 200ml double cream 6 black peppercorns 1 bay leaf
1 Parmesan rind
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C. Peel your butternut squash, use a spoon to scrape out the seeds, then chop into dice and tip into a large roasting tin. Take your garlic bulb, and slice the top off to expose just the very tips of the cloves. Wrap in foil, like a parcel, drizzle the tops of the garlic cloves with olive oil, then seal the parcel and tuck into the tin alongside the squash. Cut half of the butter into tiny cubes and dot among the squash. Scatter in the thyme, pour over the white wine and put in the oven to roast for 40 minutes.
Split the leeks lengthways, rinse thoroughly, chop roughly, then muddle with your hands to separate the into their constituent layers. In a frying pan over a medium-low heat, melt the remaining butter and then tip the leeks in. Stir to coat in the butter, then leave them to lightly char, giving them a stir every so often.
Rinse the kale, and chop roughly with scissors. When your squash has been in the oven for about 20 minutes, check on it, before returning it to the oven for the remaining 20 minutes.
Next up, the cheese sauce. Grate both the cheeses and melt the butter in a saucepan and then add the flour. Stir constantly for a couple of minutes and then remove from the heat and slowly introduce the milk to your roux, stirring the whole time. When your sauce is smooth, stir in the cream. Add the peppercorns, bay leaf, Parmesan rind and a good grating of nutmeg. Bring up to a simmer, stirring constantly, then cook for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, and fish out the peppercorns, bay leaf and Parmesan rind. Add the grated cheese, stirring until the sauce is smooth.
Your squash and garlic should now be soft. Remove, but leave the oven on.
Squeeze the soft garlic into your cheese sauce and stir well. Decant the squash into a bowl and take the leeks off the heat.
Dig out a tin or baking dish and place the squash in first, in a thin layer; next, a handful of kale, then lasagne sheets in a single layer, followed by cheese sauce, then leeks and more kale. Repeat and then add a final layer of squash and lasagne sheets, followed by the remaining cheese sauce. Scatter the mozzarella over the top, then grate over the last of the Parmesan, some nutmeg and black pepper. Bake for 45 minutes or until the pasta is soft and the cheese is golden-brown and bubbling. Serve with a side salad (or garlic bread) and cold white wine. www.ellarisbridger.com
BANANA AND WALNUT CAKE WITH PEANUT BUTTER ICING FROM GRAEME CHEEVERS
Award-winning chef Graeme Cheevers hit the headlines at the end of 2020 when he announced he was bringing a new restaurant, Unalome, to the site formerly occupied by the Three Sisters restaurant in Finnieston. Rumoured to be a Michelin-star contender, it was due to open in February but lockdown has forced that date to be pushed back. The good news is that you can still get a taste of Graeme’s cooking – at home – by rustling up your own version of his delightful banana and walnut cake.
Ingredients (serves 4)
225g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
200g banana flesh
100g walnuts
150g self-raising flour
2 eggs
5g baking powder
175g icing sugar
30g smooth peanut butter
50g milk chocolate
50g dried banana slices
Special equipment:
18cm round cake tin
Set the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4
Method
Start by softening 150g of the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the caster sugar then cut the vanilla pod in half, scrape out the seeds and add them to the bowl. Beat vigorously until the mix is light and fluffy. Mash the banana flesh with a fork and add it to the mix along with the walnuts and a little of the flour followed by one egg, then beat well. Add the remaining egg followed by the rest of the flour and baking powder and mix well until smooth.
Use a spatula to scrape the mixture into the loaf tin then place it in the oven for 45-55 minutes until light gold. Check the cake is cooked by piercing it with a skewer or a long knife – if it comes out clean then the cake is done.
Remove the cake from the oven and carefully tip it on to a wire rack to cool for around 30 minutes.
Take the remaining butter and beat it until soft and light then add the icing sugar and beat until smooth. Fold in the peanut butter and mix well.
To finish the cake, spoon the icing on top and spread it evenly across the cake. Use a fine grater to grate the chocolate over the cake, arrange the banana slices on top and serve. Graeme Cheevers is the head chef of Unalome in Glasgow
BEN LOMOND VANILLA AND MINT BRAMBLE COCKTAIL
Mother’s Day celebrations will, sadly, be muted this year, but you can still bring a bit of a party spirit by shaking up your own cocktails. Ben Lomond’s Blackberry and Gooseberry Gin adds a fruity dimension to this cocktail recipe, which will finish off your Mothering Sunday meal in style.
Ingredients
50ml Ben Lomond Blackberry & Gooseberry Gin
20ml lemon
10ml sugar syrup
Dash of vanilla
6 fresh mint leaves Garnish: mint sprig and bramble
Method
Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and muddle around, then shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig and brambles. Find more recipes and serve suggestions at www.benlomondgin.com
DARK CHOCOLATE BROWNIES FROM PIZZA GEEKS
IF you don’t live in the same household as your mum, you might be struggling to think of something you can cook that won’t be spoiled by the time you drop it off at her door. Fortunately, these brownies from Edinburgh-based restaurant Pizza Geeks will taste just as good a day or two after they’ve been baked. The ideal doorstop surprise for Mother’s Day morning. Ingredients (to make 16 brownies) 245g unsalted butter (cubed) 245g dark chocolate 335g caster sugar
4 large eggs
115g plain flour
55g cocoa powder CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE