Made in Scotland
It’s Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight, so stock up on great local produce. You will notice the difference in flavour, says Chris Rowley ,chef and co-founder at Ballintaggart Farm, Perthshire
At Ballintaggart, the kitchen is at the heart of everything we do and we take great pride in showcasing outstanding Scottish ingredients and artisans.
Having established and run Charlie and Evelyn’s Table, Edinburgh’s first supper club, with my wife Rachel, I understand the passion that burns within Scotland’s food and drink producers and we are delighted to be able to help them tell their story and share their products in our menus. We welcomed more than 500 guests to Charlie and Evelyn’s table before moving to Ballintaggart and this new adventure sees us spreading the word and sharing the world-class Scottish larder with even more guests.
Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight is currently in full swing until 17 September. A nationwide event, it supports, promotes and celebrates Scotland’s produce, and the people who grow, make, cook and sell it. I am proud to be one of them.
From fine dining to home cooked breakfasts, the fortnight is encouraging people to engage with Scottish food and drink and change one thing (#onethingfortnight) in regards to shopping and eating Scottish produce. Suggestions you might like to try, include:
Try a new Scottish product and share what you tried on social media using the hashtags #scotfoodfort and #onethingfortnight
Look to see if there’s just one thing you could change on your weekly shopping list that would benefit the Scottish food and drink industry.
Celebrate your local farmer or fishermen by visiting your local butcher or fishmonger.
Ask your local café or restaurant if they can use more Scottish produce on their menu.
Wild sea trout, pea purée, pea shoots and beetroot carpaccio
Here at Ballintaggart we have enjoyed our first year of experimenting and adventuring in our new kitchen garden. It has been a bit of a rollercoaster and we have had some wonderful successes. This recipe is an excellent way to show off fresh and intense garden flavours and reluctantly say goodbye to summer.
Serves four
2 medium beetroot 4 x 130g fillets sea trout (a good fishmonger should be able to help) 1 large handful freshly picked pea shoots 500g frozen peas 50ml double cream salt and pepper a couple of drizzles of Summer Harvest (or any Scottish) rapeseed oil
1 Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas Mark 4.
2 Wrap the beetroot in foil and roast in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the beetroot and place it in a bowl of iced water, then remove the skin. It should just peel off. Thinly slice, using a sharp knife or mandolin and arrange down the centre of your serving plate.
3 To make the pea purée, blanch the frozen peas in boiling water, refresh in ice cold water (to maintain the vibrant green colour) then blitz in a blender – with a splash of cream and seasoning – until the desired consistency is achieved. Warm gently in a saucepan just before serving.
4 Season the skin side of the trout fillets generously with sea salt and rapeseed oil. Heat a heavy based frying pan over a medium heat (with a little oil) place the trout fillets in the pan, skin side down and press with the back of a fish slice ensuring the skin has full contact with the heat and turns crispy. Cook the fillets briefly for 2-3 minutes until the flesh turns opaque. Turn the fish over to flesh side down and cook for 1 minute.
5 Place the trout on top of the beetroot, drizzle the pea purée around the dish and garnish with pea shoots and a further drizzle of oil.
Barbecue bavette, Balnaguard chanterelles and garden leaves with garden herb salsa verde
Ask your butcher for bavette (sometimes better known as skirt or flank steak). This is a very fatty cut but full of flavour. Order 200g per person as you will need to trim off some of the fattiest bits.
Serves four
800g Scotch bavette 250g chanterelles 200g garden leaves, four large handfuls 200ml Summer Harvest (or any other Scottish) rapeseed oil 50g butter 5 young sprigs of rosemary 5 cloves of garlic Isle of Skye seasalt black pepper 2 tbsp red wine vinegar 3 anchovies, rinsed if packed in salt 20g flat leaf parsley leaves 20g basil leaves 20g wild mint leaves 75g green pitted olives, thickly sliced 2 tbsp salted capers, rinsed and roughly chopped peppery garden leaves of your choice
1 Marinade the meat in 60ml of the rapeseed oil, rosemary, three cloves of garlic, thinly sliced, and black pepper for at least four hours (up to 24 hours).
2 Make the garden herb salsa verde. Roughly chop the parsley, basil and mint and combine with the olives, anchovies and capers. Pour the vinegar and remaining oil over the top and combine. Taste and add more of the vinegar if you like, plus seasoning if necessary. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
3 Light the barbecue and leave until the charcoal is amber. Pat the meat dry with kitchen roll or a clean tea towel, season generously with the sea salt and place directly on the barbeque grill. Cook for three minutes either side. Rest for up to ten minutes, somewhere warm. If you are without access to a barbecue, a hot pan will suffice.
4 Slice the meat thinly across the grain and place in the centre of the serving plate.
5 Dry clean the mushrooms using a mushroom or pastry brush. Quarter larger mushrooms.
6 Heat a frying pan to medium heat with the remaining two cloves of
thinly sliced garlic and a knob of butter. Heat until foaming, then sautée the mushrooms for two to three minutes and season generously. Arrange around the steak on a serving plate.
7 Cut some peppery garden leaves from your raised beds (we love mizuna, rocket and young kale) or buy and add, gently scattered, to the plate. Dress the plate with salsa verde.
Meadowsweet and bramble crème brûlée
Meadowsweet flowers are a bit like candyfloss in the hedgerows. They have a honeyed-almond scent, a lure for pollen seeking insects and foragers alike. It can be used both dried and fresh and gives a wonderful sweet flavour to cordials, syrups or custards (as here). You can also use the refreshing leaves, stripped from their woody stalks in salads.
Serves four
300ml double cream 3 small handfuls of meadowsweet flowers 4 egg yolks 2 tbsp caster sugar (plus extra for topping) 2 small handfuls brambles a few borage flowers to decorate
1 Pre-heat the oven to 150C/gas Mark 2. Shake the meadowsweet to remove any insects.
2 Pour the cream into a small saucepan with the meadowsweet flowers. Bring to scalding point ( just before boiling – usually small bubbles will just begin to appear). Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes (up to three hours). The length of time correlates with the strength of meadowsweet flavour.
3 Strain the cream once you have achieved the desired depth of flavour. Gently reheat. Mix the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and pour over the warmed cream. Stir until combined.
4 Place one or two brambles at the base of each ramekin. Pour the cream mixture into the ramekins. Stand the ramekins in a roasting tray and surround with boiling water reaching three quarters of the way up the ramekins (a bain marie).
5 Place the tray in the oven for 30 minutes until just set.
6 Leave to cool, chill in the fridge for at least a couple of hours, ideally overnight. Sprinkle each ramekin with sugar (a generous dessertspoon over each) and use a blow torch to caramelise or carefully use a grill on the highest setting. Decorate with the remaining brambles and borage flowers and serve.