Traditional shortbread triangles. Made on September 8, 2012
This past weekend was the Highland Fling at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. With Highland Fling come men in kilts, people speaking in Scottish brogues, and the Highland Games. We demonstrated a wide variety of dishes including Haggis, Scotch Eggs, and Shortbread. You can see the recipes for the Haggis and Scotch Eggs by clicking on those words, the Shortbread was something that I hadn’t written about.
Below is my family’s recipe for Scottish Shortbread.
Shortbread Ingredients 6 tbsp or 1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
5 tbsp or 1/3 cup castor sugar (finer grain than crystalized sugar)
1 and ¼ cup (20 tbsp) butter
1 lb plain flour all purpose flour (rice flour may be used instead for a gluten free option)
Directions Set oven to 325F
Cream the butter, icing sugar and castor sugar together using a wooden spoon.
Lavender shortbread cookies. Made September 9, 2012.
Sift the flour 2 or 3 times, then gradually mix into the creamed butter and sugar using your hands, until a firm dough is formed.
On a lightly floured surface roll or press dough until about 1/2 inch thick and use a cookie cutter to make ’rounds’ or shapes, or slice into 3″ x 1″ bars and prick the top with a fork.
Bake in pre-heated 325F oven for for approx 20-25 mins, shortbread will be a light golden color when it’s ready.
We sprinkled other additives to the dough to enhance the flavor including lavender, Damascus rose petals, and lemon zest. All of which turned out beautifully.
This past weekend, September 1-3, 2012 was the Mideast Mirage weekend at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. We struggled through the long weekend with the excessive heat, but we overcame it and made very tasty recipes. Our 12:30 show centered on our wood-fired oven that was funded through Kickstarter. The campaign concluded on July 1, 2012.
Tandoori and Naan prepared at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival on September 3, 2012. Photo taken by Alice the Cook.
Each recipe we use is tested and altered to suit our needs. The recipes below are the perfected versions of our recipes.
Ingredients 2 lbs. skinless chicken thighs with bones
1 tsp saffron
1 tbsp hot water
1 cup onion, chopped
1” x 1” fresh ginger, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin seed
3/4 tsp coriander seed
1/8 fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp chilies
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 a lime, zested and juiced
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp of Punjab powder (1 tsp cinnamon powder, 1/2 tsp ground cloves,
3/4 tsp of black pepper, 1/4 tsp ground cardamom)
1 and 1/2 cup of unflavored Greek yogurt
1/4 cup melted butter or ghee
Preparing the marinade: Crush the saffron with your fingers and add to hot water and set aside for 10 minutes. Place whole seeds in a mortar and pestle or grinder and break them down to a course powder. Mix the crushed spices with the powdered spices and mix in with the yogurt, saffron water, onions, garlic, ginger, lime juice and zest, oil and yogurt and mix until creamy.
Cooking:
With a sharp knife cut deep crosses into the tops and bottoms of each piece of chicken. Add the chicken to the marinade and transfer to a ceramic or glass bowl. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 4-24 hours. The longer it marinades, the better the flavor.
When ready, preheat oven to 425º F and remove the chicken from marinade and place the chicken in a single layer in a shallow, ceramic dish. Discard Marinate. Bake for 15 minutes and baste the chicken with the butter/ghee and bake for another 10-15 minute or until the chicken is cooked thoroughly.
NAAN 1 package active dry yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 teaspoons yeast)
1 cup warm water
¼ cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 whole egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4½ cups bread flour
2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
¼ cup butter (one half stick), melted
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and let it stand about 5 minutes. Add the sugar to the yeast water and let it sit for a couple of minutes. The sugar will help feed the yeast. Stir in milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
Punch down dough and pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. The oven should have the fire removed and the temperature stabilized around 700 to 900 degrees F.
At oven side, roll balls of dough out into thin circles. Use your rolling-pin to roll in the minced garlic into the naan and brush with butter. Place dough on hearth, and cook until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Cook until browned (about 45 seconds in a 900 degree oven). Remove from hearth, and continue the process until all the naan have been prepared.
Now, if you do not have the advantage of a wood-fired oven, you may do a couple of things instead. You may use a pizza stone in the middle of the oven and heat your oven to 500 degrees. This will take longer, but will offer an adequate way of baking the naan. Naan may also be baked in a cast iron fry pan on high temperature. My assistant Rissa has used the back part of a pan as it is flat and easier to flip the naan.
This past weekend we demonstrated a couple of recipes including pasties, lemon bread pudding, and bubble and squeak. I’ve posted the pasty and lemon bread pudding recipes before and if you click on the names, you can visit those recipes.
Bubble and Squeak on the other hand was new. Traditionally, the vegetables are usually sautéed in bacon fat and mashed potatoes were added later, but we decided to create small patties as it would be easier to cook and eat. This was a typical meal in England for Sunday and Monday lunches as it would use a lot of the leftovers. Below is our recipe for Bubble and Squeak. I am also supplying a slight deviation from the traditional recipe by using olive oil instead of bacon fat for my vegetarian/healthy option fans.
Ingredients: 2 cups of mashed potatoes
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, cut thinly along the bias
2 leaves of kale, diced
6-8 brussel sprouts, diced
Bacon fat (olive oil may be used for a vegetarian or healthier option)
Crumbled bacon (optional)
Olive oil or butter
Directions: Begin to thinly cut up the vegetables and combine into a single bowl. If the vegetables are cut too large, they will not be cooked thoroughly; it is recommended that they are cut rather small. Add the mashed potatoes and stir until well blended. If you notice the potatoes are a bit on the dry side, add some butter or olive oil. The potatoes should be moist, but not wet. Begin to form the mixture into patties (slightly larger than a ¼ lb. in size).
Take your bacon fat or olive oil and add to a hot skillet or frying pan. Once hot enough add the patties and begin to brown. The goal is to cook and brown the patties. Once golden brown on one side, flip and brown the other side. Once completed, remove them and they are ready to be served. They are best served hot, but they are still tasty when served at room temperature.
This past weekend was the opening weekend for the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. It was the Italian Carnivale themed weekend and we broke-in our new wood fired oven discussing the history of pizza and how it developed as well as demonstrated how to make pizza from scratch. Many of those who attended the lectures requested the recipe for the pizza dough and I said I would comply.
Below is the recipe that my assistant Olaf provided. It is very easy to do and use and made a very tasty pizza. This is a pizza dough recipe that worked in our wood fired oven, but it is tailored for a standard oven. Beneath this recipe is a pizza dough recipe ideal for wood fired ovens.
A pizza created by Alice the Cook and her assistants. August 18, 2012
Pizza dough (yields two 14” pizzas) 4 cups of flour (extra for rolling out)
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
¼ cup oil (we used olive oil)
1 oz of yeast
½ cup warm water
Place the flour in a bowl and mix the water and yeast together in a separate cup. Once done, add the sugar to the yeast water (this will feed the yeast). Pour the yeasted water to the flour and begin to mix. Add the oil and the salt to the dough. The dough should be somewhat sticky, but not too much. If it is very sticky, add more flour. Knead the dough and prep it for rising.
To raise the dough, do not roll it into a ball. Press down on the dough and have the loose ends tucked under the dough and place the tucked side down. You can place the dough in a bowl and set aside for a couple of hours at room temperature to rise. After a couple of hours, separate the dough as needed (we made smaller 5-6” pizzas). Use your hands to flatten out and place your desired toppings on the dough to cook.
Many of my ancestors hailed from Scotland. As a member of the Lindsay clan, I have had the opportunities to try
Traditional Haggis
many traditional Scottish recipes including haggis. Most people assume haggis is a Scottish dish; however haggis-like dishes have been traced back to the Romans and are mentioned in “Homer’s Odyssey.” Other variations have been found in Scandinavian culture and among other regions. But, it is the Scots who made haggis famous. Haggis usually consists of cheap cuts of meat, suet, sheep liver, intestines, and oatmeal. In the United States, similar dishes have evolved including Scrapple, hashes, and meatloaf.
One of the largest challenges making traditional haggis is locating the sheep’s stomach, a key ingredient in preparing haggis. I have found that sheep’s stomachs are very easy to come by via butchers who cater to the Amish customers or who provide other old world ingredients. A sheep’s stomach is quite large. If you feel as though a lot of people may not enjoy this dish, I would recommend cutting the stomach in half and reducing the recipe to limit any wasted food.
I am also supplying a slight deviation from the traditional recipe by using olive oil instead of bacon fat for my vegetarian/healthy option fans.
