Buttered Swede with Bacon

Rich, orange fleshed swede has an amazing nutty, fresh taste that is just the thing with roasted meats.

This was always a popular vegetable dish at The Whitewell Hotel, Lodge Hill Estate, and Kimber Cottage.

we mainly served it with roast lamb or beef but we think this dish goes really well with roast turkey and often have it with roast pheasant and pigeon.

Sometimes we substitute the bacon with thinly sliced salami, pepperoni, or chorizo and grill until crisp just like the bacon.

I especially like it served as a light lunch or supper, served with a softly poached duck egg on top.

Serves / Makes:         6 servings

Prep-Time:                 12 minutes

Cook-Time:                20 minutes

You Will Need

1 medium sized swede

4 rashers, streaky bacon, you could use smoked and when we have it we use American bacon or pancetta

50 grams, butter

1 bunch fresh chives or spring onions, these are optional

Sea salt flakes and coarsely ground or cracked black pepper

Method

Peel the swede and cut into large dice, to small and they will absorb too much water put into a pan of lightly salted boiling water and cook, uncovered, until very tender about 20 minutes.

At the same time as the swede is cooking grill or fry the bacon until very crisp leave to cool a little then chop quite roughly.

Snip the chives or if using spring onions finely chop them drain the swede and mash with the butter, any fat from the bacon, and pepper until almost smooth Serve and Enjoy with the crispy bacon and chives or spring onions scattered on top.

Notes

Bigger than the turnip and with a rough skin that is partly tan and partly purple, the Swede’s dull exterior gives the lie to its fine texture and distinctive, sweet tasting flesh.

In Scotland, the swede is famous as neeps and is served mashed alongside The Haggis as part of the traditional supper on Burns Night and in America, they are known as Rutabaga.

John & Maureen Glen Tags: food, recipe, vegetables, swede, turnip, neeps, bacon, rutabaga, Burns Night

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Our Gardening and Cooking Journal, Tuesday, 17 August 2010

Up at 05:30 and what a horrible looking day all wet and cold can this be August?

Watered and fed all the plants the tumbling tom reds are showing more about to turn red but the moneymakers aren’t.

In the kitchen this morning testing an old recipe of Aunt Mary Glen’s (Uncle James’ wife) for shortbread and I am very pleased with it one batch has made 18 six to seven inch biscuits so I think half a dozen or so will be sent in the next parcel to Daniel in Afghanistan. I do wish you could smell the shortbread baking it is a real house seller aroma.

Here is the recipe for the shortbread it is also on Mydish and will at sometime appear on the Big-Oven website, if you try it please leave a comment so I get to know how you all like these recipes.

That’s all for today have a good day and if you are cooking why not let us know what you are cooking.

AUNT MARY GLEN’S SHORTBREAD
A Rich, Light Golden Colour And So Buttery How Can One Resist A Taste Of Scotland In One Or Two Little Biscuits.

Aunt Mary Glen’s shortbread was in our eyes the best in the world and Maureen and meself would always look forward to a visit to Scotland as we knew that the shortbread would be out on offer with a good cup of tea and if I was lucky a glass of Uncle James’ home-brew.

I have had to adapt the recipe from Aunt Mary’s measure to metric and I think I have got it right Aunt Mary when telling me the recipe just use to say “Oh its just a handful or 2 of flour a bit of butter” and so on but why not try it yourself and let me know what you think.

Serves / Makes: 18 to 20 shortbreads

Prep-Time: 10 minutes

Cook-Time: 35 minutes

You Will Need;

200 grams, plain flour

100 grams, cornflour

100 grams, icing sugar

200 grams, butter cut into small pieces

Caster sugar for sprinkling

Method;

Sieve the flours and icing sugar together, add butter and rub in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then knead together to give a stiff dough.

Divide into four and form into rounds about ¼ inch thick onto a lightly floured baking sheet, prick all over and mark into sections with a sharp knife then crimp the edges with thumb and fingers and cook at 160°C/325°F) for about 35 to 40 minutes or until pale golden brown.

Re-mark into sections and leave to cool on baking sheet and then sprinkle with caster sugar.

We almost always use a cookie cutter 2 ½ inch (7cm) to cut individual biscuits after rolling out the dough to a ¼ inch thickness, place them onto a silicone baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes.

To keep store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Serve and Enjoy!

Notes:

The story of shortbread begins with the medieval "biscuit bread". Any leftover dough from bread making was dried out in a low oven until it hardened into a type of rusk: the word "biscuit" means "twice cooked". Gradually the yeast in the bread was replaced by butter, and biscuit bread developed into shortbread. Shortbread was an expensive luxury and for ordinary people, shortbread was a special treat reserved just for special occasions such as weddings, Christmas and New Year. In Shetland, it was traditional to break a decorated shortbread cake over the head of a new bride on the threshold of her new home. The custom of eating shortbread at New Year has its origins in the ancient pagan Yule Cakes that symbolised the sun. In Scotland, it is still traditionally offered to "first footers" at New Year.

This is the sort of silicone base that we use when baking Guaranteed not to stick;

Scotch Broth

Traditionally Scotch broth is a bit of everything thrown into the pot and is quite a substantial soup. In bygone days, Scots would eat this as a main meal in modern times; many Scottish households still serve Scotch broth as a main meal of the day rather than a first course. Ingredients can be exchanged depending on your personal liking, it's best made the day before to let the complete flavour to marinate through.

My granny Glen sometimes used to call it barley broth and always had a pan of broth on the go, I can even see in my mind the big black cast iron soup pan.

Even though a classic Scottish soup I think every household had their own recipe, this recipe is a blend of granny Glen’s and my mother’s.

I can remember being sent to the greengrocer for a fresh broth or soup mix this consisted of all the vegetable ingredients and a bunch of fresh thyme it changed almost weekly depending on what veg was available. This was in the days when the greengrocer and maybe his wife did some vegetable preparation and even boiled beetroots. Moreover, this was before convenience foods and supermarkets became popular.

Nowadays in the winter months, we make enough to last for a whole weeks worth of lunches and along with homemade wholemeal or crusty granary bread, it really sticks to your ribs, which is just what you want on a winter’s day. Oh, the barley we use isn’t pearl barley we think pot barley (see note) it is so much better with more flavour a creamier texture and very traditional in Scotland.

Serves/Makes:          10 to 12 servings

Prep-Time:                 10 to 12 minutes

Cook-Time:                90 minutes or there about

You Will Need;

2 pounds of neck of mutton or lamb

4 ounces pot barley or if you must pearl barley, soaked overnight

3 ounces split green peas, (soaked overnight) or you can use fresh or frozen peas added near the end of cooking

2 tablespoons of cooking oil or to be more authentic beef dripping or lard

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

1 large leek, chopped

4 turnips, peeled and chopped

1 small Swede, peeled and chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 small bunch of fresh thyme, strip the leaves from the stalks we only want the leaves

2 tablespoon, chopped parsley

1 small cabbage, this is optional, but we like to use a small January king

6 pints of water, you might need more to let the finished broth down if you think it is too thick

Method:

Heat over a medium flame heat the lard or cooking oil and add the chopped onion and leek, once softened not browned add the water and the lamb bring to a boil, and skim off any fat from the top. After boiling for about 30 minutes add the soaked barley and peas bring back to a boil reduce the heat and simmer for another 30 minutes add the remaining vegetables and thyme leaves and season to taste and cook a further 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. If used, remove the bone, strip off the meat, and return to the pan discard the bone, add the parsley as a garnish before serving.

Pot barley is different from pearl barley this is the whole grain is a good source of protein, fibre and niacin (vitamin B3), as well as the trace minerals calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. It wants soaking overnight or for at least eight hours, just cover with boiling water, and leave to soak drain the following day. The soaking makes the barley more eatable and cuts down the cooking time.

The Glens Tags: Soups, Broths, Chowders, Consommés, Meat & Vegetable, Barley, Pot Barley, Traditional, Granny Glen, Homemade, Winter Warmer, Classic, Scottish Recipes

Quote of the Day:
Commerce is the great civilizer. We exchange ideas when we exchange fabrics.
--Robert Green Ingersoll

Stovies

Stovies

Another traditional Scottish dish mainly made on a Monday with the dripping leftover from the Sunday roast, even though at one time many people could not afford a roast on a Sunday, they would still buy a pack of dripping from the butcher to make stovies. This recipe uses butter and vegetable oil for health reasons but I still make stovies with dripping.

• 1 ounce, Butter


• 1 tablespoon, vegetable oil


• 2, onions, peeled and sliced


• One ½ pounds, potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced


• 2 tablespoons, beef stock, or any beef jelly you can retrieve from the roast beef

1. Melt the butter with oil in a large heavy frying pan / skillet, stir in the onions and fry until they are golden and caramelised, about 10 to 15 minutes.


2. Add the slices of potato and turn them carefully into the fat, carefully mind so as they don’t break up. Season well with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, then add the stock or jelly, and heat through until the jelly has melted or the stock has warmed through.


3. Cover tightly with a lid or foil and cook over a low heat for 20 to 30 minutes until the potatoes are tender and have soaked up all the liquid, add a little hot water if they seem a little to dry, remember to shake the pan a little when they are cooking to stop them from sticking, don’t stir them or they will break up and you don’t want that!.


4. Nice served with cold meats or on their own with a poached egg on top.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/95463/stovies.html

Rumbledethumps

Rumbledethumps is a traditional dish from the Scottish Borders. The main ingredients are potato, cabbage, and onion. Similar to Irish colcannon, and English bubble and squeak, it is served either as an accompaniment to a main dish or as a main dish itself
This is my version of a favourite dish from Scotland, you can prepare this dish ahead of time, and pop it into the oven just before the roast is done.

• Two ½ pounds, potatoes


• 1 pound, Swede (neeps)


• 4 ounces, butter


• 1-pound cabbage, we prefer to use a Savoy cabbage


• 6 ounces grated cheddar cheese, or for a treat stilton

1. Peel and chop the potatoes and Swede and boil them together in a large pan of salted water for about 25 to 30 minutes or until tender. Preheat your oven to 170c /Gas 3, drain the veg and return to the pan, cover tightly and shake over a low heat to dry them off thoroughly.


2. Heat half the butter in another pan then add the cabbage and cook until just tender, it must still be bright green about 3 to 5 minutes. Put all the nice buttery cabbage into the pan with the potatoes and swede and add the rest of the butter. Roughly, mash them all together and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground white pepper.


3. Put it all into a nice ovenproof dish top with the cheese and bake for 30 minutes.


4. We always put the Rumbledethumps under a hot grill for about 5 minutes before serving to get a nice brown top to them.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/95461/rumbledethumps.html