Whisky Galore

There was just the two of us for our Burn's Night celebration last night,

but I made a lovely, traditional meal of haggis, neeps and tatties.

Delicious.

Then, for dessert I made my first ever Cranachan.

I confess, I cannot drink whisky, so I was a little cautious, but wow! 

Why has no-one told me that whisky cream is one of  the best things ever.

It was heavenly.

 

(Excuse the photo, which was a quick mobile phone snap)

Cranachan is a traditional scottish dessert that is basically 

whipped cream, whisky, honey, oats and raspberries.

Easy peasy to make - there are lots of 'recipes' out there.

This is one I will definitely be making again.

Soup Of The Week

Making a big, pot of soup at the beginning of the week

is turning out to be a great idea for us.

It's nutritious and healthy and means that I don't have to think about what to make for lunch.

250g dried split green peas, rinsed and drained
1.5 litres water
200g smoked bacon lardons
1/4 celeriac,
1 large carrot
1 small leek
1 medium potato
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 onion
fresh chives (to garnish)
All veg should be peeled if necessary and finely diced.

Put the peas in a large pan, add the water and bring to the boil.
Add the bacon pieces, cover and cook for about 40 minutes over a medium heat.
Add the celeriac, carrot, leek and potato and stir in the marjoram.
Bring to the boil again. Cover and cook for 20 mins.
In a frying pan, brown the onion in about a tbsp of oil.
Add the onion to the soup.
Take half of the soup and blend it, then add it back to the rest.
Season with pepper ( it probably won't need salt, because of the bacon). 
Then sprinkle with chopped chives.

Serves 6
 

 

Say Cheese

When it comes to cheesecake, I usually stick to an easy refrigerator mixture,

but I couldn't resist trying this baked recipe from Nestle - 

they had me at 'toffee'.

The mixture itself was very easy to put together, my only worry was how I would tell if it was baked properly. Most people seem to go with the jiggly method ie: the outside edges should be just set and the middle still a little jiggly!! 
Hmmm... there was lots of  'is that too jiggly?'  'Is that just jiggly enough?'
Finally, I used a thermometer and took the cheesecake out when it reached 70C (it was perfectly cooked).
 

It was delicious - but not without error.

My biscuit base was soft.

Was that because of the water bath?

Also, instead of pretty swirls of caramel, mine all sank to the bottom.

Notes: Try baking the biscuit layer for about 8 mins, before adding the filling.

If you don't want a layer of caramel, use a spoon to very gently swirl the caramel through the filling.