Skip to content
Recipes

All recipes

Vegetarian, or something you can't eat? Set your diet once and we'll hide recipes that don't fit.

Scottish stovies

Stovies, from the Scots word for stewing on the stove, is the Monday dish made from Sunday's roast all over Scotland, and the ceilidh and wedding supper served late in the evening with oatcakes and beetroot. Potatoes and onions are cooked slowly in beef dripping with the leftover meat and its jelly until some potatoes collapse into a thick, savoury mash and some stay in chunks. Chef's tip: don't stir too often; let the bottom catch a little, as those brown bits are the best part.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mince and tatties

Mince and tatties is the weekday tea of Scottish homes and school canteens, so familiar that 'mince' is Scots slang for nonsense. Beef mince is browned and simmered with onion, carrot and a little oatmeal to thicken, then served with plain boiled or mashed potatoes and often peas. Chef's tip: brown the mince in batches until it crackles and turns properly brown; grey mince gives a flat flavour.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Devilled kidneys

Devilled kidneys were a Victorian gentlemen's club breakfast in London and on country house sideboards, and they have come back on the menus of British chop houses as a brunch dish. Lamb's kidneys are dusted with flour, mustard powder and cayenne, fried quickly and finished in a peppery sauce, then piled on hot buttered toast. Chef's tip: snip out the white core from each kidney; it is tough and has a strong taste.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Penclawdd cockles and laverbread

On the Gower peninsula near Swansea, the cocklewomen of Penclawdd have raked cockles from the estuary sands for centuries, and Swansea market still sells them beside laverbread, a dark purée of laver seaweed. Together with smoked bacon (pork) they make the traditional South Wales breakfast: laverbread rolled in oatmeal and fried into little cakes, cockles tossed in the bacon fat with pepper and vinegar. Chef's tip: soak live cockles in salted water so they spit out their sand before cooking.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Belfast pastie supper

Despite the name, a Belfast pastie has no pastry: it is a round patty of seasoned pork mince, onion and potato, dipped in batter and deep-fried, and served as a 'pastie supper' with chips in chip shops across Northern Ireland. It is crisp outside and soft and peppery within, and is eaten with salt, vinegar and gravy. Chef's tip: chill the patties until firm before battering so they keep their shape in the fryer.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Balmoral chicken

Balmoral chicken, named after the royal castle on Deeside, is the Scottish hotel and wedding-dinner dish of chicken breast stuffed with haggis, wrapped in smoked streaky bacon (pork) and roasted, usually with a whisky cream sauce. This version uses a peppercorn cream sauce with no alcohol. Chef's tip: make a deep pocket rather than butterflying the breast, so the haggis stays inside as it cooks.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ballycastle yellowmanHoneycomb toffee

Yellowman is the bright yellow, brittle honeycomb toffee hacked from great slabs at the Ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle, County Antrim, at the end of every August, often eaten with dulse. Golden syrup, sugar and butter are boiled to the hard-crack stage and then foamed with bicarbonate of soda into a crunchy, airy toffee. Chef's tip: have the tin and the soda ready before you start; once it reaches temperature you have seconds.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bedfordshire clangerMeat and jam suet roll

The Bedfordshire clanger is a long suet-crust roll that held a whole working lunch for farm labourers and the lace and straw-hat workers of Bedfordshire: savoury pork and potato at one end and sweet jam or apple at the other, marked by slashes so you knew which end to start with. Bakeries in Luton and Bedford still sell them. Chef's tip: build a pastry wall between the two fillings so the jam doesn't run into the meat.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Clootie dumplingBoiled spiced fruit pudding

The clootie dumpling takes its name from the cloot, the cotton cloth it is boiled in, and it is the birthday and Hogmanay pudding of Scottish grannies from Fife to the Borders. It is a dense, dark, spiced fruit pudding with a sticky skin that forms when the floured cloth is dried in front of the oven. Leftover slices are fried for breakfast. Traditional recipes use beef suet; this one uses vegetable suet so it stays vegetarian. Chef's tip: dust the scalded cloth thickly with flour before filling it; that flour is what forms the famous skin.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cock-a-leekieChicken and leek soup

Cock-a-leekie is Scotland's national soup, a clear broth of chicken and plenty of leeks, traditionally served on Burns Night and St Andrew's Day. A few prunes go in at the end, which sounds odd but gives little bursts of sweetness against the peppery broth. Some families thicken it with a handful of rice or barley. Chef's tip: add most of the leeks only for the last 15 minutes, so they stay green and silky instead of turning grey.

105 minBritishSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cornish stargazy piePilchard pie

Stargazy pie is baked in the Cornish fishing village of Mousehole every 23 December for Tom Bawcock's Eve, celebrating the fisherman who is said to have sailed out in a storm and saved the village from famine. Whole pilchards or sardines are baked under pastry with egg, potato and bacon, their heads poking out so they gaze at the stars and their oil runs back into the filling. The bacon is smoked pork. Chef's tip: ask the fishmonger to bone the fish but leave the heads on; it makes the pie much easier to eat.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

CranachanOat, raspberry and whisky cream dessert

Cranachan began as a harvest-home dessert in the Highlands, made when the raspberries ripened in June and July, and it is now served on Burns Night and at Scottish weddings. Layers of whipped cream sweetened with heather honey, toasted pinhead or rolled oats and fresh raspberries make it crunchy, rich and sharp all at once. The traditional splash of Scotch whisky contains alcohol; for an alcohol-free version use a few drops of vanilla and a squeeze of orange juice instead. Chef's tip: toast the oats until they smell nutty and look golden; raw oats taste floury.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Empire biscuitsJam-filled iced shortbreads

Empire biscuits sit in the window of every Scottish high-street bakery: two rounds of crisp shortcake stuck together with raspberry jam, topped with white icing and a jelly sweet or half a glacé cherry. They were called Linzer or German biscuits until the First World War. Chef's tip: let the biscuits cool completely before sandwiching, or the jam soaks in and they go soft.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Forfar bridiesBeef and onion pastries

The bridie is the pride of Forfar in Angus, a horseshoe-shaped pastry stuffed with chopped beef steak and onion, sold hot from the town's bakers and eaten on market days and at weddings. Unlike a Cornish pasty there is no potato, just peppery beef, onion and beef suet in shortcrust. The holes on top tell you the filling: one hole for plain, two for onion. Chef's tip: chop the steak by hand into small pieces rather than using mince; it keeps the filling juicy.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Huntingdon fidget pieGammon, apple and onion pie

Fidget pie is a harvest pie from Huntingdonshire and the Fens around Cambridge, baked for farm workers bringing in the crops in autumn. It is a pork dish: chunks of gammon (cured pork) are layered with sharp cooking apples and onions in a cider gravy under shortcrust, so it is salty, sweet and fruity all at once. This recipe contains alcohol from the cider; for alcohol-free use cloudy apple juice with a teaspoon of cider vinegar. Chef's tip: soak salty gammon in cold water for an hour first, or the pie can be too salty.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kentish gypsy tartEvaporated milk and muscovado tart

Gypsy tart is the school-dinner pudding of Kent, remembered fondly by anyone who grew up in Margate, Maidstone or the Medway towns. Evaporated milk is whisked with dark muscovado sugar until it doubles into a toffee-coloured mousse, poured into a pastry case and baked just long enough to set into a fluffy, sticky, intensely sweet filling. Chef's tip: chill the evaporated milk overnight; cold milk whips up much more volume.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Liverpool scouseBeef and lamb stew

Scouse is so central to Liverpool that its people are named after it; the thick stew of meat, potatoes and onions was carried from the Baltic by sailors and cooked for dockers' families, and city restaurants still celebrate Global Scouse Day each February. Some of the potatoes cook down into the gravy, making it thick and hearty. Serve it with pickled red cabbage or beetroot and crusty bread. Chef's tip: cut half the potatoes small so they collapse and thicken the stew, and leave the rest in chunks.

170 minBritishMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

London particularSplit pea and ham soup

London particular is a thick, yellow-green soup of split peas and smoked pork ham hock, named after the pea-souper smogs that once smothered the city. It was a cheap winter warmer in Victorian London eating houses and is still on menus in pubs and cafés when the weather turns. The hock gives a deep smoky saltiness and shreds of soft meat. Chef's tip: skim the grey foam off as the water first boils, for a cleaner taste.

135 minBritishSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lorne sausageSquare beef and pork sausage

Lorne sausage, better known in Scotland simply as square sausage or slice, is a skinless loaf of seasoned beef and pork mince that is cut into squares and fried for the full Scottish breakfast, or slapped in a morning roll with brown sauce. It is easy to make at home and freezes well. Chef's tip: freeze the shaped block for an hour before slicing; it cuts into neat, thin squares.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Northumberland pan haggertyLayered potato, onion and cheese

Pan haggerty is a frugal supper from Northumberland and the Durham pit villages, made in a single heavy frying pan from thin layers of potato, onion and grated cheese. The bottom turns crisp and brown while the top melts under the grill, and it is eaten straight from the pan with pickles. Cheddar is often made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian cheddar. Chef's tip: slice the potatoes paper-thin and dry them in a tea towel; wet slices steam instead of browning.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Orkney clapshotSwede and potato mash

Clapshot is the Orkney way with neeps and tatties: equal amounts of swede and potato mashed together with butter, chives and plenty of pepper, rather than served side by side. Islanders eat it with oatcakes and cheese, with mince, or alongside haggis on Burns Night. It is sweet, earthy and soft-orange. Chef's tip: dry the boiled vegetables in the hot pan before mashing, or the swede makes it watery.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Partan breeCrab and rice soup

Partan bree comes from the fishing villages of the north-east of Scotland, where partan is the Scots word for the brown crab and bree means broth. Rice is simmered in milk and fish stock until soft, blended with the crab's brown meat, and finished with sweet white claw meat and a little cream. It is the coast's answer to a bisque, simpler and milder. Buy ready-cooked crab meat and keep it chilled. Chef's tip: add the white meat right at the end and only warm it through, so it stays in flakes.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

RumbledethumpsPotato, cabbage and onion bake

Rumbledethumps comes from the Scottish Borders, a thrifty supper of mashed potato, buttery cabbage and onion baked under a crust of cheddar, usually made with the Sunday roast leftovers on a Monday night. The name is said to come from the rumbling and thumping of the pans. Traditional cheddar is often made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian cheddar if that matters to you. Chef's tip: cook the cabbage only until bright and just tender so it keeps some bite in the bake.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sally Lunn bunsBrioche-style bun

The Sally Lunn is a huge, airy, enriched bun from the Georgian city of Bath, where an old house by the Abbey still serves it split and toasted, sweet with cinnamon butter or savoury with cheese. The dough is soft, with plenty of egg, butter and cream, so it bakes up light like brioche. Chef's tip: the dough is very soft; use a cake tin to hold its shape rather than shaping it freehand.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 24 of 501 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 15 of 21