Keeper's Favourites

[Olan Giech]

Odd recipes that were once cooked but have now been long forgotten...

Rook Pie

Ingredients
3/4lb Puff Pastry
4 Rooks
small beefsteak
1/2 teaspoon of meat extract
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon of salt
powdered mace
1/2 pint of water
1oz butter
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Method
Skin the Rooks, cut out the back-bone and draw, remove the head and feet, and wing bones to second joint. Soak in milk water with salt for 4 hours, divide the steak into strips, mix the flour, mace, salt and pepper on a plate. Roll each piece of steak in the seasoning, put a small amount of butter in each and lace on the top of the steak, pour in a little of the water with the meat extract, with the pastry, brush over with beaten egg, make 2 or 3 holes in the pastry to ventilate the pie and bake for 90mins in a moderate oven.

[Big Sandy]

This is good with venison.....

Regardless of how you caught it!



A variation of the much-loved vegetable dish from the borders. It can be prepared in advance and popped in the oven towards the end of your roasts cooking time…………

Serves 12

3lbs 8ozs tatties
2lbs neeps
6ozs butter
1 large cabbage, finely sliced.
3ozs cheddar cheese, grated.

1. Peel and chop the tatties and neeps, and boil them together in a large ovenproof dish of salted water, for 20 – 30 minutes, until tender.

2. Pre-heat oven to 170 deg. C. Drain the vegetables well, return to pan and cover tightly, then shake over a low heat to dry them off completely.

3. Heat half the butter in another pan, add the cabbage and cook until just tender, but still bright green ( 3 – 4 minutes ). Tip all the buttery cabbage into the tatties and neeps and add the remaining butter. Roughly mix everything together and season to taste, with salt and pepper, cover top with grated cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

4. Before serving, brown top under pre-heated grill for 5 minutes.

Enjoy.

Big Sandy

[OldFart]

Originally posted by Big Sandy


Regardless of how you caught it!





Aha now we know why you were up so early this morning :wink2:

[Big Sandy]

LOL! :hahaha: Nice one!

Sandy

[Olan Giech]

Grey Squirrels are regarded as a pest by many people but after having been dispatched by shotgun, gutted and skinned their ÒorganicÓ meat is very tasty.

Stewed in Merrydown cider, with onions, mushrooms and fresh carrots. Garnish with chopped parsley, then serve with jacket potatoes and steamed young stinging nettles. Pick the leaves from young nettles (carefully) and steam. Nettles taste similar to spinach and are very nutritious. Grate nutmeg on top.

[Big Sandy]

Nettles taste similar to spinach and are very nutritious

They make pretty good beer too! I'll have a look and see if I can find the recipe... I have it somewhere.

Big Sandy

[Big Sandy]

I knew I had this recipe knocking about somewhere.. I found it some time ago on a food and drink website. I tried making it using my Grandmothers recipe, and it works well.... but now I can't find the original recipe, but this looks very similar,. It's a volatile mixture, during making and drinking:buck:

Nettle Beer
900g (2lb) Young Nettle Tops( from somewhere dog free!)
4.5lt (8 pints) Water
450g (1lb) Demerara Sugar
2 Lemons
25g (1 oz) Cream of Tartar
15g (½oz) Brewers or Wine Yeast
Wash and drain the nettles.
Finely peel the lemons, take off only the outer waxy layer, squeeze the juice.
Place the nettles and water into a large saucepan and bring to the boil, boil for 15 minutes. (This may be done in batches if you do not have a large enough saucepan.)
Strain the liquid into a large container with the lemon rind and juice and cream of tartar, stir well.
Allow to cool to about 21°C (70°F), remove a little of the liquid and mix with the yeast, stir the yeast mixture into the liquid.
Cover the container with a clean cloth (ensuring that the cloth cannot come into contact with the liquid) and secure with string or elastic.
Leave in a warm place 21°C (70°F) for 3 days.
Strain the liquid into strong bottles and cork.
Secure the corks with wire, leaving a little play (for possible expansion)
Store the bottle in a cool dark place.
If the corks begin to rise, release the wire slightly and re-secure.
The beer should be ready to drink after one week.

Enjoy!

Big Sandy

[Big Sandy]

Well, Heather gets wild if you pinch her:hahaha: !

This is one of those recipes that requires a bit of patience in the collection department, but it works well, and it tastes good!

You can use 1 litre pop bottles instead of the glass beer bottles, but go for the coloured ones, green or brown, and adjust the amount of sugar you add accordingly.

Wild Heather Ale

Makes 30 pints…

Ingredients

2.5kg Milled pale malted barley
250g Milled crystal malt
Cold water
Small piece of fat (animal or vegetable)
8 Large handfuls of heather flowers
2 handfuls Bog Myrtle leaves
2 tsp bakers yeast or beer yeast
1 level teaspoon of sugar (or honey) per 750ml bottle.

Method

1. Into a 3 gallon jam or jelly pan, put 2.5kg of milled pale barley and 250g of crystal malt, mix this with cold water. Continue to add water to cover the grain into a slack, sloppy mixture.

2. Very slowly, heat for 3 hours until warm….. Do not allow temperature to go above 70C. Use a small piece of hard fat to indicate temperature. Solid = cold. Runny = warm. Beads = too hot.

3. Mix every half hour, removing piece of fat each time whilst mixing.

4. Peg a coarse dishcloth over a second pan (or bucket) and strain out the liquor. Rinse the grains with several kettles of hot (not boiling!!) water, and leave to drain.

5. Boil this liquid for one hour with five large handfuls of heather flowers and one handful of bog myrtle leaves.

6. Rinse the dishcloth and peg over the fermentation bucket. Place three handfuls of heather flowers and one handful of bog myrtle in the cloth, then pour the hot liquor over this into bucket. Make the bucket up to 30 pints with cold water and leave to cool to body temperature.

7. Add two teaspoons of bakers yeast or a sachet of beer yeast and leave for six to eight days to ferment. Adding more heather flowers at this stage will ferment the ale, but the flavour will be more sour and wine-like.

8. Once the ale has stopped fizzing pour it into strong screw-top 750ml lemonade or beer bottles. Add one level teaspoon of sugar (or honey if you prefer) to each bottle, fit the top, and then store in a warm place for a couple of days. Then remove to a cool place, and store until clear.



Big Sandy

[Big Sandy]

If you live in an area that has no local beer making supplier, take a look at www.ritchieproducts.co.uk , They are a company in Burton on Trent, and do all sorts of wine and beer making accessories, kits, and ingredients. I think that you can order online, but I usually give them a ring. They can also tell you where your nearest homebrew supplier is.

Big Sandy

[Olan Giech]

I must admit I haven't had the courage to try this one yet;

Mrs GrieveÕs Fish Custard

Ingredients
1lb smoked haddock (skinned and boned)
1 pint milk
2 dessertspoons cornflour
2-3 eggs
knob of butter
salt and pepper to taste

Method
Place the fish in a shallow pan, add 2/3 of milk cover and poach gently until the fish is cooked. Remove the fish from the pan and keep warm.
Mix the cornflower with the remaining milk and add to the warm milk until it thickens.
Add rest of the milk and the butter until a smooth sauce is formed.
Beat the eggs until light and frothy then very slowly add to the white sauce, stirring all the time to prevent curdling.
Do not boil.
Flake the fish and remove any bones.
Add to the custard, season to taste, warm gently and serve with new potatoes or thick crusty bread.

[Alan H]

Anyone recommend a good marinade for:
a. Lamb
b. Boar
Home made or bought.

We are intending to put weight on with good home cooking in Arran!

[Olan Giech]

Marinade for red meats.

Red wine or Port
1 desert spoonfull of Balsamic vineagar or red wine vineagar
Loads of Juniper berries
Blood from the meat or animal
Rosemary
Salt & Pepper
Lemon juice
Garlic
A chopped onion if desired.

Cover the meat in the marinade for no more than 18hrs.

I use this marinade for 'Jugged Hare'. See new thread (to follow) - Game for the 'Jugged Hare' recipe.

For white meats and fish I use a white wine and white wine vineagar, leave out the blood part, and use lime juice and the zest instead of just lemon juice.

[Alan H]

That sounds good. Just a thought though, who is Rosemary and will she chop up the onion for me?:hahaha:

[Olan Giech]

Rosemarino
is a Sardinian fisherman who'll come and stomp on ya' onions, he'll make yer eyes water too :p

[Alan H]

Fair brings tears to me eyes!

[greg]

try some pinapple juice , brown suger and rum
leave to marinate for a few hours