Lindsey

Forgive them they know not what they do!!! Sadly the doner kebab is consumed, mainly, when the alcohol levels are higher than the intelligence quota. YUK Dogfish was, indeed, consumed in fish shops in London when I was a child but it went by the more appealing title of Rock Salmon (?). Skate, also, was popular. Pollock is used mostly, over here, for feeding cats. I find this sad.

Oh Help. Haddock, sparkling fresh, is what we use - frankly don't think Scotland is ready for anything else! Not being a lover of fish I am clueless as to the cooking etc of other family members.

The Sunday Mail indeed, now had it been the Mirror....... May play with cornflour in the batter I think.

A huge unctuous Oxtail falling from the bone with wonderful slightly bitter turnips tucked round it.

How lucky am I - I can buy the most wonderful cream coloured beef dripping from my butcher, in fact all butchers here sell it. If you are really lucky you can get the jelly underneath as well, a real treat. Try it on hot toast - pure heaven

Thanks everyone for the input - food for thought indeed. I have to admit it was my thought that the batter needed seasoning, not the locals Butteries are consumed daily up here with glee, we are about 11/2 hours from Aberdeen. Never having tasted one I was unaware of the high salt content.

Ummm. Salt is a preservative, but that ought not to be the point. The point about using beer in the batter is supposed to be the carbonation. Heating the batter drives off some gas, supposedly making the batter "lighter" (or rather, foamy - which has a lot of effects, including allowing the very outside layer to be quite thin/hot/crisp.) The problem I see is that leaving it sitting around all day will lose a lot of the CO2. Flat beer doesn't help to make 'light' batter. I suspect that, if anything, salt might make it go flat faster. But I really don't think it ought to be sitting around all day. (Keeping it cold will better preserve the dissolved CO2, but might alter your ideal cooking times and temps.) I'd suggest a taste test between absolutely freshly made and several hours old batter. And using different beers. For this job (if not for drinking) fizzy should be good. It may also be necessary to point out to international readers that the Scottish taste preference is for LOTS of salt! However, thinking commercially, if this really is 'one of your best sellers', then you mess with it at your peril. If the customers like it (whatever you might think), beware of changing it unless you intend finding different customers! Perhaps the development thinking would best be concentrated on those offerings that are less popular? ← Thank you for you thoughts, I quite agree, if it ain't broke don't fix it makes great sense however, the Boss has the last word and he wants it bigger and better!!! I am happy to report that, in this neck of the woods at least, taste for salt has lessened considerably, I use hardly any in my cookery and it seems to please. Will let you all know how we get on with tastings etc.

Thanks for that

I work in a very popular Seafood Pub on the N.E. Coast of Scotland, one of our best sellers is beer battered haddock. I feel there is something missing from the batter mix, historically no seasonings have been added and I wonder if the addition of salt would change the keeping quality of the batter. We do make fresh every day, if not twice a day but would the addition of salt and maybe pepper shorten the life of the batter. And any other additions to recommend? Thanks for your thoughts.

Never heard of this way of cooking an oxtail, over here we tend to use a dark beer to temper some of the sweetness of the meat. However would think it would be best to add the cream at the end of the cooking.

Hello everyone, just got home from work and wanted to share this 'stuff' with you (technical word of course). Made some individual Apricot Bakewell tarts but they needed something, so I soaked 2kilo dried apricots in a strong tea made with Earl Grey tea leaves and let them soak for 1/2 hour, longer would have been better, put this mix into a saucepan with about 3 tbls chopped fresh ginger and 4 tbls good vanilla sugar (preferably home made with lots of vanilla in) lastly a few grinds of fresh black pepper. Served this warm with the tart and it really did lift the wee soul to another realm, mind you I think it would be good on about anything! Am thinking of using it in a hot sponge pudding with a few more spices maybe.

I have to confess that I have never been able to get fried chicken right. Can it be done in an oven and, if so, how? Any pointers would be gratefully received, also what spices do you recommend?

In the past I have been lucky enough to receive gifts of this from U.S. chums and I have got to love it. Anyone have a recipe for this spice mix? I can work out a good few of the herbs and spices but can't get it anywhere near spot on.

It looks wonderful and intriguing. Although I can't help but notice that using all that olive oil must be expensive. What do you do with it after you use it? Just throw it out? ← Sorry not to have got back to you sooner, I was not explicit enough, if you put the chicken to marinate in a smallish bowl you should not need more than max 3 tbls oil this oil is encorrporated into the dish and provides a sauce.

Good evening Everyone frae Bonnie Scotland, today I made Lamb and Honey Tagine, not one of my favourites in the past, maybe my fault for not getting the balance right. However I have discovered a wonderful Ras El Hanout just bursting with rose petals and all things perfumed and exotic with quite a kick to boot!!! Served it with a sultana(soaked in Earl Grey tea) and fresh herb cous cous finished with toasted almonds and pomegranite seeds. Our beautiful local Raspberries with cream to finish.

OH I SO envy anyone who can grow toms, our days are too short and our weather too bad up here But, on the odd occasion I get a good tomato I love to slice through the middle and lightly sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper and place in a roasting tin, depending on personal taste top with fresh garlic, either one slice or a small heap of minced garlic, 3 or 4 basil leaves and generous glugs of semi decent olive oil, put into a low oven until the tomato is getting soft and giving up it's juice. I like these served as an appetiser with heaps of good bread to mop juices or squashed onto toasted chiabatta.

Tonight we are having plain grilled pork steaks with an Aubergine, spinach and ginger curry and a mustard seed cauliflower pillau, served with a sweet chilli mint chutney from the garden.

I have many of the books mentioned here already but would truly recommend any Joceline Dimblelby books, now sadly out of print but available on Amazon. She has a unique and interesting style very much her own but very accessable

I was taught to make a wonderful dish by a Roman Chef. He sliced the aubergines lengthwise and salted them, dried them off very well and set them out on an oven tray and dried them in a low oven until almost leather-like. (also did this with courgettes) when cold he would drench them in the best EVOO he could afford, lots of finely chopped garlic, lots of chopped parsley and a small spritz of lemon juice. The aubergine flesh drinks up the wonderful garlic olive oil and becomes soft and unctuous. Needs an overflowing basket of good bread to sop up the wonderful juices. Oh and a wee bottle of vino

Hello Everyone I would like to share this wonderful chicken recipe I was given by a friend from Lebanon, very ease and truly the taste is much more than the parts, please adjust to personal preferences. Will just give the outline as you wonderful cooks will pick up the gist, 4 chicken breasts, skin on if preferred, chopped into large pieces juice of 1-3 lemons depending on your taste and the juicyness of the lemons 3 tbs dark soy sauce 1- 4 crushed garlic cloves enough Virgin Olive Oil to cover Allow to marinate for at least 30 mins then slowly simmer in the oil until cooked. I like to serve with basmati rice mixed with petit pois and a well dressed green salad. This has become a well loved staple recipe in our house.

I used to live in a cottage with no stove and found I could use my electric fry pan for everything really, even lasagne, but it excelled itself when making Roast Chicken with all the baby veg tucked in the sides. I used it so much it died a happy death and was much missed. I now have an electric skillet pan - not quite so useful without a lid, but a huge boon when company comes for breakfast etc. Just 2 of us now so really do not need either of these, sadly.

I have actually unearthed an interesting looking chutney recipe with Indian spices and lots of Cardamon which looks interesting, will post recipe if anyone interested. Think I will now make both Ketchup and Chutney - Goosesberry jam sounds wonderful but if I made it I would have to eat it and Heaven knows I have enough troubles with sweet things as it is

That sounds like a lovely B and B you found!! We live not far from Fort William, beautiful area and lucky you to have seen a pine marten, that is something I have never seen. The first of our Scottish Raspberries and Strawberries are coming in now - they are truly delicious with a wonderful depth of flavour and I await the arrival of the currants for a huge Summer Pudding Thank you everyone for your replies - the ketchup sounds wonderful.

Actually the Scots love pancakes in any shape or form and they can be bought at all local bakers. Thanks for the idea.

Due to unseasonable weather here in Scotland, i.e. heat, have a glut of wonderful gooseberries flooding into my workplace. I would be so grateful for any ideas to use this fruit in a new and interesting way. We are mainly a local fish and seafood eatery so have used the fruit with Mackerel and as a desert with crumble and a fool(!!). Thanks all, new here so please bear with me.