[Sca-cooks] looking for maire's haggis recipe

Stefan li Rous StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Thu Dec 21 18:44:13 PST 2006


I may have missed the original request for this. However in saving a  
haggis recipe posted by Selene, I noted this message which I have yet  
to add to my haggis-msg file. Perhaps this is the one that someone  
was looking for?

Stefan

======
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 18:20:31 -0400
From: "Mairi Ceilidh" <jjterlouw at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] haggis?
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

This is from a post I sent to a local cooks list quite some time ago.
Getting the ingredients to make a proper haggis is very difficult  
lately, so
I developed a recipe that works well, and seems to be acceptable even to
native Scots.  I am posting both a traditional recipe, and my version  
for
use when the ingredients aren't available (i.e.:  when you don't have
your own sheep to butcher).

Enjoy!  I enjoy making haggis and eating it.

Traditional Haggis

1 sheep's lungs (may be omitted if not available)
1 sheep's stomach
1 sheep heart
1 sheep liver
1 pound fresh suet (kidney leaf fat is preferred)
1 cup oatmeal (steel cut, not rolled oats)
3 onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup stock
1/2 cup Single Malt Whisky

Wash lungs and stomach well, rub with salt and rinse. Remove  
membranes and
excess fat. Soak in cold salted water for several hours. Place the  
lungs in
a pan of cold water with the windpipe hanging over the edge (to  
facilitate
the removal of any impurities) and slowly bring to a boil.  Reduce  
heat and
simmer for about 20 minutes.  Chop fairly finely.  Turn stomach  
inside out
for stuffing. Cover heart and liver with cold water. Bring to a boil,  
reduce
heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Chop heart and coarsely grate  
liver.
Toast oatmeal in a skillet on top of the stove, stirring frequently,  
until
golden.  Chop suet finely.  Combine all ingredients and mix well.  
Loosely
pack mixture into stomach, about two-thirds full. Remember, oatmeal  
expands
in cooking. Press any air out of stomach and truss securely. Put into
boiling water to cover. Simmer for 3 hours, uncovered, adding more  
water as
needed to maintain water level. Prick stomach several times with a sharp
needle when it begins to swell; this keeps the bag from bursting.  
Place on a
hot platter, removing trussing strings.

Have a piper play Scotland the Brave as the platter is carried to the  
table.
Have a bard ready, sgine dubh in hand, to pay honor to the haggis in the
time honored words of the National Poet of Scotland (Ode to the  
Haggis by
Robert Burns).  Serve with Tatties and Neeps (potatoes and turnips,  
boiled
and mashed together), Oat Cakes and Single Malt.  Listen for the  
change in
your patterns of speech.

Now, it is all very well and good to provide recipes like this, but  
it is
seldom that one has a chance to lay hands on all the authentic  
ingredients.
For that reason, I developed a version that seems to be acceptable to  
native
Scots and cause less aversion in PA Americans (yes, that stands for  
pansy
a$$).

Mother Mairi's Haggis

1 lb. ground lamb
1 lb. chicken livers
1 lb. hard leaf suet
1-2 large onions
1 cup McCann's Steel Cut Oats (available at Publix)
Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg to taste
1/2 cup broth (from cooking livers)
1/2 cup Single Malt

Chop onions and sauté with ground lamb.  Boil livers in just enough  
salted
water.  Cool and grate.  Chop suet finely.  (The chopping can be done  
in a
food processor).  Toast the oats until they are light golden brown.   
Mix all
ingredients, and wrap in a double layer of cheese cloth (or place in a
pudding bag).  Be sure to do this over the pot in which you plan to  
cook the
haggis so that none of the juices are lost.  Wrap tightly and put in pop
with the fold down.  Add water to cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce  
heat
and simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours.  Remove to a plate and open cheese cloth
carefully.  Even more carefully transfer haggis to a large sheet of  
plastic
wrap.  Fold plastic to completely encase and place on a heated serving
platter.  (Putting it in the plastic facilitates serving and makes  
the bards
performance work better when he plunges the sgine dubh into the  
"steaming,
reeking pudding".)  Serve as noted above.

Have fun!  Haggis is not the evil some make it out to be (neither is  
fruit
cake).  Most people who turn up their noses at organ meats are to  
ignorant
or prejudiced to try them.  I have no patience with those who would  
condemn
things they have never tasted.  Just don't offer me chilled monkey  
brains or
eyeball soup.  Even I have my limits.

Mairi Ceilidh
=====

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****





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