So what is haggis and where can you find one?
Haggis gets a somewhat mixed reaction, even here in it's country of origin. It always puzzles me that when people find out what ingredients make up a haggis recipe they screw up their faces in digust yet will quite happilly stuff their faces with some of the muck from multi-national fast food chains!
There are many ways to enjoy haggis~~
* Boiled - the traditional way.
* Baked - the contents removed and baked in an oven. Purists will hve a contract out on me for including this but it just so happens to be my favourite method.
* Fried - dipped in a batter and deep fried - another one the foodie snobs will have me for, buit many people happen to like it this way and who am I to judge?
* Stuffing - haggis is also very versatile as a stuffing for poultry. Try chicken or turkey stuffed with haggis - delicious!
OK, what's in it and how do you make one?
There are numerous recipes with every butcher and granny claiming to have their own secret ingredients which makes theirs just that little bit different - different blend of spices, perhaps some smoked or game meat.
Haggis though, was created by poverty, need and the necessity to use every bit of meat and food available even if they were the "nasty bits"! Primarily a peasants dish.
Take one sheep ............
Haggis is a sausage (Great Chieftain o' the Pudding Race) encased in the sheep's stomach although many butchers will now use synthetic materials. This part is not actually eaten (Well, I don't anyways!) but for for some reason it's the ingredient in the recipe that wrinkles the noses.
I'm sure you'll eventually find a butcher or manufacturer who does you favorite recipe and that, my friend, is by far the easiest way to go. Just take it home boil, bake, fry or whatever and you're done.
Sheeps 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced (ground) with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animals stomach and boiled.
* Sheep stomach cleaned, turned inside out and soaked overnight in cold salted water.
* Heart and lungs of one lamb
* 1lb or lamb
* 2 large onions, finely chopped
* 8oz oatmeal
* salt (about a a tablespoon)
* ground black freshly ground pepper (teaspoon)
* Stock (the water the meat has been boiled in is best)
* Water
The next three are recent optional ingredients:
* dried coriander (teaspoon)
* cinnamon (teaspoon)
* nutmeg (teaspoon)
Method
* Boiled all the meat until cooked through (Save the stock)
* Mince the meat
* Mix it all together with the seasoning and stock
* Pack it into the stomach bag and seal
* Chuck it into a big pan of cold water, bring to the boil and then simmer for 2 hours
Haggis, neeps, tatties by wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Gveret_TeredHaggis is traditionally served with bashed neeps and chappit tatties. That's mashed turnip or swede and potatoes to the uninitiated. And it's even more fun with good company and a little alcoholic refreshment ....
source
http://www.obanargyll.com/haggis-recipe.htm
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