An Islay Cookbook. Compiled and illustrated by Carol Ogilvie. Published 1995.
Over 200 different recipes (samples below) - all using one or more of the fine natural ingredients available on the island, though this does not, of course, stop you trying them out elsewhere! The recipes are grouped under the following headings: Soups, Shellfish, Fish, Meat, Game, Supper Dishes and Snacks, Puddings and Sweets, Cakes and Biscuits, Jams, Sauces and Pickles, Home-made Wines and Drinks. How about a meal of Cockle Soup, Scallops in Parsley and Wine Sauce, Mrs McLellan's Lamb Casserole, ending with a Bunnahabhain Pie, and washed down with Gorse Wine? And for a supper snack later, some slices of Islay Loaf spread with Bruichladdich Butter, to accompany a small glass of Athol Brose. Illustrated throughout with line drawings.
Price £5.00, plus 65p postage, but post free if ordered with 'The Birds of Islay - A Celebration in Photographs'
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A few sample recipes:
STUFFED SCALLOP SHELLS COASTGUARDS’ FEAST MIDNIGHT WATCH SUPPER BRUICHLADDICH BUTTER BUNNAHABHAINN PIE ISLAY LIQUEUR CHOCOLATES
Several large scallops, 3 cups brown rice, 8 oz minced chicken, 1 cup peas,
4 oz diced ham, 1 cup sweetcorn, 1 egg, 1 pint cheese sauce. Clean and poach
the scallops for 15 minutes then remove the meat from the shells, rinse them
and put the shells on one side. Take the scallop meat and place in a blender
with the chicken, ham, and the egg. Blend into a forcemeat and place it back
in the scallop shells. Cook the brown rice with the corn and peas and drain
when cooked. Line the bottom of a shallow baking dish with this rice and arrange
the shells on it. Cover with cheese sauce and bake for 20 minutes. If necessary,
mussels can be substituted for scallops.
3/4 lb lamb fillet or shoulder (boned), 3 tbsps double cream, 2 oz butter, 4
oz chopped onion, 8 oz can of tomatoes, 2 level tsps brown sugar, 6 oz long
grained rice, 4 tbsps vinegar, 1 level tsp turmeric, 1 level tsp ground ginger,
1/2 pint stock, 2 oz raisins, 2 oz peeled prawns, 1/4 pint natural yoghurt,
2 level tsps paprika,
1-2 cloves garlic - crushed (optional!).
Preheat a moderately hot oven (375 F). Cut the meat into matchstick strips and
fry in the butter over a fairly high heat until evenly browned on all sides.
Remove to a casserole. Fry the onions for 3 minutes and add to the casserole.
Add the tomatoes and their juice together with the sugar, rice, vinegar, turmeric,
ginger, garlic, raisins, stock, salt and paper. Mix well and cover. Cook in
the oven for about 50 minutes until the rice and meat are tender. Stir in the
prawns. Combine the yoghurt with the cream and paprika, and add salt and pepper
to taste.
Serve either in individual portions with good helpings of soured cream sauce
on top, or place the casserole on the table and serve the sauce separately.
4 tbsps single cream, 1 1/2 lbs potatoes, 2 tbsps cooking oil, 8 oz cold cooked
meat, 8 spring onions, 4 tbsbs mayonnaise, 8 oz carrot, 8 oz dessert apples,
peeled, 2 tbsps vinegar, 4 tsps horseradish sauce, 2 level tsps castor sugar,
6 tbsps vegetable oil, salt and pepper.
Peel and dice the potatoes into small cubes. Place them in a saucepan with the
cooking oil and salted cold water to cover. Bring to the boil in an open pan,
reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes until just tender. Strain the
potatoes in a colander, rinse in cold water and leave to drain. Chop the meat
(any kind except ham) and onions very finely. Keep the green tops of the onions
separate. Combine the potatoes, meat and white parts of onion in a bowl and
add the mayonnaise and cream. Stir together until all the ingredients are evenly
coated in mayonnaise. Coarsely grate the carrot and apple into a bowl, add the
horseradish sauce, vinegar, sugar and vegetable oil. Stir well and season to
taste with salt and pepper. When ready to serve, divide the meat salad onto
four plates and arrange the carrot mixture round each portion. Add a sprinkling
of chopped green onion tops.
4 oz unsalted butter, 1/4 lb castor sugar, 1 tot Bruichladdich malt whisky.
Cream the butter, gradually add the sugar as you beat, and finally the whisky
drop by drop. Pile into a glass dish and chill before serving together with
cream as an accompaniment to Christmas pudding or similar.
2 eggs, 2 pints milk, 4 egg yolks, 1 lemon, 2 pints boiling water, 1 large cup
clotted cream, 6 oz sultanas, 1 tot Bunnahabhainn whisky, cinnamon and nutmeg,
puff pastry.
Beat the whole eggs and blend with the milk. Stir in the boiling water, pour
in the juice of the lemon and remove the curd as it rises. Drain in a sieve.
Mix the drained curd well with the beaten egg yolks. Stir in the clotted cream,
a little ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg, lemon rind, the sultanas and whisky.
Mix well. Line a flan dish with the puff pastry, fill with the mixture and bake
in a hot oven.
Go on to the shore and select two dozen pretty cup shaped shells about an inch
across. Small scallops or limpets are ideal. Soak them well in fresh water to
remove any salt and scrub them vigorously under the tap. Place the shells on
a wire tray so that the tops are horizontal. Melt some good quality chocolate,
milk or plain, in a dish over hot water and brush a layer round the insides
of the shells. Build up a good thickness with about three coats. When cold nearly
fill the centres with whisky (Port Ellen, Bowmore and Islay Mist go particularly
well with milk chocolate). To make the lids, melt some Scotchoc and pour it
onto some foil. Cut out pieces to fit just inside each shell and put in position.
Then using the original chocolate pour on until each shell is sealed. Place
the shells in the fridge until completely hard and cold when the chocolate liqueurs
should come out of their shell moulds quite easily. Wrap in clear foil or silver
paper and package.