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.

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A few sample recipes:

STUFFED SCALLOP SHELLS
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.

COASTGUARDS’ FEAST
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.

MIDNIGHT WATCH SUPPER
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.

BRUICHLADDICH BUTTER
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.

BUNNAHABHAINN PIE
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.

ISLAY LIQUEUR CHOCOLATES
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.

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