Recipes :

Whatever the season you cannot but enjoy a good Scottish salmon.

Salmon Steak Strathnaver : (serves 4)

4 salmon steaks, seasoned flour, oatmeal, 1 egg (beaten), salt and pepper, 30gms [2 tablespoons] melted butter, parsley butter , 1 lemon (sliced).

Wipe the salmon and remove the skin. Pass through the seasoned flour, dip in the beaten egg and coat with oatmeal. Brush both sides with melted butter and season. Grill both sides slowly, basting well. Garnish with parsley, butter and lemon slices.

To make parsley butter cream 90gms [6 tablespoons] butter until soft, then mix in 2 tablespoons chopped parsley,1 teaspoon lemon juice and black pepper for seasoning. Shape into a roll and chill.

Poachers' Salmon  : (serves 4)

4 Salmon cutlets, 150mls [/3 cup] single cream, 2 tablespoons  Drambuie,  ½ teaspoon anchovy essence, salt and pepper.

Place salmon cutlets in a well buttered ovenproof dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. mix the cream with the Drambuie and anchovy essence and pour over the fish. Cover the dish loosely with foil and cook the salmon at 350F/180C for 40-45minuties or until the fish is just cooked.

Server with buttered new potatoes and a cucumber salad.

Crumbly Mince Pies :  (makes 12)

275gms [2½ cups] plain flour , a good pinch of salt, 75gms[6 tablespoons] margarine, 50gms [¼ cup] lard, 375gms [1½ firmly packed cups] fruit mince.

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the fats cut into small pieces and rub then in until evenly distributed. Stir in sufficient cold water to make a fairly stiff dough, then knead it lightly into a floured surface. Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 3mm and cut out an even quantity of 7.5mm and 5mm rounds. Line tartlet tin with the larger rounds, fill with fruit mince and cover with smaller rounds, sticking the lids securely in place with water. Re roll any pastry trimmings to make more mince pies. make a hole in the centre of each with a skewer and bake the pies at 400F/200C for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm.

Mulled Wine :  (sufficient for 20 glasses)

600mls [2½ cups] water, a 7.5 piece of cinnamon stick, 1 level teaspoon ground nutmeg, 75gms[¹⁄3 cup] of soft brown sugar, 2 oranges 3 bottles of red wine,150mls [/3 cup] Drambuie.

Put the water, cinnamon stick, nutmeg and sugar into a pan. Thinly peel the rind from the oranges with a potato peeler and add it ti the pan with the orange juice. Dissolve the sugar over a low heat, bring the liquid to a boil and then remove the pan from the heat. Leave it to one side for the flavours to infuse for at least 15 minutes. Add the wine and Drambuie, then very slowly heat the liquid again, do not allow it to boil. Keep the mulled wine on a low heat and serve in warmed glasses.

Loch Loyal Shortbread :

1½ cups plain flour; ¼ cup rice flour; ¼ cup corn flour; ¼ cup caster sugar; ½ cup unsalted butter (softened).

Mix plain, rice and corn flours together with the sugar in a mixing bowl, add butter cut into small pieces and using fingertips rub in until evenly distributed. Knead together to forma soft but not sticky dough. Divided into two pieces and mould gently into 2 disc shapes approximately 2cm or ¾ inch thick. Grease and line a baking tray and sprinkle caster sugar on the base before placing the discs onto the baking tray. Score the discs into serving size segments by pressing the back of a knife partway into the shortbread. Sprinkle the tops with caster sugar also before placing baking tray into a preheated moderate oven at 160°C or 325°F for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.

For a treat replace ¹⁄3 cup of flour with ¹⁄3 cup of Almond or Hazelnut meal.

Heil'and Coffee of Cafe Drambuie :

3 dessertspoons [7 teaspoons] Drambuie, 1 Level dessertspoon [2 teaspoons] brown sugar, freshly brewed strong coffee, double cream.

Heat a stemmed glass in hot water and dry quickly. Pour in the Drambuie, stir in the sugar and pour enough coffee to come within a couple of centimetres of the rim. Stir the liquid until the sugar dissolves, then with the tip of a teaspoon just on the surface of the coffee, pour the cream over the back of the spoon, so that the cream floats on the surface to the depth of a centimetre or so. Serve at once. Slàinte Mhath! .

Its good food, that it was :

'Se biadh math a bha sin