Making Haggis
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:49 pmWell everyone, Burns night is fast approaching (thats 25th Jan BTW) and a recent post from BriCan has inspired me to make some more haggis. I thought I'd share a recipe with you and hopefully I can inspire some other people to give it a go too.
For those of you who don't know much about haggis, it is a sausage (a "Puddin'" to us Scots) made from the offal of a pig or lamb which is mixed with oatmeal and spices. Traditionally it was stuffed into the stomach casing of the aforementioned beast and I think it is a great part of "nose-to-tail" eating. Nowadays most haggis are stuffed into beef bungs for convenience. Anyway here is my recipe:
3 fresh lambs plucks (3.7Kg after cooking)
400g suet (I used Atora suet because I forgot to order beef suet
)
250g pork belly
250g lamb mince
3 large spanish onions
4 large handfuls dry pinhead oatmeal
1.5 cups uncooked pearl barley
salt
spice mix- 1/2 tsp mace, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1tbsp ground coriander, 1tbsp ground allspice, 3tbsp finely ground black pepper, 4 tbsp ground white pepper
Firstly, I ordered some fresh lambs plucks from my friendly local butcher. A "pluck" is the offal attached to the windpipe and includes the heart, lungs and liver and importantly, some suet fat. I got 3 plucks but 1 is enough for a single large haggis and should only cost £2-£3.
These are then boiled in a covered pot for about an hour and a half. I removed the tough windpipe before cooking but this can be done afterwards if you like.
the cooking liqour from the pot is saved and used to cook some medium pin head oatmeal and pearl barley (cook separately because the barley takes much longer to cook). The barley is optional but I like the texture.
Dice the onions and sweat down slowly until they begin to change colour then cool. Once the cooked plucks are cool they can be minced along with the pork belly and lamb.
This mince is then mixed with the shredded suet, cooked onions, barley and oatmeal. Add salt and spice mix to taste. for the three plucks I added nearly all of the above spice mix which is a spicy haggis but you can add it to your own taste. To check the seasonings I just take out a small amount and microwave then taste. Add a splash or two of lamb stock to loosen the mix if required and stuff loosely into a beef bung
tie off
Cook the haggis gently and prick regularly to avoid bursting until desired internal temperature. I poached mine gently for 2 1/2 - 3hours.
Now it is ready to eat or store for Burns night
Serve with toast, buttery mashed potato and mashed turnip, and maybe even a whisky cream sauce (pictures to follow). Wash down with a small whisky or three
.
Go on. Give it a try
Ryan
For those of you who don't know much about haggis, it is a sausage (a "Puddin'" to us Scots) made from the offal of a pig or lamb which is mixed with oatmeal and spices. Traditionally it was stuffed into the stomach casing of the aforementioned beast and I think it is a great part of "nose-to-tail" eating. Nowadays most haggis are stuffed into beef bungs for convenience. Anyway here is my recipe:
3 fresh lambs plucks (3.7Kg after cooking)
400g suet (I used Atora suet because I forgot to order beef suet
)
250g pork belly
250g lamb mince
3 large spanish onions
4 large handfuls dry pinhead oatmeal
1.5 cups uncooked pearl barley
salt
spice mix- 1/2 tsp mace, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1tbsp ground coriander, 1tbsp ground allspice, 3tbsp finely ground black pepper, 4 tbsp ground white pepper
Firstly, I ordered some fresh lambs plucks from my friendly local butcher. A "pluck" is the offal attached to the windpipe and includes the heart, lungs and liver and importantly, some suet fat. I got 3 plucks but 1 is enough for a single large haggis and should only cost £2-£3.
These are then boiled in a covered pot for about an hour and a half. I removed the tough windpipe before cooking but this can be done afterwards if you like.
the cooking liqour from the pot is saved and used to cook some medium pin head oatmeal and pearl barley (cook separately because the barley takes much longer to cook). The barley is optional but I like the texture.
Dice the onions and sweat down slowly until they begin to change colour then cool. Once the cooked plucks are cool they can be minced along with the pork belly and lamb.
This mince is then mixed with the shredded suet, cooked onions, barley and oatmeal. Add salt and spice mix to taste. for the three plucks I added nearly all of the above spice mix which is a spicy haggis but you can add it to your own taste. To check the seasonings I just take out a small amount and microwave then taste. Add a splash or two of lamb stock to loosen the mix if required and stuff loosely into a beef bung
tie off
Cook the haggis gently and prick regularly to avoid bursting until desired internal temperature. I poached mine gently for 2 1/2 - 3hours.
Now it is ready to eat or store for Burns night
Serve with toast, buttery mashed potato and mashed turnip, and maybe even a whisky cream sauce (pictures to follow). Wash down with a small whisky or three
.
Go on. Give it a try
Ryan
Wow, thanks Robert 
