Scottish food: Cock-a-Leekie soup

Originally posted in February 2007; fully updated in January 2013. 

Photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the January 2013 issue of Kodu ja Aed. Recipe and styling by Nami-Nami. The tablecloth is Estonian national tartan - the blue, black and white representing the Estonian flag, the red and golden representing Scotland's Rampant Lion. 

Tomorrow the friends of Scotland and all things Scottish across the world celebrate Robert Burns' birth anniversary, hosting or attending a Burns Supper. And any self-respecting Burns Supper begins with a proper Scottish soup - either Scotch Broth or Cock-a-Leekie. As the latter is a) considerably cheaper and b) considerably easier, and something that I've cooked over and over again. Amazingly, so few ingredients (a chicken, some leeks and some juicy prunes) can result in such a flavoursome soup.

Here's the recipe for a lovely and flavoursome cock-a-leekie. It started off as a recipe from Sue Lawrence's Scots Cooking: The Best Traditional and Contemporary Recipes (excellent book, by the way!), but I've tweaked both the amounts and the instructions, including the cooking method, considerably.

Cock-a-leekie
(Cock-a-leekie supp ehk šotlaste kana-porrusupp)
Serves 10 as a starter or 4 to 6 as a main course. 

1 chicken (1.5 kg)
3-4 large leeks (1 kg)
20 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
about 2 litres water
20 juicy prunes, stoned and sliced
fresh parsley, chopped

Place the chicken in a large saucepan. Halve the leeks lengthwise, wash them well, then cut off the green parts. Chop these roughly and add to the pan with the peppercorns and bay leaf. Add the water - it should just cover the chicken. Season lightly with salt.
Bring slowly into the boil, skim off any scum that appears at the surface. Then cover and simmer for about 1.5-2 hours, until the chicken is cooked. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
Take out the chicken and remove the leeks, either with a slotted spoon or by draining the soup through a colander. Discard the cooked leeks. Remove the chicken flesh from the bones and chop into smaller pieces.
Chop the white part of the leeks, add to the pan with the prunes and chicken and bring to the boil again. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the leeks are just done.
Season with plenty of salt and pepper and serve with chopped parsley on top.

Crunchy carrot salad with salted peanuts

What's your best time-saving tip in the kitchen?

Here's one of mine. Lately I've developed the habit of peeling a big batch - about a kilogram/two pounds or so - of carrots at once. Using my food processor, I grate half of them finely, to be used in soups and various raw salads, meat-based pasta sauces, as well as carrot cakes or muffins. The other half I cut into thick julienne or thin batons or shred coarsely, using either the food processor or my trusty Benriner mandoline. These will end up in stir-fries or in cooked salads. The prepared carrots are simply waiting in the fridge, packed air-tight, of course, to be used as needed. We definitely eat more carrots because of this simple pre-planning, and this can only be a good thing, no?

Here's a lovely warm carrot salad using the bigger carrot pieces.


The combination of carrots and salted peanuts is from Nigella Lawson's book Forever Summer. The trick of giving the carrots a quick microwave oven treatment is from Harumi Kurihara's lovely book Harumi's Japanese Cooking. Harumi, also known as the Martha Stewart or Delia Smith of Japan (depending whether you're in the US or UK), uses this microwaving method to soften the vegetables in her carrot and tuna salad recipe.

If you haven't got a microwave oven or prefer not using it, then simply stir-fry the carrots quickly in some of the groundnut or olive oil to warm and soften them slightly. Or make this a raw salad instead, though then I would grate the carrots finely and chop the peanuts first.

Crunchy carrots with peanuts
(Krõmpsuv porgandisalat soolapähklitega)
Serves 4

 

400-450 g carrots
100 g roasted and salted peanuts
2 Tbsp groundnut or olive oil
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
a few drops of sesame oil
fresh (Italian/flat-leaf) parsley, finely chopped

Peel the carrots and cut into 5 mm julienne-sticks or shred coarsely (I used my food processor for that). Place into a microwave-safe glass bowl and blast them in the microwave for 90 seconds to slightly soften and warm them.

Take the bowl out of the oven, drizzle with olive oil and sesame oil as well as lemon juice, then sprinkle parsley on top. Toss the carrots gently to combine with these ingredients.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

More carrot salad recipes:
Warm Gingered Carrot Salad with Feta Cheese @ Nami-Nami
Moroccan Carrot Salad @ Nami-Nami
Carrots with African spices @ Nami-Nami
Carrots with African spices @ A Veggie Venture
Apricot-glazed carrots with ginger and curry @ Kalyn's Kitchen
Spicy shredded carrot salad @ Kalyn's Kitchen
Orange Blossom Carrot Salad @ Simply Recipes
Classic Carrot Salad @ Simply Recipes
Beautiful carrot and peanut salad @ Trembom
Caribbean carrot salad @ The Leftover Queen
Peanuts and carrots @ Nami-Nami (same recipe, posted back in 2006)

Pan-Seared Oat-Crusted Salmon or Trout

Photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the January 2013 issue of Kodu ja Aed magazine. The tablecloth is Estonian national tartan - the blue, black and white representing the Estonian flag, the red and gold representing Scotland's Rampant Lion.

Burns Supper is nigh and it's a great opportunity to cook some Scottish recipes again. Here's a salmon with a crispy mustard and oat crust that's easy to make and yet festive enough for a good Burns Supper (if you're not serving haggis, that is). The Scots tend to cook herring this way, but sadly it's almost impossible to get fresh herring over here. Salty herring - whole or filleted - in brine is widely available, but fresh, no.

Luckily this method works brilliantly with other oily fish as well, especially salmon and trout. You can use filet from the tail-end (it's easier to cook), or use butterfly steaks, like I did.

Oat crusted fish 
(Kaerahelbepaneeringus kala)

one salmon or trout butterfly steak or filet per person
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
sharp Dijon mustard (or Põltsamaa, if you're in Estonia)
quick-cooking oats or coarse oatmeal
oil, for frying

Season the fish with salt and pepper, then smear lightly with some mustard (use too much mustard and your oats won't stick to the fish while you're frying). Dip the fish into oats. If you're using the skin-on fish filet, then just the flesh side, obviously.

Heat the frying pan until hot over moderately high heat, then drizzle with oil. Add the fish and fry until crispy and golden brown on both sides (my butterfly steak needed about 3 minutes on one side and 2 on the other).

Serve with a sautéed spinach (on the photo) or kale or some mushy peas.

If you want  some dressing to go with it, then I recommend flavouring some creme fraiche with mustard, salt, pepper and finely chopped chives.

PS I've tagged the recipe as gluten-free, but you must use certified gluten-free oats and mustard then.

Other Scottish recipes suitable for Burns Supper:

Appetisers/canapés:
Red onion and whisky marmalade
Mini haggis tarts
Tattie scones

Starters:
Cock-a-leekie or chicken and leek soup with prunes

Main course:
Oat crusted fish

Dessert/pudding:
Cranachan or raspberries, cream and tipsy oats
Shortbread
Scottish lemon cake
Chocolate raspberry brownie