Tag Archives: soup

Easy Comfort Food for Cold Days

Posted in Adventures, Recipes by

It’s hard to believe it’s February already. Where did January go? It’s been a dark, fairly windy and wet start to the year for us but in the past fortnight the lengthening of the days has been a welcome sight.

To be fair though we’ve also had a handful of stunning days and we’ve managed to do a few great walks with my family. Some of you will know I love walking and for 2020 we have given ourself a challenge to do 20 walks we haven’t done yet. So far we’ve done two – one of them was Deepdale on the West side of Shetland. And it instantly became one of my most favourite walks. Here are some more photos from our recent adventures.

Deepdale

I’ve also enjoyed cooking simple comfort food and have been trying to use local ingredients as much as possible, especially as in winter the weather can disrupt the food deliveries to Shetland. I think we have become far too dependent on getting food shipped here rather than relying more on what we can produce and use locally.

Here are a couple of my favourite staple recipes for cold days that are easy enough to make and don’t require much in terms of ingredients.

I’m particularly happy with the loaf as it is very easy to make and requires a minimal amount of time to make. I love experimenting with sourdough but sometimes you need something quick, simple and bulletproof.

And the lentil soup is an absolute favourite served on my Shetland Wool Adventures tours. I often get asked for a recipe so finally here it is. Enjoy!

Lentil Soup

Lentil Soup_LR

Serves 8

Ingredients:

250g red lentils

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

3 medium onions

250g carrots

1.5l vegetable stock (or 2 stock cubes + 1.5l water)

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp ground cumin

2 cloves of garlic

Salt and pepper

  1. Chop the onions finely and fry in olive oil. 
  2. Add finely chopped carrots and fry them for a few minutes with the onions
  3. Add the spices, salt and pepper
  4. Rinse the lentils under a running tap and add them to the pot. Stir for a few minutes.
  5. Add chopped tomatoes and chopped garlic
  6. Add stock and stir well. 
  7. Cook for 25 minutes. 

Now for your favourite texture – either you can leave the soup as it is, blitz it with a hand blender a little or you can blend it completely smooth if you prefer.

Serve with a dollop of yoghurt and chopped flat leaf parsley. And of course fresh crusty bread.

Easy Loaf

Easy bread_LR

400g strong white flour

80g wholemeal rye flour

60g wholemeal flour 

12g dried yeast 

10g salt

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp coriander seeds (optional)

400ml lukewarm water

1tsp olive oil (for greasing the loaf tin)

24 x 14 x 7cm loaf tin

Put all dry ingredients in a bowl and add the water. Mix together until you have a nice smooth dough. There is no need to knead the dough at this stage. Place the bowl in a plastic bag (I have a dedicated one I keep using for making bread) and leave it in the fridge overnight. 

In the morning grease the loaf tin with olive oil. Tip the dough on a generously floured surface, knock the air out and knead for a short time. Place the kneaded mixture into the tin, cover loosely with the plastic bag and rest for approximately one hour in a warm place. Preheat the oven to 220°C fan oven, put the tin in and immediately reduce the temperature to 180°C. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove the loaf from the tin and place it directly onto the oven shelf and bake for further 10 minutes.

Note on the flour – you can really experiment here and see what works best for you. I like darker bread so I usually add wholemeal rye flour. If you prefer white loaf you can just use strong white flour.

 

Reestit Mutton Tattie Soup

Posted in Recipes by

A very belated Happy New Year to you all! 2014 was a really busy year with some brilliant moments but also a lot of hard work. Some of the highlights were: 60 North magazine being published in print; setting up this blog; an amazing trip to Iceland where I met a lot of interesting people and instantly I fell in love with the harsh but but immensely inspiring and spectacular place; a first-time visit to Berlin where we met with my uncle and aunt that I hadn’t seen for over ten years; Shetland Wool Week which attracted 300 keen knitters and wool enthusiasts to Shetland… and the biggest thing of all – our house renovation which is still ongoing. Phew.

So here’s to a year filled with experiences, good books, projects, travel, unforgettable moments spent with friends and family and lots of fun things! A year when we all find more time for ourselves and spend it meaningfully, it being just sitting down for a while reading a chapter to two, making something, going for a walk, or just stopping for a bit and think about the world. And let’s grow food, flowers and trees. That’s the best fun!

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Shetland winter can be pretty harsh so it’s important to find a way to keep positive and motived however it has been hard this past fortnight. It has been a time of relentless rain, hail, snow, lightning and gale-force winds. To be frank it’s been bleak so all those new year’s resolutions of getting back to some sort of fitness regime and healthier eating seem to have disappeared only to be replaced by cravings for substantial portions of hearty and comforting food. But I’m optimistic, with Up Helly Aa round the corner, the brighter days must surely be getting closer.

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Before Christmas I bought a piece of Reestit Mutton from our favourite butchers Scalloway Meat Company but somehow it didn’t get used. So when searching the fridge for some inspiration and ingredients at the beginning of the week, when the weather was particularly bad, I decided to make a deliciously warming and nourishing Reestit Mutton tattie soup.

Reestit Mutton is a traditional Shetland way of preserving mutton which is first salted in brine and then hung to dry traditionally in the rafters (reest) of the house above a peat fire. The smoke from the peat fire helps to season the meat.

Reestit Mutton Tattie soup is an acquired taste and personally I wasn’t really keen on it initially. However it does grow on you. In fact after ten years in years in Shetland, several Up Helly Aa and the occasional wedding I can say there’s nothing better to warm you up than tattie soup and bannocks – combination is simply perfect. Traditionally it is a thick hearty soup but personally I like the version that is served in Peerie Shop Cafe which is a relatively clear broth with large chunks of vegetables.

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Reestit Mutton Tattie Soup

Serves 8 – 10

250g Reestit Mutton

cold water to cover

4 large potatoes, peeled and cut in 1.5 cm chunks

3 large carrots, peeled and cut in 1 cm thick slices

1 small turnip, peeled and cut in chunks

2 medium onions, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 bay leaves, 5 peppercorns and 5 allspice berries (optional)

Place mutton and spices in a large pot. Add enough cold water to come about 2cm above the mutton. Bring to boil and continue to boil until soft. To speed this process up I use a pressure cooker. With this method it takes approximately 25 minutes, otherwise boil for 1 and a half hours.

Remove mutton and set aside. Water will be very salty, so pour off some and add more cold water. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, turnip and onions. Return to boil, and simmer until tender.

OPTION 1 (the ‘stick to your ribs’ version: Mash the vegetables with a potato masher or large fork. Remove the meat from the bone, tear into shreds and add it to the soup. If too thick, add a little water or vegetable broth.

OPTION 2 (my favourite clear broth option): Leave the vegetables in chunks and add the shredded meat. Serve with bread or bannocks with butter.

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Bannocks

500g of plain flour

1 tps (large) baking soda

1 tsp of cream of tartar

1 tsp of salt

Buttermilk for mixing

Mix the dry ingredients together. Make into a soft dough with the buttermilk, just as soft as can be easily handled. Turn on to a floured board and roll out gently until 1.5 cm thick. Cut in squares or rounds and bake on a moderately hot griddle or in fairly hot oven for 10-15 mins.

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Enjoy!