A big haggis = lots of leftovers, but what do you do with them?As we had ours with ‘neeps’, ‘tatties’, and cabbage we had all the makings of a bubble and squeak, and I thought I’d add some haggis into the mix and see what happened. Turns out it was a pretty good idea. Made into patties and fried in a little oil, they made a great dinner, but reckon they’d make a good breakfast too.

Ingredients

400g cooked haggis

150g cooked cabbage, shredded

150g potato, smashed

150g swede, smashed

1 onion

Salt and pepper

Eggs (optional)

Method

So this is pretty much as far from rocket science as you can get.

First up, chop and fry the onion until it’s nice and soft and caramalised. When done, add it to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. In an ideal world your potato and swede is just smashed, as opposed to mashed with milk, butter etc, but if it is, don’t worry too much, and your cabbage should be shredded.

Combine everything together until you’ve got a nice even mix, add a pinch of salt and lots of black pepper, and then mix again.

Next make all the mix into patties. You’re looking to get them around 10cm wide and 2cm thick. I use a pastry / cooks ring to make things easier, there should be enough mix to make around 6.

Because of the haggis they’re going to be pretty sticky, so once you’ve made them, coat with flour, then move from hand to hand to dust of any excess. Now fry them two at a time in a little oil in a hot pan. They’re ready when the outside of the patty is a dark golden brown and slightly crusty.

Serve with a fried egg on top, a crisp salad and loads of Tabasco.

Burns night lives on.

Another discovery that we made whilst there was a spice called Maras Biberi. It’s on the table of most restaurants and seems to be a kind of pepper substitute. It’s a blend of chili, olive oil, lemon juice and salt, ground up and dried. We bought some at the Egyptian Souk to bring back with us; it’s not that easy to get in London, but I have found it in local Turkish supermarkets.

We’re pretty much addicted to the stuff, and it goes into quite a lot of what we eat, including this recipe which is a remix of a healthy coleslaw.

Ingredients

Vegetables:

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 a head of spring / pointy cabbage, thinly sliced

2 medium carrots, grated

For the dressing:

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons no fat Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon hummus

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Maras Biberi

Juice of half a lemon

50 ml olive oil

Handful of chopped leafy green herbs (mint / basil / tarragon / coriander etc)

Method

Grate the carrots and finely chop the cabbage and onions and place in a large bowl. Mix the dressing in a sepperate bowl by chopping up the garlic and herbs and then adding the rest of the indgredients. Mix well until blended. Add the dressing to the vegetables in the bowl and mix well. Serve with grilled meats (lamb or chicken) or to keep it veggie some griddled Haloumi cheese. Afiyet olsun.