Modern Recipes

Homemade Scottish steak and kidney pie with garden fresh potatoes and carrots Steak pie in Scotland is of course normally a combination of diced stewing steak and beef link sausages in gravy, topped with puff pastry. Steak and kidney is more often considered an English rather than wider British combination for a pie filling. Since my teens, however, I have preferred steak and kidney pie to traditional Scottish steak pie - though I do love both! This dish is a combination of steak and kidney filling served in the traditional Scottish style steak pie style. Scottish steak and kidney Scottish steak and kidney is widely available in Scotland both from butcher's shops and from supermarkets. If you don't see it on display, try asking for it to see if the particular shop has it available. I bought it in this instance from my local Morrisons supermarket. Baby potatoes and carrots fresh from the garden The vegetables I served with the steak and kidney pie were gifted me as fresh as fres...

Mackerel fillets on watercress bed with rhubarb and ginger sauce Mackerel is one of my favourite eating fish. I love it smoked, fried and even poached. While the mackerel itself is best cooked simply (in whichever way) its rich and powerful flavour can be wonderfully enhanced by a surprising number of different accompaniments. Freshly caught mackerel fillets Sadly, mackerel in recent times in the UK has gone the same way as so many other once plentiful types of fish and lost its wholly sustainable classification. Fortunately, this does not mean that we sea fishermen can not take a couple for the pot every now and again. These two mackerel were caught at St Catherines Jetty on Loch Fyne on Thursday before one of them was cooked up for a late dinner as shown below. Filleting knife and board In order to fillet your mackerel, you will need simply a large chopping board and a filleting knife. Starting to fillet mackerel Lay the mackerel on one side, holding the head with your weaker hand, ...