Trying to figure out what to pair with your sweet bottle of Innis & Gunn? Not only do we suggest haggis, we suggest making it yourself. First of all, it’s dead easy. Secondly, it’s extremely inexpensive. Thirdly, it’s delicious. This recipe comes to us courtesy of John Higgins, noted former Scot and director of the culinary program at George Brown. You can get a sheep’s pluck at any good butcher with enough notice, though you can assemble a motley collection of offal if you can’t get your hands on an entire pluck. Just make sure to include the kidney fat.
Also: this recipe omits stuffing the haggis mixture into a sheep’s stomach because a) they’re a pain to track down, and b) it’s unnecessary if you cook everything in a pan. Just spoon it right onto the plate, or, if you’re feeling fancy, use a ring mould.
Ingredients
1 sheep’s pluck (heart, liver, lungs, kidney fat), roughly chopped
4 large onions, roughly chopped
1 kg steel cut oats
8 tbsp. ground allspice
4 tbsp. dried thyme
8 tbsp. black pepper
Lamb or beef stock (as needed)
salt to taste
Directions
1. In a large pot, render the kidney fat and add both the sheep’s pluck and onions.
2. Add a pinch of salt and cook until organs are cooked through (approx. 20 mins.).
3. Pass mixture, including all juices, through a fine meat grinder plate.
4. Return mixture to the pot, adding oats and spices (note: mixture should be thick but not dry, add stock as required to keep moist).
5. Cook mixture until the oats are tender. Season aggressively with black pepper and salt to taste.
6. Bake for one hour in a moderately heated oven (350 ̊f) and serve with bashed neeps and champit tatties (which is Scottish for mashed turnip and mashed potato . . . yeah, they need two different words for mashing things).
