This recipe was kindly given to the Fife Diet by Thomas McGregor. It is a an old family recipe for cloutie dumpling. The cloutie refers to the cloth that the pudding is cooked in. Traditionally this was served on birthdays with pennies inside. If you want to add coins, wrap 5p coins or charms in [...]

4 servings Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 1 hour   Ingredients 1 tbsp oil or butter i medium onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1/2 tsp of ground ginger 1/4 tsp chilli flakes 75g barley 500g mixed veg such as potatoes, turnip and carrots, peeled and diced 1.2 litre vegetable stock 125g curly kale, [...]

2 tblsp unsalted butter 50g smoked bacon, cut into small “lardons” (Puddledub sells them) 2 leeks, diced 400g Arborio rice 125ml dry white wine 1.5 litre chicken stock salt and ground black pepper 1 tblsp oil 50g grated Anster cheese Heat the stock to boiling point and keep just simmering. In a heavy based pan [...]

1 haunch of venison (about 1.5kg) 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced 3 shallots, peeled and sliced 5 crushed juniper berries fresh rosemary 2 bay leaves sprigs fresh thyme 350ml red wine oil Get your game dealer to remove the bone from the leg and place it (the meat!) in a large bowl. Keep [...]

200g Bacon cut into lardons 2 thick slices of good bread 2 tblsp Dijon Mustard 2 tblsp red wine vinegar 100ml oil 4 large handfuls of Kale   Cut the bread into slightly larger squares than the bacon. Whisk the mustard, vinegar and most of the oil with salt and pepper to form a dressing. [...]

Christopher Trotter says: This is a great dish, easy to prepare and is excellent cold as well as hot; so perfect for the Christmas period as an alternative to ham (you could always have both!!) The herbs need to have their stalks removed but don’t be too fussy as they are easily discarded when eating [...]

2 leeks, roughly chopped 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped 4 carrots, roughly chopped 2 garlic cloves, skins on, whole oil 2 sprigs each rosemary and thyme 2 bay leaves 2 tbsp flour 500ml dry cider 200ml vegetable stock Preheat the oven to 200c/gas 6. Lay the veg in a large roasting tray, scatter over the [...]

1 Butternut or other winter squash, cut into even chunks, peeled or unpeeled. 1 tsp fennel seeds 1/2 dried chilli 1 cinnamon stick oil 200g vacuum- packed chestnuts 75g dried cranberries grated zest and juice of 1 clementine 2 tbsp red wine vinegar a small bunch of sage, leaves picked 1 seeded baguette, sliced Preheat [...]

25g of butter, plus a knob, or 25ml of oil 2 leeks, sliced 3 thyme sprigs 2 heads of winter greens, shredded grated zest of 1 lemon 1 red chilli, finely chopped 5 big beetroots, peeled and chopped into rough cubes olive oil a splash of red wine vinegar 2 marjoram or oregano sprigs 6 [...]

1 large onion 500g parsnips 500g celeriac 85g butter a teaspoon of thyme leaves 100ml vegetable stock Peel the onion and slice it into thin rounds. Put them in a large mixing bowl. Peel the parsnips and celeriac and cut them into very thin slices. Toss them with the onion. Set the oven to 190C/Gas [...]