Shortbread for Christmas

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:23 pm

One of the pieces of paper which my sister found in our parents house was a mailing tag from Wm. Kennaway, Ltd., Bakers and Confectioners, Aberdeen and Stonehaven.

At Christmas, the one kind of cookie that my father always asked for was shortbread. I remember him saying that the relatives in Scotland sent tins of shortbread each year for Christmas. My mother made some every year. She had a special dish, round with fluted edges, that she would bake one batch in which would make it very fancy. She pressed the rest of the dough into round cake pans and cut them into wedges when they were baked. It was buttery and sweet at the same time and would melt in your mouth. With the rest of the family watching the oven, she knew that the shortbread wouldn't last long plain or fancy!

Carol

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:32 pm

Hi Carol

I know the feeling well waiting until the shortie is ready in the oven. Can't wait until it cools down.
A good recipe which my wife uses is
10 oz butter
2oz ground rice
14 oz plain flour
4½ oz sugar
Yolk of an egg.
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the flour and ground rice, Mix well.
Add the egg yolk. Knead well on a lightly floured board.
Press into a baking tray. Prick with a fork (make pretty patterns if you like).
Bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes (Moderate = 400F)
You can score it lightly with a knife into fingers so it will break easily once it has cooled a little.
Different parts of Scotland have local recipes which make it lighter, or more crumbly, or sweeter, or richer - so thee are lots of variations you can try.
Your mix should be fairly dry and just bind together.

Have a try and become a favourite place for your friends to drop in and test the latest batch.
Shortbread is neither cookie or cake

It is just Shortbread.

Russell

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:19 pm

Back again Carol

Since it is the season over here when a warming main course is required, how about a suggestion for something Scottish

Chicken stuffed with haggis covered in a smooth, creamy whisky sauce.
Since haggis is now available in cans it is easy to slice a chicken breast longways, cut a slice of your tinned haggis then roast it in foil in the usual way.
Gently blend a small carton of single cream with a dessertspoonful of cream cheese. Warm gently in a pot. Add preferred seasoning then stir in a miniature of favourite malt whisky.
If your chicken tends to come out of the foil a bit dry pour in a little cider before popping it in the oven.
Diced sweet potatoes goes well with it (not very Scottish but adds a hint of sweetness which is nice.
Or throw the sweet potato in with a couple of leeks and a vegetable stock, simmer for an hour then put it in the blender/liquidiser for a minute and there you have an easy starter.

Ooooh!! I'm feeling peckish now

Russell

Post by **Tracey** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:37 pm

This has reminded me that i forgot something again

as "Tis the season an 'all"........... to go to a great Deli in The City (London) that sells Black Bun. I have never tried it before and whenever i am near it i tell myself i will get it next time and of course next time never comes - even though it is only a 5 min detour on my way home from work

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:57 pm

Hi Tracey

If you ever tried a 'fly cemetery' i.e. sugary currants between two layers of flaky pastry, then you'll like Black Bun.
A little bit of spice and cinnamon makes it just great but don't try to eat a big chunk unless you have a really sweet tooth.

Russell
The Ne'erday gourmet.

Post by **Ina** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:04 am

Hi Russell,

Fly Cemetery...........I absolutely love them. They are very easy to make too, now that you can buy puff pastry in the freezer section of the grocery store. Add a little brandy to the raisin mixture.

Regards,

Ina

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:15 am

Russell,

I would have gotten back to this sooner, but I had to stop to eat something!

You're absolutely correct that shortbread is neither a cookie nor a bread. We just called it cookie because it didn't have yeast in it; that would have made it a bun or bread--lot's of goodies in that category around during the holidays too!

Your chicken dish sounds like something my husband and I could divide up. He hates chicken--a leftover from having a step-father who thought fried chicken was the food of the gods--so I'll take the chicken and tell him that the haggis is really just sausage and try the cream sauce with it...

Carol

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:12 am

Hi all
See Flies Cemeteries.... see when you are actually eating them.. it is not a good idea to think too deeply about their name!

Best wishes
Lesley
..who had time to ponder on this whilst eating one last weekend.

Post by **SarahND** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:10 am

LesleyB wrote:Hi all
See Flies Cemeteries.... see when you are actually eating them.. it is not a good idea to think too deeply about their name!

My first reaction when I saw the name was eeeeeeuuuuw!

You Scots have strong stomachs! Can't you call them something else?

Sarah, presently combatting an invasion of gigantic black flies whose origin is unknown and unthinkable about--- Ah, life in the country...!

Andrew C. · Post by **Andrew C.** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:27 pm

Hogmany wouldn't be Hogmany without going into my mother's house and being hit by the smell of freshly baked shortbread. Every time I am home or my mother visits she always has a supply for me.

I heard John Barrowman (Dr. Who, Torchwood and just about everything else) being interviewed by Jonathan Ross on the Radio last Saturday and he was saying he was having a Steak and Kidney Pie for dinner on New Year's day which is also a tradition in our family. Nice to see John's parent take this tradition to the States with them.