The Hitlist: The best recipes to make your mum this Mother’s Day

On Sundays, there are few things better than a roast dinner. And with quality Scotch beef available right across the country, you don’t need much beyond a good cut of meat to create an impressive Mother’s Day lunch. In this recipe there are relatively few ingredients required for cooking the beef itself, but you may wish to add roast potatoes or some vegetables to serve.

Ingredients (serves four)

1kg Scotch Beef Topside

12g mixed peppercorns

20g Dijon Mustard

20ml Rapeseed Oil

3 Sprigs of fresh thyme

3 Small red onions

1 Beef stock cube

300ml boiling water

Sea salt (to taste)

Method

Preheat the oven to 220c. Grind the peppercorns in a mortar and pestle and finely chop the thyme.

Mix the peppercorns, mustard, rapeseed oil and thyme together in a bowl, season with sea salt.

Put the roast in a tin and spread the peppercorn mix over the top. Peel and quarter the onions and arrange around the meat, then roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water. Take the roast out of the oven, remove the onions and keep to one side. Turn down the heat to 170C.

Pour the stock around the roast and cover the beef loosely with some tin foil. Roast in the oven for 45 mins for a medium/rare roast, longer if you want your beef more well done. Cover the beef and let it rest for 20 minutes. Reheat the onions in the oven for five mins and serve, using the cooking juices to make some gravy if you want.

For more recipe videos and inspiration, visit www.scotchkitchen.com or follow Scotch Kitchen on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

Charred Leek Lasagne from Ella Risbridger

The beauty of making a lasagne is that it can easily be cooked, cut up and dropped off to your mum, gran, or anyone else who you want to bring a smile to on Mother’s Day. And this version, from food writer Ella Risbridger, will certainly bring a smile to any vegetarians who are looking for a meat-free lasagne that packs just as much of a punch when it comes to flavour.

Ingredients (Serves 6):

About 300g no-cook lasagne sheets, depending on the dimensions of your dish

1 x 125g ball of mozzarella

25g Parmesan

Freshly grated nutmeg

For the vegetable filling:

800g squash, such as butternut (but any is fine)

1 garlic bulb

50g butter

Small handful of thyme

2tbsp white wine

3 large leeks

400g kale

For the cheese sauce:

60g Parmesan

60g strong Cheddar

40g butter

40g plain flour

600ml milk

200ml double cream

6 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1 Parmesan rind

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C. Peel your butternut squash, use a spoon to scrape out the seeds, then chop into dice and tip into a large roasting tin. Take your garlic bulb, and slice the top off to expose just the very tips of the cloves. Wrap in foil, like a parcel, drizzle the tops of the garlic cloves with olive oil, then seal the parcel and tuck into the tin alongside the squash. Cut half of the butter into tiny cubes and dot among the squash. Scatter in the thyme, pour over the white wine and put in the oven to roast for 40 minutes.

Split the leeks lengthways, rinse thoroughly, chop roughly, then muddle with your hands to separate the into their constituent layers. In a frying pan over a medium-low heat, melt the remaining butter and then tip the leeks in. Stir to coat in the butter, then leave them to lightly char, giving them a stir every so often.

Rinse the kale, and chop roughly with scissors. When your squash has been in the oven for about 20 minutes, check on it, before returning it to the oven for the remaining 20 minutes.

Next up, the cheese sauce. Grate both the cheeses and melt the butter in a saucepan and then add the flour. Stir constantly for a couple of minutes and then remove from the heat and slowly introduce the milk to your roux, stirring the whole time. When your sauce is smooth, stir in the cream. Add the peppercorns, bay leaf, Parmesan rind and a good grating of nutmeg. Bring up to a simmer, stirring constantly, then cook for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, and fish out the peppercorns, bay leaf and Parmesan rind. Add the grated cheese, stirring until the sauce is smooth.

Your squash and garlic should now be soft. Remove, but leave the oven on. Squeeze the soft garlic into your cheese sauce and stir well. Decant the squash into a bowl and take the leeks off the heat.

Dig out a tin or baking dish and place the squash in first, in a thin layer; next, a handful of kale, then lasagne sheets in a single layer, followed by cheese sauce, then leeks and more kale. Repeat and then add a final layer of squash and lasagne sheets, followed by the remaining cheese sauce. Scatter the mozzarella over the top, then grate over the last of the Parmesan, some nutmeg and black pepper. Bake for 45 minutes or until the pasta is soft and the cheese is golden-brown and bubbling. Serve with a side salad (or garlic bread) and cold white wine.

www.ellarisbridger.com

Banana and walnut cake with peanut butter icing from Graeme Cheevers

Award-winning chef Graeme Cheevers hit the headlines at the end of 2020 when he announced he was bringing a new restaurant, Unalome, to the site formerly occupied by the Three Sisters restaurant in Finnieston. Rumoured to be a Michelin-star contender, it was due to open in February but lockdown has forced that date to be pushed back. The good news is that you can still get a taste of Graeme’s cooking -at home- by rustling up your own version of his delightful banana and walnut cake.

Ingredients (serves 4)

225g unsalted butter

150g caster sugar

1 vanilla pod

200g banana flesh

100g walnuts

150g self-raising flour

2 eggs

5g baking powder

175g icing sugar

30g smooth peanut butter

50g milk chocolate

50g dried banana slices

Special equipment:

18cm round cake tin

Set the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4

Method

Start by softening 150g of the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the caster sugar then cut the vanilla pod in half, scrape out the seeds and add them to the bowl. Beat vigorously until the mix is light and fluffy. Mash the banana flesh with a fork and add it to the mix along with the walnuts and a little of the flour followed by one egg, then beat well. Add the remaining egg followed by the rest of the flour and baking powder and mix well until smooth.

Use a spatula to scrape the mixture into the loaf tin then place it in the oven for 45-55 minutes until light gold. Check the cake is cooked by piercing it with a skewer or a long knife – if it comes out clean then the cake is done.

Remove the cake from the oven and carefully tip it on to a wire rack to cool for around 30 minutes.

Take the remaining butter and beat it until soft and light then add the icing sugar and beat until smooth. Fold in the peanut butter and mix well.

To finish the cake, spoon the icing on top and spread it evenly across the cake. Use a fine grater to grate the chocolate over the cake, arrange the banana slices on top and serve.

Graeme Cheevers is the head chef of Unalome in Glasgow

Ben Lomond Vanilla and Mint Bramble Cocktail

Mother’s Day celebrations will, sadly, be muted this year, but you can still bring a bit of a party spirit by shaking up your own cocktails. Ben Lomond’s Blackberry and Gooseberry Gin adds a fruity dimension to this cocktail recipe, which will finish off your Mothering Sunday meal in style.

Ingredients

50ml Ben Lomond Blackberry & Gooseberry Gin

20ml Lemon

10ml Sugar Syrup

Dash of Vanilla

6 Fresh Mint Leaves

Garnish: Mint Sprig and Bramble

Method

Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and muddle around, then shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig and brambles.

Find more recipes and serve suggestions at www.benlomondgin.com

Dark chocolate brownies from Pizza Geeks

If you don’t live in the same household as your mum, you might be struggling to think of something you can cook that won’t be spoiled by the time you drop it off at her door. Fortunately, these brownies from Edinburgh-based restaurant Pizza Geeks will taste just as good a day or two after they’ve been baked. The ideal doorstop surprise for Mother’s Day morning…

Ingredients (to make 16 brownies)

245g unsalted butter (cubed)

245g dark chocolate

335g caster sugar

4 large eggs

115g plain flour

55g cocoa powder

½ tsp sea salt

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C (fan oven) or gas mark 4 and line an 8×8″ square tin. Heat butter and chocolate in a saucepan over a low heat until melted and leave to cool. Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale, thick and creamy. Pour the cooled chocolate and butter mixture into the egg mix and gently fold in until mixed. Gently fold the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl with the other ingredients, being careful not to over-mix. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and smooth out with a spatula.

Bake for around 40 minutes, turning the tin halfway through until the top has a papery crust with no wobble when you shake the tin. You can also check this with a skewer, which should come out sticky but not runny. Let it cool in the tin and then slice into 16 brownies.

Pizza Geeks is about to open its third branch in Edinburgh

Sticky toffee pudding with Caol Ila whisky butterscotch sauce from Paul Wedgwood

A family favourite that’s popular across the generations, sticky toffee pudding is the perfect finale to a Mother’s Day lunch. This recipe, from esteemed chef Paul Wedgwood, offers a new take on an old favourite with the addition of a gourmet butterscotch sauce.

Ingredients (serves four)

Sticky Toffee Pudding

115g soft dark brown sugar

35g unsalted butter

2 whole eggs

140g self-raising flour

pinch Baking powder

pinch Bicarbonate of soda

100g pitted dates chopped

120ml boiling water

1/2 espresso

Coal Ila butterscotch sauce

45g unsalted butter

60g Demerara sugar

60g soft dark brown sugar

70g golden syrup

200ml double cream

15ml Caol Ila whisky

Method

Place the dates in a large bowl add bicarb and boiling water and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar, add the eggs and combine. Sift baking powder and flour into egg mix, add the espresso. Add dates and water to the bowl and mix thoroughly until the flour is completely mixed. Pour into cake tin and bake in the oven for 45 mins at 180C.

For the butterscotch sauce, place the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a heavy based pan and boil until thick. Add the double cream and then whisky and bring back to the boil, reducing until the mixture is at the correct thickness.

Slice your pudding into four servings and place into your serving bowl. Pour over the hot butterscotch sauce and finish with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Paul Wedgwood is Chef Owner of Wedgwood the Restaurant in Edinburgh

Turkey and Smoked Bacon Kofte with Sumac Onions from BABA Edinburgh

If your mum has exotic tastes, she will love this turkey and bacon kofte with the addition of sumac onions. Largely used in Middle Eastern cooking, sumac can be used as an alternative to citrus in just about everything. You can sprinkle it on hummus, or add into your next meat marinade to cut through the fattiness of the meat and give your dish a bright, citrus flavour. In the Middle East it’s also quite common to season dishes with sumac upon serving: just like you would with salt and pepper.

Ingredients (serves five)

For the sumac onions:

20g lemon juice (about half a lemon)

600g red onion, thinly sliced

40g pomace oil

7g sumac

Pinch of ground coriander

Fresh parsley to taste

For the kofte:

40g red chilli

20g ras-el-hanout

6g chilli flakes (smoked, if you can find them)

10g salt and black pepper

30g peeled garlic

200g bone marrow

60g peeled shallots

20g parsley

20g coriander

500g turkey mince

300g smoked bacon mince

To finish

25g barberries

50g smoked almonds

500ml smoked tomato salmorejo

Method

For the sumac onions, mix the lemon juice, red onion, pomace oil, sumac, coriander and parsley together in a large bowl and refrigerate for two hours to marinate. For the kofte, add the spices, red chilli, salt and garlic into a food processor and blend.

Then add 100g of the bone marrow, the shallots and the herbs, and blend again. Roughly chop remaining the bone marrow and combine in a large bowl with the turkey and bacon mince, and ingredients from the food processor. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined, then roll (using your hands) into five 200g logs.

Grill or barbecue the kofte until fully cooked through (about 12 minutes). Serve with the salmorejo, sumac onions, barberries and smoked almonds.

BABA is located at Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel in Edinburgh.

Grilled langoustines with lemon and garlic dip from Love Seafood

Looking to really push the boat out? Fresh langoustines will undoubtedly do the trick. The best place to get them is in your local or online fishmonger, where they can talk you through the langoustines and how to prepare them. Once you’ve got your fish, this recipe from Love Seafood for grilled langoustines with a lemon and garlic dip is bursting with colour and can be whipped up in less than half an hour.

Ingredients (to serve four)

20 fresh langoustine (not live)

100g butter, at room temperature

2 garlic cloves, minced

Handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

Salt & pepper

Leafy salad to serve

For the dip

2 tbsp reduced fat mayonnaise

200ml low fat Greek yoghurt

pinch of smoked paprika

juice of ½ lemon

zest of ½ lemon

2 garlic cloves, minced

Method

Add all the dip ingredients to a bowl, stir and place in the fridge until ready to serve. To make the garlic butter, add the soft butter, chopped parsley and garlic to a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix well with a fork or spoon. Set aside.

Next, using a large flat-edged knife, cut along the centre of the langoustine, from head to tail. Laying the halved langoustine flat, using a teaspoon remove all elements of the langoustine that are brown/dark coloured, keeping the white meat. Repeat with each langoustine.

Preheat your grill to medium–high. Place the langoustine on a large roasting tray and spoon over the herb butter. Grill under a medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, or until the langoustine are golden and the butter is melted. Serve with a leafy salad and the lemon and garlic dip.

More recipes are available at www.loveseafood.co.uk