Enjoy a South Indian dish with Eagle Brae and our Pondicherry Pork Curry. Pondicherry is a coastal town on the south-east coast of India giving this curry a south Indian twist of citrus flavours. While guests at Eagle Brae can enjoy the convenience of ordering our delicious homecooked meal, ready to pop into the oven, you can now recreate the experience at home with our Pondicherry Pork Curry recipe.

Ingredients (feeds 4)

• Boneless diced pork ((slow growing rare breed pork is best)
• Tomatoes(6pcs, chopped finely)
• Button mushrooms150g (quartered)
• Red pepper 1 medium size (chopped in small pieces)
• Onion (1 large, chopped finely)
• Garlic (6cloves, crushed)
• Ginger (half a thumb’s worth, chopped very finely)
• Chilli flakes (1/2 tsp)
• Pork stock (half litre)
• Coconut milk (2 cans)
• Cumin (half tbsp) seeds and ground cumin (1tsp)
• Turmeric (2tsp)
• Coriander seeds (half tbsp) ground
• Garam masala (2 tsp)
• Olive oil (3 tbsp)
• Salt (to taste)
• Black Pepper (half tsp)
• Lemongrass (2 sticks)
• Kaffir lime leaves (3 or 4)
• Fresh chives finely chopped
• Lemon juice (half lemon)
• Lime juice (half lime)

Method

The Berkshire Pork

The first job is to brown your pork. This should be done as quickly as possible. Use your largest non-stick frying pan and heat the oil on full heat. Brown the pork in small batches and remove to a separate dish with a lid to keep moist and warm once browned. Do not put too much pork in the pan at once or the pan will become crowded, the temperature will drop too low and the pork will leak juiciness which you don’t want! Turn the heat down in the pan in preparation for the next step. If there is a fair bit of water/oil combination left in your pan after drying the meat, let it bubble on and reduce till only oil remains again.

The Curry Torka (Sauce)

The curry sauce is the most important part for most curries and it’s no different for Eagle Brae’s Pondicherry Pork Curry.
Using the same pan on medium heat adding more oil if needed, gently fry your onions. After 10 mins when the onions are golden and softening, add the chopped ginger, followed by garlic. Fry on gently for another few minutes.
Add all your ground spices chilli flakes and garam masala together (this is an important part of the cooking–do not burn the dry spices) and fry for another 2 minutes stirring all the time.
Add your tomatoes and gently cook with the lid on for 5-10 minutes or so until all tomatoes are softened and losing their form (you can use a potato masher to help this process along)! You must fry your tomatoes on low heat for long enough for them to be fully cooked and become fully assimilated sauce or until you see a layer of oil starts to separate on the outer edges of your torka.
Turn the heat off and let it cool down a bit. Blend the entire contents into a fine paste using a food processor. Set aside to cool.

The Final Stage

Take a new pan, add olive oil and put on a moderate heat, add a teaspoon of cumin seeds and fry for 30 seconds until the oil smells nice. Stir for a minute or two until combined. Now here’s the messy bit! With moderate to high heat, pour in your blended paste. You need to fry this paste and keep stirring; it should bubble like molten lava and will spit and make a mess. Watch your hands (might want to wear gloves) as you can get very hot splashes on the hands during this phase! Keep stirring until it cools a bit, then turn the heat down a bit and let it bubble away with the lid on. Add your pork and stir. Add diced mushrooms. Cook it for a minute or two. Add coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass sticks, lemon juice, lime juice and the stock (do not add it all at once as the sauce may end up being very runny). Stir well, add salt and pepper to taste. Add some water if it looks too thick. Stir and simmer until all is nicely combined and then put in the oven for an hour at about 180 degrees checking halfway if water needs to be added in case it’s drying out. Equally, if too runny cook with the lid off to thicken up. Add your diced peppers on the halfway check too. Just before serving sprinkle the chives over it.

Serving The Pondicherry Pork Curry

As with many stews and curries, our pork curry can taste even better on day number 2 so if you are making it to eat with guests feel free to prepare it the day before and just reheat when required. Serve on a bed of basmati rice with chopped coriander, yoghurt, Indian pickle and fresh green chillies for those who like them.
Enjoy!

For more delicious Eagle Brae dishes, see our other home-cooked recipes.

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Enjoy a Scottish seafood dish with Eagle Brae and our Shetland Monkfish Bake Recipe. So, this is a great dish in terms of being environmentally friendly as Monkfish are plentiful around Shetland. And its extraordinarily delightful as the fish comes to us directly from Shetland via Scrabster on the north coast. Firstly, lets learn about the fish! In the past monkfish has been called the “poor man’s scampi” or “poor man’s lobster”. And it’s certainly true that its flesh is firm and similar to both scampi and lobster. But, don’t think this will take away from the taste!

Here, we will take you through a quick-to-prepare, and very tasty bake where the juicy flesh of the monkfish is brilliantly showcased by the pleasant acidity of the sieved tomato based sauce.

Ingredients (feeds 4) 

• Monkfish tails (approx. 750g)
• Spanish spicey chorizo (100g, sliced)
• Sieved tomatoes/passata (750g)
• English mustard (1 tbsp)
• Fresh rosemary (2 sprigs)
• Dried Tarragon (1 tsp)
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

Preparing the Fillets

So, lets start with the preparation of this delightful fish. As Monkfish is fairly straight forward to fillet, it’s also a great fish for beginners! But it does have a slightly tricky gelatinous membrane between the flesh and the skin. As such, usually the fishmonger will remove the outer skin for you. And so, all you will have to do is remove the spine and the gelatinous membrane. Take the tail and place on a chopping board with spikey spines up the way (there are usually a few spines still connected from the central dorsal fin area). Using a sharp knife run the knife down both sides of the spine to free the flesh from the spine which you can now discard (or save for a fish stock). Take one fillet at a time and lay the side with the membrane for removal downwards. Cut it from above about 100mm from the tail tip and just before you cut through rotate the knife 90 degrees and run horizontal out to the tail removing the membrane. This goujon is now ready! Then spin the fillet around so you have hold of the membrane from the already removed piece and run the knife the other way to the top of the fillet removing all the rest of the membrane. You may want to now cut this fillet down the middle and/or in half for smaller goujons. Now take each piece and paste the mustard on each side with a knife and place in casserole dish.

Making the Sauce

There is no cooking at all to be done on the hobs for this recipe which is great! Simply slice your chorizo into coin size discs and add, as they are, to the monkfish in the dish. Chop fresh rosemary and then add together with dried tarragon to the dish. Add salt and black pepper and then pour your sieved tomatoes over everything. Stir around thoroughly and its ready for the oven!

Sieved tomatoes or passata is very easy to prepare yourself: simply take some ripe juicy tomatoes, remove the seeds and watery centre, simmer for a while and then strain or blend and allow to cool. It is readily available in the supermarkets as ‘Passata’ so there is no need to do this yourself if you don’t want to!

 Cooking and Serving The Monkfish Bake

 Set the oven to 190 degrees and add the dish uncovered for 20 minutes. Don’t worry if your sauce reduces down a bit, that’s normal and it will be all the better if it thickens a little. Serve with new potatoes and fresh crunchy greens like runner beans or broccoli. Easy, healthy, and delicious!

For more delicious Eagle Brae dishes, see our other home-cooked recipes.

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Crofter’s pie is similar to a cottage pie or shepherd’s pie. It’s a tasty and wholesome meal, which is nice and easy to make and loved by most! We use rare breed Hebridean mince from our own farm here in Strathglass. Guests at Eagle Brae can order this delicious homecooked meal, ready to pop into the oven. However, you can now try it for yourself at home using this Hebridean Crofter’s pie recipe… 

Ingredients (feeds 4) 

• Minced Hebridean lamb or hogget (900g)
• Carrots (200g grated)
• Potatoes (900g, peeled and quartered)
• Onions (one, finely chopped)
• Garlic (3 cloves finely chopped)
• Leeks (250g chopped in half moon shape)
• Milk (100ml)
• Fresh rosemary (5g finely chopped)
• Fresh mint (1 bunch)
• Paprika (half tsp)
• Olive oil (1 tbsp)
• Worcestershire Sauce (a splash)
• Lamb stock (or any red meat stock, 150ml)
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

Stage One

Heat a heavy bottom pan on a medium heat. Add the olive oil. Once heated add the onions until they are golden brown (around 5 to 7 minutes). Add the garlic and stir. Brown your mince in with your onion and garlic. Once all the meat is browned, add paprika, black pepper, mint, rosemary and Worcestershire sauce. After a few minutes add the grated carrots and leeks. Add one cup of lamb stock. Season and then simmer on a low heat for 40 mins or so. Serve into an oven-proof dish and leave it to cool. Note the mashed potatoes will sink into the mince if the mince is still hot and runny so it’s important to let it cool.

The mash

Put some salted water on the boil and cook your potatoes ready to make some mash. Once the potatoes will cut through easily with a knife, drain them and add them back to the same pan. Add the milk to the potatoes and mash. Mash them thoroughly until smooth but don’t add too much milk otherwise the mashed potatoes can easily become mixed in with the creamy sauce later!

 The finished pie

Add the mashed potato to the top of your mince mix and rough the top surface with a fork as the furrows from the fork trails get nice and crispy in the oven. Put in the oven and cook for 35-40 mins on 180 degrees. Serve with crunchy green vegetables or garden peas.petits pois or all three! Garnish with a pinch more of fresh parsley and enjoy!

Chef’s tip

The secret to a great taste is high quality lamb mince, fresh rather than dried herbs, quality home made stock and liberal quantities of Worcestershire sauce! You may wish to add a little grated cheddar on the top but only do this at the very tail end otherwise the cheese will burn.

For more delicious Eagle Brae dishes, see our other home-cooked recipes.

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Following on from our foraging blog, we thought we would share our recipe for a delicious Elderflower cordial. Shop-bought cordial can be expensive and a little too sweet. But this recipe is so simple and, just delicious, even if we do say so ourselves!

Firstly, you’ll need to head out to forage for the Elderflowers. Because they are only available for a couple of weeks during May/June, Elderflower cordial is a really special treat. That said, you need 20 heads per litre of cordial so, if they are plentiful in your area, you could make a whole load of bottles using this homemade Elderflower cordial recipe. Remember to leave some behind though! This recipe uses both citric acid and Campden tablets so, if you store the finished cordial in the fridge, it should last 3-4 months.

Take a look at this video to see how to identify the right plant and pick the best Elderflower heads.

Ingredients (makes a litre of homemade Elderflower cordial)

• Elderflower heads (20 heads as described in the video above)
• Water (1 pint, boiling)
• Lemons (2, sliced. Alternatively, one lemon and one lime)
• Citric acid (50g)
• Sugar (1kg)
• Campden tablet (1 tablet)

Method

Pop the Elderflower heads into a pot and pour the freshly boiled water over them. Add the lemons (and limes if you like), the critic acid and sugar. You will need to stir this until all of the sugar is dissolved.

Cover the pot but make sure you don’t seal it. Leave the mixture for 5 days, making sure to stir it once every 24 hours. After 5 days, strain the mixture through a fine mesh cloth and pour into a sterilised bottle. Add the Campden tablet to kill bacteria and inhibit the growth of any wild yeasts. And voila! You have your very own, homemade Elderflower cordial.

To serve, pour a small amount into a glass and add cold water. Garnish with slices of lemon or limes and ice for a really refreshing drink.

Top tip: If you store your cordial in plastic bottles, you can pop it in the freezer. Then, when you have none left in the fridge, you can take a bottle out, defrost it and have more delicious Elderflower cordial!

For more delicious Eagle Brae dishes, see our other home-cooked recipes.

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Our Pork Belly and Scotch Bonnet Cassoulet is a super deliciously complex and naughty Mediterranean-style dish destined to become a family favourite once tried! This dish can be made with fresh pork belly but we prefer to use cured pork belly for the additional flavour it contributes to the dish. Its not easy to buy cured pork belly but it is fairly easy to cure it yourself but you will need to prepare several days in advance!

Ingredients (feeds 4)

• Cured pork belly (500g, without the rind, cut into 1 cm cubes)
• Red pepper (1 pc, cut into small 1cm cubes)
• Onions (1 large or 2 small, chopped finely)
• Cannellini beans (1 tin, 400g)
• Tinned chopped tomatoes (1 tin, 400g)
• Garlic (half a dozen cloves, finely chopped or pressed)
• Scotch Bonnet chilli (maybe only a half or quarter chilli depending on the size, very finely chopped)
• Lamb stock, or any other red meat stock (500ml)
• Soft dark brown sugar (2 tbsp)
• Black treacle (1.5 tbsp)
• Fresh Rosemary (15g, tied with string into a fresh bouquet garni together with the thyme)
• Fresh Thyme (15g, tied with string into a fresh bouquet garni together with the rosemary)
• Paprika (2 tsp)
• Olive oil (1 tbsp)
• Water (as required)
• Salt (only if you use fresh pork belly, if you use cured pork belly no salt required)
• Black pepper

Ingredients for the cure (quantities entirely depend on how much meat being cured) 

• Pressed cloudy apple juice (2L)
• Cider (regular shop bought carbonated cider 500ml)
• Water (enough for the meat to be entirely submerged, approx 1L)
• Salt (1kg)
• Soft brown sugar (500g)
• Black treacle (450g)
• Saltpetre [Potassium nitrate] (20g)
• Juniper berries (a dozen)
• Bay leaves (half dozen)
• Black pepper corns (whole, a dozen)
• Cloves (half dozen)

Method

The Cure

This cure can be used to cure other cuts of meat too such as hams etc and can be used again and again over a long period of time so its worth considering making a decent quantity and not throw it out after you have cured your belly. You will need a non-metallic preferably plastic vessel with a lid for your cure and enough fridge space for this vessel.

First take a large cooking pot and gently heat the water, add the sugar and the salt, and keep stirring until they are both dissolved and then turn the heat off. Next add the apple juice, the cider and all the other cure ingredients and mix well. Pour the mixture into your non-metallic vessel and set aside to cool. Do not put your meat in until the curing liquid has cooled down, preferably to fridge temperature.

Submerge the whole belly piece (rind on) in the curing brine. We put a wooden chopping board on top to keep the meat under the surface. Leave in the fridge for 48 hours with a lid on, changing its position/ turning it over once every 12 hours. Remove from the brine and wash under a cold tap and then pat dry with kitchen roll or similar. Put back in the fridge on a grill or rack or anything that will let the air circulate all around it. Leave in the fridge for 2-3 days until dry and waxy to touch. To use this belly in the cassoulet take a very sharp knife and cut the rind off and then dice all the rest of the belly into 1 cm cubes.

The Pork Belly and Scotch Bonnet Cassoulet

In a heavy bottomed casserole that can go in the oven, and with a very small amount of olive oil on high heat add the pork belly. The belly is very fatty so will give off plenty fat of its own so you don’t need much oil at all. Fry in batches if you have too much to brown in a single batch. Fry the belly until starting to crisp and then remove from the pan and set aside in a casserole with the lid on.

Once all the belly is browned, gently fry your onions and chilli in the olive oil. After 10 mins or so add the garlic and red pepper. Then add the paprika and stir for a minute or so. Then add the sugar and mix well and allow to caramelise for a few minutes, then add the black treacle and mix again. Add the browned pork belly, tinned tomatoes, the cannellini beans, the stock, water, the fresh herbs bouquet garni and black pepper and mix well. If you have used cured pork belly do not add salt, there will be plenty of saltiness from the belly alone.

Put in the oven at 180 degrees for a couple of hours or until your belly cubes have started to melt and lose their shape. Check regularly and add water if needed so it doesn’t dry out.

The Finished Result

This is great served with herbed mashed potato and crunchy greens, and will taste even better on day two so be sure to make plenty!

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A guaranteed family favourite: creamy, velvety, and delicious Chicken Casserole. This dish is in fact best made with the leftovers from a traditional roast chicken so be sure to deliberately buy a chicken too big for your roast! We’ve even added the left-over bread sauce into the mix when making this at home before, a fantastic way to recycle your roast into a scrumptious second supper popular with all ages.

Ingredients (feeds 4)  

• Large whole free-range chicken (2 kg)
• Mushrooms (200g, sautéed in olive oil)
• Eggs (2 hard-boiled, chopped into quarters or smaller)
• Sweetcorn (150g, drained)
• Chicken gravy (150ml)
• Chicken stock (250ml)
• Milk (150 ml)
• Butter (75g)
• Cream (100ml)
• Flour (1.5 tbsp or as much as can be absorbed into the melted butter)
• Dried Thyme (sprinkle)
• Paprika (to season the whole chicken)
• Flat leaf parsley (15g fresh chopped)
• Olive oil (1 tbsp)
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

How To Roast Chicken

To roast your chicken place the chicken in a baking tray and rub olive oil all over. You can put an onion inside the chicken as well if you like. Then sprinkle paprika, dried thyme, salt, and pepper on your chicken. Roast at 210 degrees uncovered for 20 mins, then reduce to 180 degrees and cover the chicken with tin foil and roast for an hour, then remove the tin foil and roast again for 15 mins uncovered.

Once you have removed your chicken from the oven make the chicken gravy using the same roasting tin, using either flour or cornflour, seasoning, even gravy granules, and hot water, or just however you normally make your gravy.

Eat as much of your roast chicken as you like and then remove all remaining meat from the bones. Set aside. Set aside any left-over gravy also.

How To Make Chicken Stock

Stocks are always responsible for the central underlying flavour so it’s important to make a good one! Take all the bones, and the onion if you had one inside the chicken when it roasted, and cover with hot water. Add celery, onion, garlic, carrots, and bay leaves and simmer for an hour or more until nicely reduced and concentrated. Strain and set aside.

How To Make The Chicken Casserole

Take a large casserole dish and put the chicken pieces, sautéed mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs and drained sweetcorn inside. Keep the lid on to keep everything moist whilst you prepare your sauce.

The Chicken Casserole à la Clan Chief Sauce

Chicken a la king is traditionally made with a velouté sauce which is the same process as making a white sauce but by adding chicken stock instead of milk to the roux. For our chicken casserole recipe, we are going to add both the chicken stock and milk, and the gravy and cream for the ultimate creamy velvety taste!

Melt the butter in a large pan on low heat. Add the flour and keep stirring until all is absorbed smoothly into the butter, turn the heat up a tad and add some chicken stock, keep stirring all the while. Initially, your sauce with thickens markedly as you add more stock it will start to become smoother and runnier. Now add some of the milk and continue stirring. Next, add the gravy and the cream and keep stirring. Let your sauce get up to simmering point and if it’s too thick add more stock or milk, if it’s too runny let it simmer on and reduce. Remember it will naturally reduce and thicken again when cooking in the oven so you will want to make it slightly runnier than you want it in the finished dish.

The Finished Chicken à la Clan Chief

Pour the sauce over your other ingredients in the chicken casserole and combine well. Season with salt and pepper and mix again and taste for seasoning. Put the lid on and put it in the oven at 180 degrees for half an hour. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with fresh parsley, and serve with rice, or mashed potato and crunchy greens. Yum!

For more delicious Eagle Brae dishes, see our other home-cooked recipes.

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Eagle Brae is owned by Mike and Pawana, and they are no stranger to great home-cooked food, foraging and eco-living. So, it’s only natural that they want to share a slice of our home comforts with you. As such, whilst holidaying with us, we offer a range of delicious homecooked meals for you to enjoy in your cabin, specially prepared for you. This particular recipe is one of Pawana’s family’s favourite chicken curry recipes. We call it “Jaisene’s Chicken Curry” as Jaisene is Pawana’s nickname here.

As with many stews and curries, our Jaisene’s chicken curry recipe tastes even better on day 2. So, if you are making it to eat with guests feel free to prepare it the day before and just reheat as required.

Chef’s tip: If you would like your Jaisene’s chicken curry to be eaten with chapatis rather than rice, then it’s best to make the sauce thicker by using less chicken stock and coconut milk.

Ingredients (feeds 4) 

• Boneless Diced Chicken (600g of breast and thighs)
• Tomatoes (8 pcs, chopped finely)
• Red Onion (1 large, chopped finely)
• Garlic (6 cloves, crushed)
• Chilli flakes (1/2 tsp)
• Ginger (half a thumb’s worth, chopped very finely)
• Chicken Stock (half a litre)
• Coconut milk (1 creamed coconut block)
• Cumin (half tbsp)
• Turmeric (2 tsp)
• Coriander seeds (half tbsp)
• Garam Masala (2 tsp)
• Olive Oil (3 tbsp)
• Salt (to taste)
• Black Pepper (half tsp)
• Dried whole Tej pata leaves (2)

Method

Preparing The Chicken

The first job is to brown your chicken. This should be done as quickly as possible over high heat. Use your largest non-stick frying pan and heat the oil on full heat. Throw in the chicken slices and brown in small batches, removing each to a separate dish with a lid to keep it moist and warm once browned.

Do not put too much chicken in the pan at once or the pan will become crowded, the temperature will drop too low and the chicken will leach its juiciness, which you don’t want! Once browned, turn the pan heat down in preparation for the next step.

Making The Chicken Curry (torka) Sauce 

The curry sauce is the most important part of most curries, and it’s no different for our Eagle Brae’s Jaisene’s chicken curry!  Using the same pan and the oil from cooking the chicken, gently fry your onions, chilli and ginger.  After 10 mins when the onions are golden and softening, add the garlic. Fry on gently for another few minutes so as not to burn the garlic.

Now it’s time to add all your ground spices and the garam masala together (this is an important part of the cooking – do not burn the dry spices). Fry for another 2 minutes stirring continuously.

Finally, add your tomatoes and gently cook with the lid on for 5/10 minutes or so until all tomatoes are softened and losing their form (you can use a potato masher to help this process along!). You must fry your tomatoes on low heat and for long enough for them to be fully cooked and become and fully assimilated sauce.

The Best Chicken Curry Final Stage

Top Tips: Keep stirring the torka.  Do not let it burn.  Cook it on low heat.  

Meanwhile, it’s time to prepare your coconut milk.  To do this, cut the coconut block into small pieces (dice sized cubes) and add 400ml of boiling water and stir until it all dissolves into a thick creamy coconut milk.  Add the coconut milk and tej pata leaves to your sauce, stir well and then add some of the chicken stock.  Do not add all the stock at once as you don’t want your chicken curry to be too runny. Only add enough for your preferred consistency. Add salt as required. Finally, add your chicken to the sauce and cook for another 20 minutes on low heat. 

We serve this top curry recipe on a steaming bed of basmati rice with chopped coriander, yoghurt, Indian pickle… and fresh green chillies for those who like them.

For more delicious Eagle Brae dishes, see our other home-cooked recipes.

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In this recipe, we are going to take you through the steps of our Nettle Soup Recipe. We don’t serve this on our Eagle Brae Menu for guests. But it is a home favourite in the spring for our family, as the nettles are starting to come through. Moreover, at Eagle Brae we are big on foraging for food and living off the land. So, our Nettle Soup recipe is just one of the many dishes we enjoy from our pickings. Of course, they don’t have to be Highland nettles for your soup. Any good fresh, young nettles are perfect.

Firstly you pick and separate the nettle leaves without being stung! Here you are best to wear marigolds or thick gloves. Secondly, you need to take the leaves off. Again wear gloves! Alternatively, if you squeeze the leaves tightly between your thumb and forefinger, they won’t sting. We can’t stress enough picking just the young ones! And don’t add the stalks as you get really bitter and earthy taste from them.

Ingredients (feeds 4)

• Arond 150g of washed stinging nettle leaves (or dried nettle leaves)
• 30-35g of softened butter
• 1 diced onion
• 1 large or 2 smallish leeks, trimmed, washed and finely sliced
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 2 courgettes, chopped
• 1 tea spoon cumin powder
• 1 tea spoon paprika
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp white rice, such as basmati
• 1 litre vegetable (or chicken) stock
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 6 heaped tbsp thick, plain yoghurt, to finish
• 1 small bunch chives, to finish

Method

Preparation Time

So, it takes around 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook. Here we make if from highly nutritious young nettles. In addition, you can swap the nettles for baby spinach.

How to Prepare

Firstly, melt your butter in a large pan. Or, if you want a healthier option, use half butter, half olive oil. Once melted, add the onions, courgettes, leek, celery and garlic, cumin and paprika. Fry the mix and cook over medium-low heat. Cover and sweat gently for 10 minutes. Here, you can stir the mixture a few times, until soft, but don’t brown.

Next, add the rice and stock. Now bring this to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the nettles, discarding the tough stocks. Stir them into the stock as they wilt. Next simmer for five minutes or so, until the rice and the nettles are tender. Very young nettle tops will need only two to three minutes. Season with plenty of salt and pepper. Finally, purée the soup in two batches.

Serve in warmed bowls, topping each portion with a large dollop of yoghurt and a generous sprinkling of snipped chives.

Nettle Soup Serving Suggestion

Enjoy with warm crusty bread or homemade croutons. Alternatively, why not add a drizzle of truffle oil, or swirl in yogurt for a little indulgence. You can add sautéed wild mushrooms too.

For more delicious Eagle Brae dishes, see our other home-cooked recipes.

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A great fish pie is the ultimate comfort food. It’s nice and easy to make and loved by most! We source all our fish from Scrabster on the north coast of Scotland. Nice fresh sustainably-sourced fish is a must so look out for your best options locally.

Ingredients (feeds 4)

• Smoked white fish such as smoked haddock (200g)
• Fresh salmon, trout or sea trout (200g)
• Fresh white fish such as cod, pollock, coley, haddock (200g)
• Frozen prawns (100g)
• Potatoes (500g)
• Chestnut mushrooms (150g, sliced)
• Cherry tomatoes (a dozen, whole)
• Milk (1.25 pints)
• Eggs (4 hard-boiled)
• Butter (100g)
• Cream (100ml)
• Flour (1.5 tbsp or as much as can be absorbed into the melted butter)
• Flat leaf parsley (15g fresh, chopped medium fine)
• Paprika (half tsp)
• Mustard powder (1 tsp)
• Olive oil (1 tbsp)
• Lime juice (half a lime)
• Lemon juice (half a lemon)
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

The Mash

Put some salted water on the boil and cook your potatoes ready to make some mash. Once the potatoes will cut through easily with a knife, drain them and add them back to the same pan. Add a quarter of a pint of milk to the potatoes and mash. Mash them thoroughly until smooth but don’t add too much milk otherwise the mashed potatoes can easily become mixed in with the creamy sauce later! Put the lid back on the mashed potatoes to keep warm and set aside.

The Mix

Fry your sliced mushrooms in olive oil for 5 mins or so until they start to brown, then set aside. Now grab a suitably sized oven-proof dish (no lid required), making sure its deep enough for your fish pie mix and the mashed potato to go on top. Dice all your fish and put into the dish raw. Add your frozen prawns and the chopped boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, fried mushrooms, lemon and lime juice. Last of all add the salt, pepper and fresh chopped parsley.

The Sauce

Melt the butter in a pan on a low heat. Once the butter is melted start to add your flour, the paprika and the mustard powder. Keep stirring until all three are absorbed lump-free into the butter. Turn the heat up a little and start adding your milk, whilst stirring continuously. The mixture will start to thicken markedly. Keep stirring and slowly add some more milk. Gradually add the cream and the rest of the milk stirring all the while until there are no lumps. Don’t worry if your sauce has become a little thin, as it starts to heat up to a simmer it will again thicken. Keep the heat low and do not boil the sauce, keep it just under a simmer and keep stirring. If it is too thick once hot add a little more milk, if it is too runny simmer it on a little for a few minutes to thicken.

The Finished Pie

Pour the sauce over your fish pie mix and stir thoroughly to combine with the lime and lemon juice already in there. Once everything is evenly mixed leave to cool for half an hour to let your mix thicken making it less likely your mashed potato will sink into your mix. Once the mix is cool and thicker add your mash on top and spread evenly over the mix. Rough the top surface with a fork as the furrows from the fork trails get nice and crispy in the oven.  Put in the oven and cook for 35-40 mins on 180 degrees. Serve with crunchy green vegetables, samphire or petits pois or all three! Garnish with a pinch more of fresh parsley and enjoy!

For more delicious Eagle Brae dishes, see our other home-cooked recipes.

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One of Eagle Brae’s most popular meals is our Keeper’s Ale and Venison Carbonnade which is a Struy estate wild venison, caramelised onions, home-brew ale and fresh thyme stew. Easy to make and absolutely delicious.

Ingredients (feeds 4)

• Boneless diced venison (600g of shoulder, loin or haunch)
• Onion (4 large brown onions, cut into large half-moon slices)
• Garlic (6 cloves, crushed)
• Bay Leaves (4 leaves)
• Soft Brown Sugar (1.5 tbsps)
• Flour (approx. 1.5 tbsps)
• Fresh thyme (small bunch tied with string into a bouquet garni)
• Venison Stock (250ml, any other red meat stock would do)
• Cider Vinegar (1.5 tsps)
• Olive Oil (3 tbsp)
• Salt (to taste)
• Black Pepper (half tsp)
• Traditional Ale (400 ml, home-brew or other sweetish dark traditional ale)
• Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley (small handful, finely chopped)

Method

The Meat 

The first job is to brown your venison. This should be done as quickly as possible. Use your largest non-stick frying pan and heat the oil on full heat. Brown the venison in small batches and remove to a separate dish with a lid to keep moist and warm once browned.

Do not put too much venison in the pan at once or the pan will become crowded, the temperature will drop too low and the meat will leach blood and juiciness which you don’t want! Turn the heat down in the pan in preparation for the next step. 

The Caramelised Onions

Cut your onions in half and then cut large half-moon slices. Do not cut your onions smaller than this. Add your onions to the venison pan in the same oil and soften for at least 5 mins stirring all your venison juices off the pan and into the onion mix. Now add your garlic and sauté on for another couple of minutes.  Next add your sugar, stir again and cook on for another 5 mins or so. Then add your flour, keep adding flour until your oily sugary mix will absorb no more. Keep stirring throughout.

The Carbonnade

Turning the heat up pour your ale into the pot stirring continuously until all the caramelised onions floury mix is absorbed into the ale. Then add your stock stirring continuously. Bring to the boil and let the sauce reduce to a consistency a little more watery than you want your finished stew as it will continue to thicken and reduce in the oven.  Add your venison, the fresh thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper and put in the oven covered at 180 degrees for one hour.

The Final Steps

Take your ale and venison carbonnade out of the oven and stir through the cider vinegar. Put back in the oven for another hour or until venison is nice and tender. Add more water or stock if it starts to dry out or thicken too much. If it’s too runny leave for a while in the oven uncovered. If it’s perfect leave the lid on and add nothing else!  Once the venison is soft and tender take out from the oven and add fresh chopped parsley and serve with a baked potato and some nice fresh greens. A guaranteed family favourite, this one!

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Tucking in to a delicious vegetarian meal is not everyone’s first choice, but it is good for your health as well as the planet’s health. And our Great Glen Vegetarian Lasagne is a delicious meat-free choice too. There are a lot of steps to making this tasty vegetarian lasagne, and it can be a bit fiddly so we recommend making a bigger quantity so you have at least another whole lasagne to freeze for the future (like we do at Eagle Brae, except we make around 15 at a time!).

Ingredients (feeds 4)

• Lentilles vertes (green lentils, or even better Puy lentils, 300g)
• Tinned tomatoes (I tin)
• Onion (1 large, chopped finely)
• Garlic (4 cloves, crushed)
• Dried chilli flakes (to taste)
• Vegetable stock (home-made or vegetable bouillon, half litre)
• Olive oil (2 tbsp)
• Bay leaves (3)
• Fresh thyme (small bunch tied together with cooking string as a bouquet garni)
• Salt (to taste)
• Black pepper (half tsp)
• Spinach (one bag fresh, half a bag frozen)
• Leeks (two, chopped)
• Lasagne sheets (as required, probably about 250g)
• Butter (100g)
• Flour (1 heaped tbsp)
• Milk (as required, probably about half a pint)
• Parmesan cheese (enough for a light dusting on top, finely grated)
• Mature cheddar cheese (150g, grated)
• The Green Lentils Mix

Method

Veggie Mince

First things first, you need to make your vegetarian “mince” which is primarily made up of the delicious green lentils. But before you can get your veggie mince underway, you need to put two other pans to work! Put your stock on the hob to heat it up, ready for use later. Put another pan of water on to boil so that you can parboil your lasagne sheets – add a little salt and oil to the water. In a third pan, gently fry your onions for 5 minutes or until softened.

While your stock heats up, your water comes to the boil and your onions sizzle away, rinse your green lentils in a sieve with cold water. Add the garlic to your onions and stir well for about a minute. Add in the rinsed lentils and stir well. After about another minute or so add in the stock so that it just covers the lentil mix. Add the dried chilli flakes, the bay leaves and the thyme and let your lentils simmer with a lid on for 25 minutes. Make sure your lentil mix doesn’t dry out as the lentils absorb the stock. Add more stock if necessary.

While your lentils simmer, wilt your spinach with a tiny bit of water, butter and salt in a separate shallow pan. Continue to cook until all the water has cooked off. Finally, after your lentils have cooked away for 25 minutes, add the tin of tomatoes as well as some salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 10 minutes. Add in the leeks and cook for 10 minutes more until the leeks are just cooked. You want your green lentils mix to be the right consistency to be your lasagne mince, so if it’s too runny cook off the excess moisture. If it is too dry add some more stock. Once ready, set aside off the heat with the lid on. 

Lasagne Sheets

Now a lot of people will put dry lasagne sheets into a lasagne straight out of the packet. Many of the packets recommend you cook it like this. But we prefer to parboil ours because the lasagne sheets are much nicer fully swollen in the lasagne. It also means you won’t have to cook your vegetarian lasagne so long in the oven that it might dry out just to cook the sheets through. You don’t want them to stick together so you can’t just put them in the pan together. So here is Eagle Brae’s wacky method of parboiling lasagne sheets.

Take a sheet of tinfoil and cut a strip a metre or so long (big enough to fold up your lasagne sheets inside). Before adding your lasagne sheets, fold the tinfoil and make holes in it with an office hole-punch. Then fold again and re-punch. Do this again and again until your tinfoil is too small to fold or punch again. Then open it up and add the lasagne sheets. After each lasagne sheet fold the tinfoil over so no two sheets are touching each other. The holes you punched will ensure water circulates inside every sheet. Add the whole bundle to your boiling water and cook for about 7 minutes. Once done, take off the heat, and pour away about 90% of the water leaving 10% in the bottom to keep moist and warm with the lid on.

Béchamel Sauce

Add your butter to yet another pan and melt gently. Once melted, add the flour and stir thoroughly. Cook for a minute or so until all the flour has blended with the butter. Keep stirring as you add around a quarter of your milk to the flour/butter blend, turning the heat up a little. Your mix should thicken and dry up. Keep stirring and slowly add more milk. Continue this process until all your milk is added and there are no lumps. Add the grated Cheddar and stir until all the cheese is melted. If your sauce is too runny add more milk. Remember it continues to thicken up to simmering point, so don’t assess the thickness of your sauce until it is almost at simmering point. Add a little salt to your sauce, stir and leave on the lowest possible heat. Keep going back to stir your sauce until you are ready to use it.

Build your Vegetarian Lasagne

Remove the bay leaves and the thyme from your lentils mix and put a nice layer down in the bottom of a suitable lasagne dish. Add some wilted spinach on top, followed by a layer of lasagne pasta and béchamel sauce on the very top. Add another layer of lentils mix on top of the béchamel sauce and repeat the layering process until the dish is full. Make the béchamel sauce the top and final layer and use more sauce on the top than you have for lower layers. Sprinkle the parmesan over the top and now your Eagle Brae Great Glen Vegetarian Lasagne is ready for either the oven or the freezer! To cook in the oven, cook at 180 degrees for about half an hour or until starting to brown on top.

This is an incredibly tasty dish and popular even amongst folk who think they don’t like vegetarian food! Great with a nice fresh green salad. Enjoy!

For more delicious Eagle Brae dishes, see our other home-cooked recipes.

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Your taste buds will simply explode with this fusion of Highland and Himalayan ingredients. Scottish venison, sliced and diced, complete with a dusting of Himalayan spices to give your tummy a treat gastronomic treat. This hearty and wholesome meal will nicely round off a day of hill-walking and exploring.

Ingredients (feeds 4)

• Boneless diced venison (600g of shoulder, loin or haunch)
• Tomatoes (8 pcs, chopped finely)
• Onion (1 large, chopped finely)
• Garlic (6 cloves, crushed)
• Chilli (2 hot finger chillies, chopped finely)
• Ginger (half a thumb’s worth, chopped very finely)
• Venison Stock (half litre, any other red meat stock would do)
• Cumin (half tbsp)
• Turmeric (2 tsp)
• Coriander seeds (half tbsp)
• Mustard seeds (1 tsp)
• Kalonji (half tsp)
• Cassia bark (1 pc, approx 6 inches)
• Fenugreek (1 tsp)
• Garam Masala (2 tsp)
• Olive Oil (3 tbsp)
• Salt (to taste)
• Black Pepper (half tsp)
• Plain yogurt (100g)

Method

The Meat

The first job is to brown your venison. This should be done as quickly as possible. Use your largest non-stick frying pan and heat the oil on full heat. Brown the venison in small batches and remove to a separate dish with a lid to keep moist and warm once browned. Do not put too much venison in the pan at once, as the temperature will drop too low.

Turn the heat down in the pan in preparation for the next step. After all, it’s all in the name of a delicious Venison Curry.

The Curry Paste

The curry paste is the most important part for most curries and it’s no different for Eagle Brae’s Himalayan venison curry.  Using the same oil from the meat, gently fry your sliced onions, chilli and ginger. After ten minutes, when the onions are golden and soft, add the garlic. Fry on gently for another few minutes. Add all your additional ground spices except the mustard seeds and garam masala, fry for another 2 minutes, always stirring all the time. For the most flavourful Venison Curry, add your tomatoes and gently cook with the lid on for 5 minutes until all tomatoes are softened and losing their form. Remove from the hob and blend the entire contents into a fine paste using a food processor. Then, have a quick break as you set it aside to cool.

The Final Prep

Take a new pan, add olive oil and put on a moderate heat. Add your black mustard seeds and fry them until most have popped and the oil smells nice, yes, you will see them popping, like a little science experiment.  Add your garam masala and a bit more turmeric for flavour. Stir for a minute or two until they have combined. Now here’s the messy bit! With a moderate to high heat, pour in your blended paste. You need to fry this paste and keep stirring; it should bubble like molten lava and will spit and make a mess. Watch your hands (might want to wear gloves!) as you can get very hot splashes on the hands during this phase! Keep stirring until it cools a bit, then turn the heat down a bit and let it bubble away with the lid on. Add the stock and stir. Add the cassia bark. Add your venison. Add plain yoghurt and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add some water if it looks too thick.  Stir and simmer until all is nicely combined and then put in the oven for a couple of hours at about 180 degrees checking half way if water needs to be added in case it’s drying out. And yes, it’s here, your perfect, Himalayan Vension Curry, with a little kick and twist from Eagle Brae.

And Enjoy!

As with many stews and curries our Himalayan venison curry can taste even better on day number 2 so if you are making it to eat with guests feel free to prepare it the day before and just re-heat when required. Serve on basmati rice with chopped coriander, yogurt, Indian pickle and fresh green chillies for those who like them. If you would like your Himalayan venison curry to taste even better, what better way to eat it than in the lodges of Eagle Brae?

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