Rosemary Cashews

I have been admiring Johanna's efforts over the festive season.  She got round to making everything that I wanted to, but did not from nut roast, mince pies to fudge and even panforte.  However, it was after seeing Johanna's homemade Sweet and spicy nuts that I was prompted to make some  savoury nibbles at home.

Food Photographs Not Good for Blogging

In the past I have seen fellow bloggers share blog post of their fails in the kitchen, I  thought I would share some food related photographs that did not make a blog post in their own right.

Here is a vegetarian roast dinner with mock 'meat' slices.  I loved the colours but the presentation let me down.

Vegan Haggis Samosa for an Alternative Burns Night

A few years ago, D and myself lived in the city of Glasgow, Scotland and we often visited the Kelvingrove Museum.  It was there that we first saw an actual ‘Haggis Scoticus’ .  

Haggis Scoticus

A Haggis Scoticus is the fictional wild haggis animal from which the original haggis is 'claimed' to have been made from. See the prepared MacSween example next to it.  Haggis continues to remain an interesting subject for people all over the world.  

from Glasgow Kelvingrove Museum

I have written before how ethnically diverse communities in Scotland had incorporated haggis into their traditional cuisine, form example haggis pakora or bhajis can be found at some South Asian (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi) restaurants; haggis wontons and haggis spring rolls at some Chinese Take-aways in Glasgow and haggis samosa in Edinburgh. 

One of the best places to eat  vegetarian haggis samosa in my opinion has to be the Baked Potato in Edinburgh.  Another modern twist on the haggis is a dish called the ‘Flying Scotsman’ chicken stuffed with haggis. Haggis features quite a lot now in Scottish fast food. There is haggis burger, a patty of fried haggis served on a bun, haggis fritters, haggis pasties, haggis pies topped with a swirly mash, haggis savoury crepes, haggis wrapped in tortilla, haggis nachos, haggis lasagne, haggis macaroni cheese, haggis crisps and much much more. I’ve even created some with my own twist, mushroom haggis pakoras, haggis pakora bites, and haggis tikkia to name a few

But I no longer live in Scotland, yet I still reminesce of my time their with great fondness. So I am pleased that I am able to make vegan haggis from scratch at some made mostly with various pulses, oats and vegetables.  There are so many vegetarian and vegan haggis recipes on the world wide web, however the recipe I made was adapted from Hendersons. If anyone should be making a good version of vegetarian Haggis, it has to be Hendersons Bistro and Restaurant, a Scottish institution.

These days there many versions of vegan and vegetarian haggis on blogosphere, but I still use Hendersons as a base and spice it up a little.  It is this very haggis recipe that I stuffed into my homemade vegan Haggis Samosa's.  I actually made these last year, when I wrote about an Alternative Scottish Fusion Burns Supper, but did not get round to showcasing it. Enjoy.