Easter is almost here and it's time to start planning that Easter dinner menu. I've put together a menu, with a Scottish twist.



Appetizer:

To start why not try haggis balls. You can find a recipe in my Scottish Recipes article.

Main course:

Leg of Lamb

I absolutely love lamb. I know it's not to everyone's taste but it is a traditional Easter meal. I have used this recipe many times and it always turns out perfect. It's an adaptation of a recipe I saw in Suzanne Somer's book Get Skinny on Fabulous Food.

Ingredients

6 cloves of garlic, chopped
6 tablespoons of rosemary
2 tablespoons of salt
3 tablespoons of olive oil
7-8 pound leg of lamb, butterflied and deboned
Juice of 1/2 lemon
pepper to taste

Directions

Mix together the garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Put the butterflied leg-of-lamb in a roasting dish and rub it all over with the garlic mixture.
Squeeze lemon juice over the lamb.
Marinate it in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day remove the meat from the refrigerator half an hour before cooking.
Heat the oven to 325F.
Place the roasting dish containing the lamb in the oven.
Cook for a minimum of 20 minutes a pound.
The lamb is ready when the internal temperature of the meat is at least 145F for rare, 160F for medium and 170F for well done.

Vegetables:

Turnip Purry

Ingredients

1 large turnip
3 ounces of butter, or more depending on your preference.
Salt and pepper to taste
2 ounces of cream
1 teaspoon of powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon of powdered sugar

Directions

Chop the turnip in pieces and boil in unsalted water until soft.
Drain and mash the turnip.
Place the mashed turnip in a saucepan and heat up with the butter, pepper and salt.
Remove from the heat and stir in the cream.
Sprinkle the powdered ginger and powdered sugar on top and serve.

Champit tatties

Ingredients

1 pound of potatoes
3 1/2 ounces of butter
3 1/2 ounces of milk or cream, warmed up
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Boil the potatoes in a saucepan covered in water until they are soft.
Drain the potatoes.
Add butter and mash with a potato masher.
Add the milk and mash again.
Add the salt and pepper and serve.


Dessert:

In my last article about Scottish food I printed the recipe for Caledonia Cream. This would be a nice finish to this wonderful meal.

If you try any of these recipes, please let me know by commenting or leaving a note on the forum.