Vegan Robbie Burns Family Dinner

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Matthew Kingsley Isaak

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{ The Menu }

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{ Haggis }

I love haggis. Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck, minced and kneaded with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and cooked while traditionally encased in the animal's stomach, although an artificial casing is often now used instead. For the first time in 48 years, Canadians can legally buy a made-in-Scotland haggis, but it is still illegal if it contains sheep's lung. 

Haggis is umami nirvana. Umami is a rich, savoury flavour profile, involving food ingredients like onions, leeks, celery, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes, anchovies, parmesan, and soy sauce. It also involves flavour-enhancing preparation and cooking methods. Food that is aged, cured, fermented, and dried, creates increased umami. Toasting, roasting and sautéing release and enhance umami. Allow time for flavours to marry, develop, and mature. Umami depends on the addition of salt to be fully realized. 

Traditional Haggis- click to expand

I also love the pleasing texture of haggis that comes from the combination of ingredients, preparation, and cooking methods. Creating plant food recipes to mimic meat dishes has never been a theme of my meatless cooking. However, the challenge of creating a vegan haggis, appealed. 

Capturing the unique blend of spices and seasonings is another key to haggis. I am using a fresh-cracked blend of whole fruit and seed white, green, black, and pink peppercorns, coriander, and allspice throughout all of these recipes. I have also chosen to use thyme as the dominant fresh herb. The Old Bay spice blend is always helpful in adding umami to plant food recipes. You will discover that many of these recipes are also united by their blessing of whisky.

Vegan Haggis- click to expand

My daughter and I were fortunate to attend the annual Winnipeg Robert Burns Club Burns Supper, celebrating Robbie Burns, one year. And! If you've got the haggis, you could have a special celebration that not only involves delicious, healthy food, but also includes family; crafts; cocktails; costumes; tartan; poetry recitals; language, cultural and history lessons, and music and song. A proper Scottish party.

Burn's Night 2020

The Robbie Burns dinner, 2019, was a real testing-ground for developing a vegan haggis recipe. A family tragedy interfered with my sharing this food feature until now. I doctored the vegan haggis recipe this year, and remade most of the recipes. I am sharing this special dinner again this year, in 2021.

A Family Tragedy
Matthew Kingsley Isaak June 1, 2009 - February 21, 2020
My family has been involved in the care of our darling boy, Matthew Kingsley Isaak, who was diagnosed with a diffuse midline glioma in the spring of 2019; the deadliest cancer of all. I will share more about that later, in the Afterword at the end of this blog feature.

{ Cocktails and Crafts }

Club Beliveau - click to expand

Burn's Night Tonic

Red Currant Cordial

(or Sanpellegrino sparkling pomegranate and orange juice)

The Botanist Gin 

Fever-Tree Aromatic Tonic Water

(made with Angostura Bark)

Angostura Orange Bitters

Fill highball glasses with ice. Pour gin onto the ice. Design your preferred mix of cordial (or juice), bitters, and tonic water.

Happy Thought

DIY Tiny Tartan Top Hat Templates

Miss Happy Thought makes many wonderful, full colour craft templates. Inexpensive to purchase (members get a discount), and easy to use. It is nice to send your guests away with a keepsake that can be used again and again.

Matthew's Dado makes a tiny tartan top hat

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{ Soup and Oatcakes }

Mock-a-Leekie soup with herbaceous Pistou and Nova Scotia oatcakes

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Mock-a-Leekie Soup

with an herbaceous pistou and Nova Scotia Oatcakes

2-3 leeks, cleaned carefully, sliced into thin rounds

1 purple onion, finely diced

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

2-4 carrots, finely diced

2 stalks of celery, micro dice

1 c pearl barley

2-3 prunes, pitted and chopped

1-2 T Old Bay seasoning

4-6 c vegetable broth

naturally-harvested salt and fresh-cracked pepper

Sauté onions, carrots and celery. Add leeks and garlic. Add seasonings, barley, prunes, and the vegetable broth. Cover and simmer.

Serve with fresh-cracked HEALTH COACH pepper-spice blend, fresh thyme leaves, herbaceous pistou, and oat cakes.

HEALTH COACH Pepper-Spice Blend

whole fruit/seed: 
green, black, white, and pink peppercorns
coriander
allspice

Put the whole spices into a pepper/spice grinder to use.

Herbaceous Pistou

a pistou is a dairy-free, flavour-enhancing, fresh herb condiment

a bunch of cilantro

a bulb or 2 of garlic
1/4-1/2 c olive oil

1/2 t fresh-ground cumin seed

1/4 t naturally harvested salt

Process all ingredients in a food processor or blender.

Nova Scotia Oatcakes

2 c Scottish oats 

1 c whole grain flour

1/2 t naturally-harvested salt

1/2 c Melt Organic Plant Butter

1/4 t baking soda

1/2 c organic raw cane sugar

1/4 c boiling water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water (add a little more water if needed). Combine dry ingredients with butter, then add dissolved baking soda. Mold into a dough ball, then press it out onto a baking sheet. You can roll it out with a dough pin to make it thin as you want it to be about 1/4 inch thick. Cover and chill for 10-15 minutes to firm up the dough, then remove and score down the middle and across to make 8-10 squares (you’ll use these lines for clean cuts after it’s done baking). Bake for 12-15 minutes until they are golden brown. They should be crisp and crunchy, not chewy. Separate the cakes along the score lines with a thin knife and then allow them to cool.

{ Dinner }

Robbie Burns Grace by Matthew

Matthew Kingsley Isaak

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Vegan Haggis

1 onion, micro-diced

2 carrots, micro-diced

1 stalk celery, micro-diced

1/2 c cremini mushrooms, micro-diced

2-3 bulbs garlic, minced
fresh thyme

1/4 - 1/2 t each: allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg

1 t coriander

1/2 - 1 c Melt Organic Plant Butter

1/2 c tatties

1/2 c pinhead oats, pan-roasted

3/4 c cracked whole rye, buckwheat, bulgar wheat, combined, pan-roasted

pan-roasted hemp seeds

1-2 T HEALTH COACH Pepper-Spice Blend
a blessing of whisky

2 1/2-3 c vegetable broth

Toast the oats, grains, and seeds in a pan. Sauté onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms, and garlic. Add the spices, thyme and seasonings. Cook the oats and grains in the vegetable broth. Assemble the ingredients in a large bowl with the tatties.

Vegan Haggis Shepard's Pie

haggis, petit pois, peaches and cream corn, mushroom gravy

and a mash of neeps and tatties

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This vegan haggis is a great meat replacement. Leftover haggis can be used in vegan recipes for Shepard's pie, meatloaf, burgers, Scotch eggs, timbales, cabbage rolls, Buddha bowls, stuffed vegetables, and paté en croute.

Burn's Buddha Bowl 

haggis, neeps, tartan vegetables, tatties, gherkins

pickled onions, and mushroom gravy

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Vegan Mushroom Gravy

a couple of handfuls of cremini mushrooms, sliced 

onion, micro-diced

Melt Organic plant butter

Old Bay spice blend

fresh thyme

HEALTH COACH fresh-cracked pepper-spice blend

fresh ground, naturally harvested salt
a blessing of whisky

1/4 c (or less) whole grain flour 

4 c broth
1-2 t Bragg Liquid Aminos

Sauté onion, mushrooms, and garlic with seasonings. Transfer to a dish. Return pan to the stove. Add the flour to the plant butter. Brown for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Start whisking in the broth, gradually. as the gravy simmers. Add back in the mushroom mixture. Add a small shot of whisky. Reduce heat by half and continue to simmer and to whisk occasionally until thickened. Adjust seasonings.

Tatties & Neeps

1 rutabaga, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

yellow flesh, mashing potatoes, peeled, steamed whole

Melt Organic plant butter

fresh-cracked HEALTH COACH pepper-spice blend

fresh-ground naturally harvested salt

Mash the rutabaga and potatoes with the rest of the ingredients.

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Haggis Savoury Pastries

vegan haggis 

tatties
neeps
vegan mushroom gravy
HEALTH COACH pepper-spice blend
1 package puff pastry
fresh thyme garnish

Remove puff pastry from wrap, lay flat on clean surface. cut into 2-4 rectangles. Layer haggis and the mashed neeps and tatties. Wet edges with water. Press edges with fork. Brush with warm Melt Organic plant butter. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-40 minutes depending on size, or until golden and puffed. Enjoy with vegan mushroom gravy - garnish with fresh thyme.

Haggis Stuffed Cremini Mushrooms

cremini mushrooms

haggis

Branston pickles

tatties

Use a pastry bag to pipe deep and tattle mash on top of mushrooms stuffed with haggis with a dollop of Branston pickled chutney. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Suggested serving: sweet pickled onions, gherkins, Branston pickles (chutney)

Roast Tartan Vegetables

parsnips, small dice

beets, small pieces 

carrots, julienned 

onions, chopped 

Brussels sprouts, cleaned and halved 

honey, melted 

HEALTH COACH pepper-spice blend 

olive oil 

fresh-ground, naturally harvested salt 

fresh thyme

Toss all prepared vegetables except the Brussels sprouts with olive oil, seasonings, honey and fresh thyme.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Add the Brussels sprouts, toss and continue to bake for another 15 minutes.

{ Dessert }

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Coconut Cream Cranachan

2-4 cans coconut cream, cold, drained
1-4 T maple syrup
1-2 t pure vanilla paste or extract
a blessing of whisky
2-4 c fresh raspberries
coconut maple walnut granola

Whip the coconut cream with the rest of the ingredients until firm. Keep chilled. Layer with granola and fresh berries.

HEALTH COACH
SUPERFOOD CONFECTIONERY

Coconut Maple Walnut Granola

2 cups large flake oats (or rolled oats)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300 F. In a large bowl, combine the oats, walnuts, almonds and pecans and stir to combine. In a medium bowl, mix together the maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla and cinnamon. Stir well to combine. Pour this mixture to your large bowl of dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, stir well to combine. Line a cooking tray with parchment paper and spread the granola mixture evenly. Bake for 30 minutes. Every 10 minutes, take the tray out of the oven and give it a good stir.  (Be careful to not over-cook.) Re-spread the granola and put  it back in the oven. Once done, remove the granola from the oven and let cool completely.

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Photographer/ photo editor
Clare Isaak (Matthew's Mom)


Afterword: coming soon

Matthew Kingsley Isaak 
June 1, 2009 - February 21, 2020

Auld Lang Syne - Dougie MacLean 

(Lyrics and Meaning)

Auld Lang Syne is a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and later set to the tune of a traditional folk song. The song's title may be translated into Standard English as old long since or more idiomatically, long long ago, days gone by or old time’s sake. The song begins by posing a rhetorical question as to whether it is right that old times be forgotten, and is generally interpreted as a call to remember absent family and friends.

Beni ~ Burns Night 2019

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