Author: minceandskirlie

Writer, poet, musician, and sometime IT professional in the North East of Scotland.
Food and drink

Sea Bass with Tomato and Olive Spaghetti

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What am I going to have for tea tonight? That’s a question that takes up a lot of my time. For inspiration I’ll grab a few books and flick through them or trawl recipe websites hoping something jumps out of the screen. But often the best inspiration is my own memory of a dish I’ve eaten somewhere. This sea bass dish is my version of a restaurant dish I had at Sea Breezes on Skye. They used crushed tatties but I’ve done it with spaghetti for a slightly more mediterranean feel. Continue reading “Sea Bass with Tomato and Olive Spaghetti” →

Snapshots

Full English

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Recovering from the night before in the Bayswater Arms, London

Food and drink

Homemade Butteries

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I don’t normally do requests but on this occasion I’ll make an exception. An expat friend of mine demanded that I post a recipe for butteries after my snapshot post on them last week. The sight of Aitken’s finest produce on my frontpage reminded him how much he missed them for breakfast. I can’t blame him really.

Butteries or rowies are a speciality of north-east Scotland. Similar to a flat croissant, they’re high in fat and salt with a large amount of butter and lard in the recipe. This isn’t health food! They were originally developed as food that would keep for a few days on a fishing boat; hence the high salt content. Don’t be put off by their unhealthy reputation though. As an occasional treat they’re delicious. As long as they’re fresh then I’ll eat them plain but most people like them lightly toasted with butter and jam.
Continue reading “Homemade Butteries” →

Snapshots

Titanic hops

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Titanic IPA from the Great Divide Brewing Company in Colorado. This is mega hoppy and delicious. It’s doing a great job of making me feel better after a work function last night!

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A north east delicacy

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It’s full of fat and has extraordinary levels of salt; but it makes a very tasty breakfast. If you don’t know what it is this is a buttery or rowie. Only found in the north east of Scotland, they’re like a salty flat croissant made with lard. Aitken’s in Torry make the best ones.

I should do a proper blog post on these sometime.