Your Burns Night supper will be tastier if you cook haggis following one simple rule
BURNS night is just around the corner.
And it’s traditional to celebrate the bard, Rabbie Burns, by eating haggis, neeps and tatties for dinner.
Even for Scots, cooking haggis can be daunting, given it’s a once-a-year treat for many.
But cookery author Sam Milner says it can be simple – in fact, you can cook a perfect Burns supper in the air fryer.
Sam said: “The 25th of January is actually my wedding anniversary so holds a particularly special place in my heart.
“My husband and I will be celebrating 22 years, along with 25 years since our first date.
“We will be celebrating the occasion with some air fryer haggis and some delicious sides , also cooked in the air fryer, reminiscing not just about our love for one another but how much we love haggis in the air fryer.”
Sam says, just like black pudding, the kitchen gadget is ideal to cook the Scots staple.
She said: “I looked at the packaging of the haggis I just bought and couldn’t believe it when I read that it takes an hour to cook in the oven.
“Compare this to just 10 minutes for air frying haggis. Haggis, like black pudding, can be cooked in slices or as a whole rolled block, like you get from the butchers.
“If you just want to enjoy a bit of Burns Night tradition, then you can even have some haggis for breakfast in your air fryer.
“Add slices of haggis to the air fryer basket or drawer, spread them out – so none are on top of each other – and air fry for 10 minutes at 180C.
“If you are cooking haggis from the tube, then 15 minutes at 180C will warm through your haggis perfectly.
“But the downside of the tubes is that they are so much harder to slice and don’t look as sophisticated, if you are entertaining people for Burns Night.”
The author, whose first book The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook was a Sunday Times bestseller and her second book Air Fryer Easy Every Day is out now, said if you want a perfect slice, the best option is to buy sliced haggis.
If you are buying a rolled-up tube from the butchers, ask them to slice it for you.
The haggis is sorted – but what about the traditional sides?
Sam said: “The neeps, aka the swede, or rutabaga or turnips, as they’re known in other countries, is the hardest part to cook in the air fryer. You can’t mash it this way, which is of course how you
would normally serve it, but what I truly love is neep chips.
“Peel and slice your swede into chips, add them into a bowl with extra virgin olive oil and seasonings and mix well with your hands. Then air fry them.
“Or what you can also do if you love carrots is mix it up with some sliced carrots as well, then you have a Burns Night version of root vegetable chips. Perfect for serving with your haggis.”
RECIPE: CRISPY ROOT VEGETABLE CHIPS
ONE of Sam's favourite go-to air fryer sides is veggie chips or fries.
This works best with similar cook time root veggies such as swede, carrots and parsnips.
INGREDIENTS:
1 swede/rutabaga
2 large parsnips
4 medium carrots
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1½ tsp dried parsley
Salt and black pepper
METHOD
1 Peel the root vegetables and slice them into chips. Aim for a universal size so that they cook evenly.
2 Put the veggie chips into a mixing bowl, add the olive oil and parsley, and season with salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients well with your hands so that the chips are evenly coated.
3 Load the veggie chips into the air fryer basket and spread out. Air fry at 160ºC/320ºF for 25 minutes. Give them a shake, then increase the temperature to 200ºC/400ºF and cook for another 5 minutes, or until crispy to your liking.
For your potatoes or tatties, as I should say, you can cook whole potatoes in the air fryer.
The cookery expert said: “Cook them for an hour, like you would with jacket potatoes, then when the air fryer beeps you can
peel and mash.
“You then have haggis, neeps, carrots and of course tatties. This of course would be perfect for a meal for two in the air fryer this Burns Night.
- Sam and Dom Milner are the co-authors of The Complete Air Fryer Cooking Guide: Times and Temperatures (£4.99 White Lion Publishing)