Christmas Leftovers: Five Boozy Recipes for a Burns Night Blow-Out

Whilst many of our cupboards are overflowing with leftover bottles of Christmas booze, it’s understandable if you don’t fancy drinking the dregs – but there’s no excuse to throw it out!

With Burns Night around the corner, why not put your booze to good use and create an alcohol-infused feast to get the celebrations rolling?

Not everyone has skills like Mary Berry or James Martin, which is why the team over at The Bottle Club have rallied together five quick and easy recipes which will perfectly accompany a Burns Night feast, allowing you to indulge in some delicious boozy calories.

Typsy Laird

This simply boozy Scottish trifle is the perfect pud for a Burns Night dinner and isn’t called Typsy Laird for nothing. For those who have leftover Christmas sherry, this is how to use it. Be warned, this sweet is not suitable for children!

This dessert can be generously doused in Sherry and Drambuie (a Scotch whisky liqueur infused with heather honey, herbs and spices), accompanied by custard and raspberries. You can adjust quantities of the individual ingredients based on your trifle dish and personal tastes, but making the custard from scratch is key, and it’s easier than you may think. 

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Serves 8

Ingredients:

Base:

• 340 grams sponge or pound cake
• 140ml Sherry
• 60ml Drambuie
• 230 grams raspberry jam
• finely grated rind of a fresh, organic lemon
• 6 ladyfingers

Custard:

• 4 egg yolks
• 60ml milk
• 3 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Top:

• 250ml cream
• 1 or 2 tbsp Drambuie

Method:

1. Break the sponge cake into pieces and place on the bottom of a trifle bowl (or individual bowls).
2. Place the Sherry and Drambuie in a measuring jug. Heat the jam slightly and add a little of the liquor to make it a bit runny. Pour the jam over the cake evenly.
3. Add the crushed biscuits on top of the jam and sprinkle the lemon rind over the biscuits.
4. Next, pour the liquor over the top of the crushed biscuits. Leave to soak.
5. Make the custard by putting it into a bowl to cool a little, stirring constantly, before adding to the top of the trifle base. Cover and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours).
6. Finish by whipping cream and add 1 or 2 tablespoons of Drambuie. Spoon or pipe the whipped cream onto the top of the trifle. Decorate with almonds, raspberries and mint leaves.

Recipe credit: Christina’s Cucina

Chicken with prosecco sauce

If you loved chicken before, you’ll certainly love it once infused with some bubbly booze-  prosecco and chicken is such a wonderful combination. This isn’t a typical dish on a Burns night menu, but similar to Scottish Deviled Chicken and perfect for those who don’t fancy haggis. 

This dish is simply rustic-style chicken served with stir-fried vegetables and a simple green salad, but the key to this dish is the flavoursome sauce, made with butter, rosemary, onions, chicken stock and of course, Prosecco.

Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 250 ml of prosecco 
• 450 grams boneless chicken
• 10 tbsp chicken stog
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 large courgette (chopped)
• 1 large carrot (chopped)
• 1 cup button mushrooms

Method:

1. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and butter to a deep pan. When the butter has melted, add chicken and saute until cooked through. Set aside on a plate.
2. Add garlic and onions, lower the heat to medium and cook for five minutes until onions have softened.
3. Add your prosecco and stir well to glaze the bottom of the pan, bringing to the boil. Add the chicken and lower to simmer, covering the pan to cook for 10 minutes.
4. Remove rosemary and transfer onion mixture to a blender, add remaining two tablespoons chicken stock and puree until smooth. Set aside.
5. In another pan, add remaining olive oil, zucchini, carrots and mushrooms and cook on medium/high heat for 5-7 minutes until vegetables are tender but still have a crunch. Add salt and pepper seasoning.
6. Pop all ingredients into a large bowl, toss well and serve.

Recipe credit: Pickled Plum

Chocolate Haggis

As strange as it may sound, chocolate haggis is actually pretty tasty and perfect for those who are a bit squeamish about eating the real thing and more importantly, the perfect chance to splash away all that leftover whisky from Christmas 

This haggis- for those who don’t like haggis- is essentially shortbread and whisky fridge cake, ideally served with ice cream ‘tatties’ and orange jelly ‘neeps’. The end result, a seriously rich and boozy easy to make no-bake fridge cake.

Image: Food Quine

Preparation time: 20 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp Scotch Whisky (splash the good stuff!)
• 50g Sultanas 
• 100g Butter 
• 100g Cocoa Powder 
• 1 Free Range Egg 
• 100g Caster Sugar 
• 150g Shortbread 
• 50g Mixed Nuts, chopped 
• Icing Sugar to dust 

Method:

1. Put the sultanas and whisky into a small bowl and leave to soak whilst you prepare the remaining ingredients
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then sieve in the cocoa powder and stir until you have a smooth paste
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar and egg together until pale and creamy
4. Place the shortbread in a zip lock bag and bash it with a rolling pin. You want a mixture of chunks and crumbs
5. Combine the chocolate mixture with the sugar/egg mix and stir in the shortbread, chopped mixed nuts and the whisky soaked sultanas, plus any remaining whisky
6. Layout a double thickness of cling film and tip the chocolate mixture out onto it forming a haggis shape
7. Roll up and continue to manipulate into shape tying a knot at each end of the cling film
8. Chill in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight to harden
9. Remove the cling film, slice and serve alongside a wee dram

Recipe credit: Food Quine

Rum Hot Cross Buns

These boozy breakfast buns are a comforting sweet yet salty treat and can be enjoyed any time of the day. Scots are always partial to a splash of rum, so these buns are the perfect way to soak up any leftover at the back of the cupboard. 

Fluffy, light and tender, hot cross buns with rum-soaked currants are a treat any time of year but make holidays feel extra special, best served slightly toasted with a smear of salted butter, washed down with a nice warm brew- or a hot toddy.

Baking time: 20 minutes

Serves:16

Ingredients:

• 300ml whole milk
• 50g British unsalted butter
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 575g strong bread flour
• Table salt
• 75g caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• premium spiced rum, eg. Captain Morgan Spiced Gold Rum
• 1 orange
• 75g sultanas
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp golden syrup

Method:

1. Boil 300ml of milk on a low heat and in a separate pan, place 50g of butter over low heat until melted. Add warmed milk and melted butter into a bowl, mix and leave to cool until mixture reaches room temperature.
2. Separately, mix 500g of flour, 1 tsp of salt, 75g of caster sugar and 1sp of baking powder into a bowl.
3. Pour in the warm milk and butter mixture and add 1 beaten egg. Add in a splash of spiced rum, and combine the ingredients to form a sticky dough and place onto a floured surface.
4. Knead until the mixture becomes smooth and then place the dough into a flour-covered bowl, leave to rise for 1 hour until the mixture has doubled in size.
5. Once the dough has risen, place the mixture back onto a floured surface and tip in 75g of sultanas, 1 tsp of ground cinnamon and knead this into the dough.
6. Divide the dough into 16 squares and on a floured surface, roll these squares into balls.
7. Line these balls onto a baking tray and cover with a damp tea towel to allow the balls to prove for an additional hour until they have doubled in size.
8. Add 5 tbsp of water, 1 tbsp at a time, to 75g of plain flour to make the paste, then pipe two lines across the top of the buns to make a cross on each, using a piping bag or a spoon.
9. Place the hot cross buns in the oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes and set aside to cool on a wire rack once fully golden.

Recipe Credit: Rosalind Erskine

Whisky-Cured Salmon

On the coast, long summer days are often spent fishing salmon in the fast-running local rivers. Whisky-cured salmon is a Scottish favourite, served on a large wooden board with a range of accompaniments: oatcakes, thinly sliced pumpernickel bread, small bowls of assorted homemade pickles, crème fraîche, and lots of lemon wedges.

Preparation and Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 Two Pound/ 900 gram Wild Salmon Fillet (Boned, Skin On)
• 1 Cup Coarse Sea Salt
• ½ Cup Dark Brown Sugar 
• 2 Tbsp Black Peppercorns (Crushed)
• 2 Tbsp Juniper Berries 
• ½ Cup of Whisky 
• 2 Bunches of Dill 

Method:

1. Line a baking tray and rinse the salmon under cold water and pat dry. In a bowl, mix together the salt, sugar, peppercorns, and juniper berries. Sprinkle half the salt mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread one bunch of dill on top.
2. Lay the salmon skin-side down on the dill and drizzle with the whisky. Cover with the remaining dill, and top with the rest of the salt mixture.
3. Wrap the salmon in a tight plastic wrap and refrigerate for 48 hours.
4. When ready to serve, remove the plastic wrap from the salmon. Using the back of a knife scrape the cure mixture off the fish and lay on a large wooden board. To serve, thinly slice the salmon into diagonal strips leaving the skin behind. 

Recipe credit: Valerie Aikman-Smith

The Bottle Club tips for cooking with whisky: “The flavours of a single malt Scotch whisky, for example, are derived from malted barley fermentation, the distillation process and maturation in oak casks over several years, which makes it ideal to boost a wide variety of flavours in foods”

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